DIRT 5

Do you like rally? Is racing on dirt your passion? Is being Colin McRae your ultimate dream? If you answered Yes to any of that, throw that sht in the trash and prepare for the most gentrified and easily accessible rally-like experience money can buy, complete with popular music, flashing lights, donut media and jingle keys to hold your attention like you're a child. This is rally-lite. Its basically if people saw forza horizon and went "Yes ill have some of that but we need a dirt sequel". Its very easy, the goals for each race are just arbitrary, in some races its virtually impossible to secure a first place finish because cars are seperated by class and theres no in between in races (you can have your win sniped by a car with twice the power of yours), and it takes any real rally knowledge and skill and just throws it out the window in order for you to feel like a Gymkhana superstar. Is there variety? Yes, some semblance of it anyway. Your standard 4wd rally car is a magical do-all machine that can race on dirt, ice, and basically everything the FIA says you cant use it for, and logic dictates it would be terrible for. "Formula Offroad" is apparently just paddle tire jeeps racing around a circuit (right vehicle wrong format), and Rock bouncers are "cool and hip" enough to get a slightly chunky hill climb format (again, right vehicle, wrong format). Does it need to be realistic to be fun? No, of course not. Is it realistic? Absolutely not. Does it feel like cultural appropriation levels of turning the various disciplines of off road racing into the racing equivalent of a TV dinner? Absolutely. You got your protien, you got your veggies and your brownie, all in convenient little bite sized pieces. At the end of the day it is sustenance, but is it satisfying? Is it Enjoyable? This game succeeds in one thing and one thing only. Being readily accessible to people new to the genre of offroad racing. To anyone with, i dont know, actual standards and a ability to feel disgust, its brain rot. Borderline offensive brain rot. Am i going to play some more of it later on? Probably. Do i reccomend it? This is one of the few games i've ever played that made me say out loud "I feel like i should probably go read a book or do something constructive" afterwards, so if you can handle feeling like you need a shower and some sobering afterward, then yes, go ahead and buy it.