You’ve seen screen shots, developer diaries, and you have seen me go on and on about the new DiRT Showdown game ever since Codemasters announced it months ago.  Well today you finally get a chance to try it out for yourself!  As of today the DiRT Showdown demo is officially out on Steam (For PC), Xbox Live, and Playstation Network.  The demo features 8 Ball mode (think of figure 8 racing on steroids) and Rampage mode (the name says it all) and both modes are playable online!  Also along with the demo comes an invite to Codemasters’ “RaceNet” online racing hub beta.  There, now you officially have no excuse!  Go download the DiRT Showdown demo right now and have at it!  If you still need further convincing check out the new gameplay video below!. 

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Press Release:

DiRT® SHOWDOWN™ DEMO AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE TODAY

Players Invited to Join Free New Online Codemasters Racing Hub RaceNet as “Demo Derby” Gameplay Video Launches at www.dirtgame.com  

Los Angeles, Calif. – May 1, 2012 – Featuring both a full-impact solo race and a devastating multiplayer demolition derby event, the DiRT® Showdown™ demo launches worldwide today and is available now from Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network and Steam on PC.

To mark the launch of the demo, Codemasters has released a “Demo Derby” video showcasing the all-action motorized mayhem that players can experience today; the gameplay video is now playing at www.dirtgame.com.

In the demo, the single player “8 Ball” race, players take part in a chaotic, full-impact race in the shadow of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, using boost to sprint ahead of rivals and speeding through crossover points where drivers can dodge or takedown opponents.  Once players have completed the race, they can challenge a friend online to unlock the “Rampage” multiplayer mode.  In “Rampage”, eight drivers feed their appetite for destruction in an online demolition derby event, earning points for crashes, smashes and eliminations.

Gamers who download the DiRT Showdown demo are also invited to sign up for RaceNet*, the free new online extension for Codemasters Racing games, which enables players to track their Races, Rivals and Rewards.  Launching in beta, players who register now will be able to join in community challenges and once the full game launches, track their progress in game and track challenges with their friends.  Gamers who join RaceNet will also be rewarded with an exclusive “RaceNet” skin for use in the full game and will receive $20,000 of in-game currency for DiRT Showdown when it races into retail stores on May 29.

A special “Hoonigan” edition of DiRT Showdown is now available to pre-order exclusively from Walmart.  Sporting unique packaging, the DiRT Showdown: Hoonigan Edition will include an in-game cash boost, an online XP multiplier plus Monster Energy skins for the Kohler D350, Duke Coupe and Ford Fiesta Gymkhana 3 and Hoonigan skins for the Holbrook Growler, Logan Vulture and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X JUN, redeemed via an online code.

DiRT Showdown will deliver a new world of competitive and combative racing as players race, crash and hoon their way to “Showdown” finals on a chaotic tour of motorized mayhem when it launches on May 29 for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC.  For all the latest updates straight from the studio, crash over to www.dirtgame.com, www.facebook.com/dirtgame or follow the team at www.twitter.com/dirtgame.

Today Codemasters dropped a new trailer for the upcoming DiRT Showdown game.  In this new spot called “Massive Destruction” we get some gameplay teasers of “Rampage” mode and “Knock Out” mode.  In Rampage mode 8 cars are put in a massive arena and the objective is to just go rip-sh*t riot on each other demo derby style until there is only one car left running.  Knock Out mode is similar but instead of an arena all the combatants are on a raised platform and the objective is to “knock” everyone else off.  Although if you do get knocked off you can still get back into the fight via a ramp on the side of the platform.  Points are earned for each car the player knocks off and if they “own” the platform by being the only one on it.

Personally, I am looking forward to Knock Out mode!  Check out the trailer below as well as some new screen shots from Codemasters.

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A while back I showed you the trailer for the new DiRT Showdown game which is coming down the pipe from Codemasters.  When the trailer hit the intertubes it raised a lot of questions about the future direction of the DiRT series.  The biggest question was: Is DiRT Showdown really “DiRT4″?  Well recently I was invited to get a hands on preview of DiRT Showdown.  Not only did I get to play an early draft of the game myself I also got to speak with Showdown’s associate producer Iain Smith and ask him some of the hard questions.  Before we get to that I will answer a few of those questions right now.  First of all yes, Ken Block will be making a return appearance in DiRT Showdown in his current Ford Fiesta ”Hybrid Function Hoonigan Vehicle” AKA  H.F.H.V.  Secondly, Gymkhana mode will be back and improved from DiRT3, meaning that it wont be so damn hard to execute stunts and tricks.  Finally, as the trailers suggest there will be a demolition derby element to DiRT Showdown.  There are more burning questions that will be answered straight from in our interview as well as some gameplay footage and new screen shots scroll below!

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