Following on from the first major content update for DIRT 5, the Energy Content Pack DLC which arrived last month, comes another new addition to the off-road racer.
As a teaser before the reveal today, the official DIRT Twitter account provided a hint based upon the first letter of its prior eight posts. It spelt out ‘Showdown’. DiRT Showdown was a sometimes-overlooked spin-off for the franchise released in 2012. It featured Ken Block, lots of gymkhana and Demolition Derby-esque figure-of-eight racing and demolition modes. It was great fun, especially online, and ranked sixth in our DIRT series ranking which you can watch below.
The Uproar Content Pack adds four cars into DIRT 5 that originally appeared in DiRT Showdown – fully remastered and using the DIRT 5 physics engine, of course. The four vehicles aren’t of the licensed variety, but they will bring back some happy memories for those who played the original game. For those who didn’t, well here are some new cars anyway.
The included vehicles are:
- Duke Coupe
- Zenden Cup
- Jackson Adventurer
- Jackson Eulogy
The Duke Coupe is a bonkers US-style hot rod, with a low roofline, retro curves and massive exhaust pipes – except, it works on dirt too and not just asphalt. The Zenden Cup is going to be part of the Rally Cross class and it looks like a small European hot hatch. Meanwhile, the Jackson Adventurer is a dirt-racing off-road trophy truck and the Jackson Eulogy is, quite simply, a hearse.
The vehicles in DiRT Showdown were perfectly suited to the manic gameplay of the release, so we’re not quite sure how they will fit into DIRT 5, which has a different tone.
Alongside the four new cars are 25 fresh events within an Uproar Career section. Additional in-game sponsors will be part of these new events in the form of PUMA and OffRoad Xtreme and you’ll be able to unlock new liveries and profile customisation items.
This new DLC pack will cost $12.49/£9.99/€11.49 or is included for no additional charge for owners of the Year One Pass which costs $59.99/£28.99/€34.99 and promises a minimum of 12 new cars and 60 new Career events released across 2021.
Finally, the new pack comes with a set of dedicated Trophies/Achievements and adds some for the Energy Content Pack too – something that was missing upon launch. If you’ve already played through that set, the Trophies/Achievements will start to ping if you launch the game after 30th March.
Why the 30th March? Because that’s when the new DLC is available and also when game update 4.00 launches, which also adds a host of additions and refinements for all players.
At last, private online lobbies will be available – thank goodness! Very late to the party they are too, but I suppose better now that than never. Hopefully, now there will be more fun with the online modes, something that left us a little flat upon launch. Location, car class, race length and weather conditions will be selectable.
For those who are aiming for the Platinum Trophy or max Gamerscore, you haven’t been able to see how many miles you had driven in-game, but now you’ll be able to thanks to expanded profile statistics.
Over 20 items will be added to the Playgrounds mode too, in an ‘After Dark’ theme and the best level creators will now be rewarded with a ‘Verified Creators’ badge. To round out the update, the BMW M1 Procar, SUBARU WRX STI RX Supercar, SUBARU Impreza S4 Rally and MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION VI will have new liveries to select – the Subarus in particular now looking respondent in their official blue and yellow designs.
That’s certainly a big update, with lots of changes for everyone regardless of the paid DLC. We’ll be back with some thoughts post-release, but for now, let us know if you’re excited about this update via social media.
