DIRT 5 (PS4)

Dirt 5 isn't particularly deep, but it’s fast, frantic, extremely handsome, and buoyed by a superb stunt track editor.

Dirt 5 offers a fun career mode and exciting community features, but lacks depth in its peripheral modes.

Dirt 5 isn’t the next-gen technical showcase you were probably hoping for, but its excellent off-road tracks are an absolute delight to race on while superb modes such as Arcade, Playgrounds and Online/Offline multiplayer provide enough gas in the tank for numerous revisits.

If you're the type of person who plays racing games for hundreds of hours, Dirt 5 might let you down and I completely understand why. But for everyone else, it's a very accessible and personality-filled game that should keep you busy for a while.

It's this lightheartedness that helps to differentiate Dirt 5 from the hardcore simulation of Dirt Rally. Splitting up the two disparate sides of this series with such a bold line feels like a smart move on Codemasters' part. It allows Dirt Rally to head in a more authentic and uncompromising direction, while the mainline entries continue to indulge in the series' arcade sensibilities.

The addition of PlayGrounds is the perfect example of just how different Codemasters’ approach to Dirt 5 is. It’s not supposed to be a hardcore off-road sim, it’s designed to be a game that weaves the series’ traditionally excellent racing mechanics into a package that’s accessible and focused on fun before everything else.