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At long last, there is a true, fast, adrenaline-pumping racing game available for Linux! That game is DIRT Showdown, developed and published by Codemasters. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 back in 2012. Then, in 2014, it was released for Mac OS X, and, most recently, released for Linux, August 2015.
DIRT Showdown can be purchased and downloaded for Ubuntu through Steam for $14.99 (recent Steam sales have had it as low as $2.99). The game is much more than a racing game as it also contains two other playing styles, which are named Demolition and Hoonigan. There are different types of Races, just like there are different types of Demolition and different types of Hoonigan events. The Racing events and the Demolition events are pretty much self-explanatory. The Hoonigan events can be obstacle courses where you must complete tricks within a limited time, or they can be courses in which you must smash different color boxes in the right order (as specified by the computer), also within a limited time. These are all part of what's called the Showdown Tour. In addition to the Showdown Tour, there are two other modes of playing: • Online Multi-Player (which at this time is almost non-existent due to a lack of online players) • Joyride in which you are the only car and free to roam anywhere you want, but must collect challenges in the form of a scavenger hunt.
Aside from the Multi-Player aspect of the game, exhilarating thrills abound as the game has the potential to appeal to a wide variety of gamers, from the casual to the hard-core.
Playing DIRT Showdown is pretty straightforward. It is recommended that you play using a game controller, which is what I did with my Razer Onza controller and it was flawless. You can also play the game with mouse/keyboard if you so desire. There really isn't a tutorial but anyone who's played a car racing game will feel right at home with this one; it's not too difficult to pick up.
The responsiveness to controls has had zero lag in all of the tracks I've played. Initially in the Showdown Tour's Pro tournament, there are only a couple of tracks available, but by racing these tracks and placing in one of the top spots, more tracks become available. After completing all tracks in the beginner's “Pro” league, then you can advance to the “All-Star” league followed by the “Champion” league. Finally, the “Legend” league is the top tier which is unlocked only after completing all previous three leagues. Like most racing games, you have the choice of which car to choose and you can also level up your car by purchasing Power, Handling or Strength upgrades with the prize money you're awarded from previous races. In no time you can have a fast, powerful car that can take more than a beating. Alternatively, you can also purchase other cars as they become unlocked by winning various events.
Although the game was optimized for AMD GPUs, and I'm using an Nvidia GTX 960, I've had zero problems with the game so far. The graphics have been fantastic, and there have been no glitches running the game at near maximum settings. There is a built-in Benchmark that gave me an average of 51 frames-per-second so performance has not been an issue yet and I've already been playing the game for quite a while. There have been a few scenes that almost left me in awe with the multi-layered sunsets displayed behind the race tracks. The sound is your standard high-octane, full-throttle sonic experience. Sound effects of idling engines revving up to maximum speed in time, followed by the wearing down of brake pads and rubber tires as they burn in unison with the pavement in a struggle to stop the fast moving vehicle before it collides with another car, is like music to my ears. The voice narrator is a sportscaster who gives you the play-by-play while managing to add a bit of humor from time to time. The soundtrack is your typical rock soundtrack found in most racing games. All in all, the sound, the graphics and the controls are definitely strong aspects of the game, especially for a 2012 release.
Besides the lack of a dedicated tutorial, which for this particular game is not really needed, the only other negative point is the online play mode. I'm sure it works great; however, I haven't been able to really test it out due to there being a lack of online gamers. I've tried multiple times to play online against other players but haven't been able to pair up against even one single person. In fact, at the game's Steam Forum site, there is a thread asking for friend requests to join in online playing. I am almost certain that the lack of online gamers is due to the fact that DIRT Showdown was released almost four years ago and there have already been at least two other games from the DIRT series released ever since. It is now up to Linux gamers to breathe new life into the online experience for this game by buying it and playing it against possibly other Linux gamers.
Despite the lack of online competition, I still recommend DIRT Showdown to fellow Linux gamers as it happens to be one of the best car racing games available for Linux at the moment. The graphics, though no longer revolutionary, are still pretty impressive. The sound is great, and the overall playability makes it feel like it was originally developed for Linux which makes DIRT Showdown a game worth getting. The lack of online competition makes me drop the rating by a full star but everything else makes this a must have for racing aficionados and casual gamers alike.
Minimum Requirements: OS: Ubuntu 14.10, Mint 17.1 or similar Linux distribution Processor: AMD Athlon 64 x2 or Intel Core2Duo @3.2Ghz Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: nVidia/AMD OpenGL 4.1 level compatible Graphics Memory: 1GB Hard Disk Space: 12GB Sound: PulseAudio/ALSA Compatible