Fasten your seatbelts ladies and gents because Codemasters are treating us to another entry in the excellent DiRT franchise.

DiRT Showdown is scheduled to be released on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in May 2012 and is a spin-off title rather than a sequel to DiRT 3.

Codemasters describe their new title as follows:

“DiRT Showdown is a brand new dive in and drive adrenaline rush of speed, style and destruction from the creators of the award-winning DiRT series. Set to launch in 2012, players will jump into a new world of arcade racing, boosting, tricking and smashing their way to ‘Showdown’ finals on a chaotic tour of motorised mayhem.”

“DiRT Showdown will be Codemasters’ most connected game ever – split-screen multiplayer, eight-player online racing, on and off-line quick-fire party games and YouTube integration all come as standard. Players will also be able to issue ‘Showdown Challenges’ to compete with friends whether they are online or not.”

According to GameSpot’s preview, DiRT Showdown will offer a mixture of the arcade-style modes of DiRT 2, the ‘Gymkhana’ events from DiRT 3 as well as some all-new Destruction Derby-style mayhem.

Are you looking forward to a departure from DiRt 3’s simulation-heavy core? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source: GameSpot