When you think of Codemasters, narrative games might not be the first thing tha🌼t pops to mind. The studio is known the world over for compelling driving games, both in the realm of sims and arcade racers, but not exactly for their world class stories.
However, people were bound to turn heads when the developers of the upcoming Dirt 5 announced that Troy Baker and Nolan North would join the cast. The duo are proli💦fic talents, and high-profile snags for any project. Their presence all but assured that the game's single-player campaign would gain some degree of legitimacy.
In an interview last week, Baker assured me t🅘hat his role is a fully realized character, and not just a rote narration.
"Would you take career advice from a disembodied voice?" Baker lau꧑ghed. "Get bent!"
Baker went on to say that the characterꦑ, AJ, is meant to draw the player into the story with his skill and reputation.
"My role is that I'm the best of the best that's ever done this," he told me. "So, to play out that role, [players] first have to see that role, so they'll know - they will know - that this is a real person that is your protagonist in this stor🌠y."
He also told me that the game's antagonist ("not villain," he stressed) is very much dr�♛�iven by that success.
"I think that Bruno wants to be the best," Baker said. "But AJ already is the best. He knows it, and he'll tell you that, with full humility. 'Right now, I'm the best. But very likely, somebody else is going to be.'🅰"
When I asked if AJ is scared of somebody else claiming his throne, Baker replied, "oh, I think he wants it to be taken."
In contrast to the protagonist's function in countless other driving games, Baker's AJ is a fully fleshed-out character with a built-in reputation,🍃 and a list of competition who want that reputation. It's a role befitting of an actor who's portrayed similar larger-than-life roles in the past, and sounds like a genuinely unique experience for genre fans.
Dirt 5 drops on Play🌜St⛎ation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Stadia on November 6th.