WRC 8

It’s been a two year wait for WRC 7’s successor but it’s finally here and I’m glad to say, overall, it’s been worth the wait. Whilst KT Racing’s franchise has been the officially licensed series, it has been in the shadow of Codemaster’s revitalized Dirt series of games. However, after spending many hours intentionally going sideways, I can safely say that WRC 8 makes a compelling argument to ditch Dirt 2.0 for something a little bit different.

Whilst I’m a big fan of Dirt 2.0 for many reasons there’s one thing that I desperately miss, the force-feedback model from Dirt Rally. It was absolutely sublime with a subtlety that has yet to be matched. When I reviewed its successor earlier this year I was disappointed to find that it had lost out to Dirt 4’s more arcade style handling. Whilst it was still tough and fun to play on pad or wheel, it lacked feel, which is rather important in rallying.

Whilst WRC 8 doesn’t quite reach the heights of Dirt Rally it does manage to achieve a middle-ground. What it lacks in nuance it makes up for in feel and after a couple of decent 10km long stages your arms will certainly feel it! That’s not to say you can’t play on a pad and thanks to the series’ arcade roots it has a strong foundation to build on. Depending on the drive-train you’ll need to carefully manage your inputs if you want to go fast. The full-blooded WRC monsters require delicate inputs to manage their insane grip and acceleration whereas others require you to manage the throttle more to coax them round. It’s all doable on a pad and makes it fun to play if you’re not a wheel owner.

Improvements aren’t limited to the handling either, things have stepped up quite nicely in the graphics department. Lighting is quite lovely and there’s lots of beauty to be had around the various locations and stages of the WRC. From the snow stages of Sweden to the red-dirt laden tracks of Australia it’s all there to be admired. Whilst things are looking better it’s not perfect as it seems that, irrespective of surface, the dust kicked up from your wheels is the same, even on snow. It’s was odd to notice but once seen it’s hard to look past as is the haphazard indestructibility of the scenery. Sometimes you can run over that shrub and then again, it can also stop your car dead. I also encountered a few, seemingly, invisible hazards which is a shame to see.

Despite the few oddities however the WRC fan will be spoiled for choice when it’s time to hit the stage. Should you decide to dodge the career mode there’s representation from all the major WRC teams and drivers. If you decided to do a quick, one-off stage or season, you can choose any one of the driver/co-driver pairs from the roster. Given my penchant for disappearing off the track I often went with Elfyn Evans but on occasion I would pick Esapekka Lapi more for how awesome his name sounds than anything else (though he is rather talented).

Outside of one-off stages and seasons you can also head off in to a full on career mode. This time around you’ll need to manage your team as well as pick upgrades through an ever familiar skill-tree. They range from performance boosts to rewarding more XP. It’s all very familiar if you’ve played other racing games. Whilst I doubt any real WRC driver has much to do with the everyday running of their team it adds a little bit of depth to the career mode and makes it something a bit more than just elongated version of its season mode. Your career starts off in WRC 2 where you must show your worth before you’re offered a full WRC drive. If you want an extra challenge you can also choose to qualify for a WRC 2 seat rather than waltzing right into a seat.

The career mode isn’t easy and once you start turning off the assists and changing the damage model to something more realistic WRC 8 becomes an entirely different beast. Where once you had a challenging yet forgiving simulation you now have one which when it bites, it bites hard. It’s here that rally simulation die-hards will likely stand their ground and whilst for some it won’t quite be Richard Burn’s Rally it’s certainly something that gives Dirt Rally 2.0 something to worry about. Mostly because that it’s here the ever so slightly better feel that WRC 8 gives makes all the difference.

The “one feel for all surfaces” that I felt in Dirt Rally 2.0 often left me in a heap and made me reluctant to turn terminal damage on. WRC 8 on the other hand made me feel confident enough that I gave it a try. I still ended up in a pile of twisted metal but it was my own stupidity rather than a lack of feedback that put me there. It might not mean much to some, especially if you play WRC 8 exclusively on the pad but wheel owners can feel slightly more confident in their skills here than in Codemaster’s flagship rally sim.

At the moment, thought, multiplayer action is thin on the ground. Much like Dirt, there are challenges each week where you do your best and post the fastest stage time. You can have a go as often as you like should you, like me, feel that you can always go faster. There’s also an e-sports element that doesn’t seem to be live yet (as I can’t do anything) and a multiplayer lobby area with seemingly no-one playing. No matter the hour there never seemed to be an open lobby and despite opening my own, no-one came to play. Sure there’s leaderboards for every stage but they’re not split by class so you’re forced to use the WRC cars should you wish to chase top times. Whilst there is local multiplayer it’s a shame that it’s online component seems dead on arrival.

We’re not quite into PES vs FIFA territory yet but if WRC 8 is anything to go by KT Racing are on the right track. WRC 8 isn’t perfect and there’s a few, unfortunate failings that hold it back from perhaps being the overall winner. However, if multiplayer competition doesn’t swing things for you then WRC 8’s single-player components are compelling. Those disillusioned by Codemaster’s recent outing may find the challenge and the subsequent thrill of success in WRC 8 a more compelling package.