Ever since it was announced that the official WRC (World Rally Championship) licence was heading back to Codemasters, we have been hyped for this one. For those not in the know, Codemasters are the studio behind some of the best sim racers in gaming history, including the Colin McRae Rally and Dirt series. Expectations are thusly sky high for EA Sports WRC, the newest instalment in the long-running World Rally Championship series.
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The licence lay with French publisher Nacon from 2015 until last year, and their WRC titles have always been of a good standard. Their swansong, WRC Generations, was probably the pinnacle of their time with the licence and this sets the bar for Codemasters return even higher.
Grand Dirt Tour
Things kick off with you creating a driver and co-driver from the limited customization options and then your off, you battle your way through the career mode with that never changing goal to be WRC champion.
It’s your standard offering within the racing today’s career racing sphere. You’re hiring and firing backroom staff while trying to achieve goals. These goals are mostly set by your sponsors to keep them happy, and keep the lights on as you jump across a number of different events built around the bread-and-butter WRC rallies.
While the F1 titles are also from the garage over at Codemasters, there is no Formula 1 series-style ‘Breaking Points’ story-driven offering. And, while this might be a little disappointing to some, it’s somewhat understandable.
There is no rally equivalent of Drive to Survive, so Codemasters likely elected to skip it with no expectations of a similar ultra casual narrative-hungry crowd to sate.
At the Wheel
The controls of EA Sports WRC are easy to pick up. The key to mastery lies with learning the nuances of each car. The gamut runs all the way from the underpowered but nimble and predictable, to the monsters who need to be constantly tamed.
There is also the depth involved in mastering each surface under your tyres. EA Sports WRC throws the lot at you – pristine tarmac, dirt, mud, snow, and even ice. Each demands your attention every single second you are at the wheel, just like they should.
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And just when you feel like you are getting the hang of this particular mud, you’ll be flung onto two kilometres of road just to keep you on your toes. The game handles its array of handling conditions well.
You always feel like there’s more time on the table. And like the best racing games, you don’t have to look at the timer or the speedometer to know you’ve nailed a corner or a section, you can feel it.
World Touring Cars
There is a solid selection runs and tracks with over 200 to pick from. However, this figure is mostly made of longer runs that have been cut up into smaller stages from the 18 WRC rallies.
There are the best current events from the WRC calender like the Rallye Monte Carlo, Rally Estonia and Vodafone Rally de Portugal. And they are joined by a few ficticious tracks like Rally Mediterraneo and Fanatec Rally Oceania.
You can also take your skills online and race against the best in the world with up to up to 32 cross-platform players which is a nice touch, though there is a bit of a wait at times for things to kick off.
Assessing the Competizione
The gameloop is of EA Sports WRC is simple on paper. Pick a car, tune it just right, hit the dirt, and listen to your co-driver barking pace notes at you. Classic.
You get 78 rally cars to have a muddy good time in. Ten of which are from the World Rally Championship. Machines featured include the Puma of M-Sport, i20 N of Hyundai and GR Yaris of Toyota.
These are also backed up by World Rally Championship-2 and the Junior World Rally Championship offerings; like the Ford Fiesta Rally 3.
There are also 68 other classic and iconic rally cars. EA Sports WRC features the likes of Citroën Xsara WRC, Mini John Cooper Works WRC, and, of course, Colin McRae’s R4.
So, there is plenty of raw horsepower to throw around the place and try as hard as you might to not wrap around a tree in the middle of nowhere.
WRC Builder Mode
But, if you can’t find a ride to suit you, there is always the new Builder mode. This lets you build a rally car from the ground up, and is a real time sink. Escpecially if you want to get the best out of your dream machine. Many of you will wile away hours tinkering and swapping until something special emerges.
Visually, EA Sports WRC looks passable overall. The cars are the stars and they look the part, no question about that. However, everything else around them can be questionable.
The spectators, shrubs and trees track-side look dated and unconvincing at a second glance. The snow rallies look wrong. It’s as if a snow texture has simply been overlaid on the track and comes across as lifeless.
Sound however is great; cars pop, bang and growl in very pleasing tones. Your co-op driver is suitably clear and sharp. However, he is as dull as dish water and could really use some personality.
Special Stage
EA Sports WRC features a few technical hiccups. The framerate can drop at the worst times. There are also micro freezes and even some graphical pop-up to contend with. Although, patches are supposedly on the way to to fix some of these issues.
EA Sports WRC had a mountain to climb but it could only muster a solid if flawed outing. And, given the garage it rolled out of, it’s just that bit more disappointing.
If this was from a studio making their debút in the discipline, it would be a solid foundation to build on. The driving model captures the subtleties and the not-so-subtleties of World Rally, and that’s the meat of promise going forward.
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But this is Codemasters – the birthplace of modern rally sims and the studio which delivers solid, polished and deep F1 games lap after lap. It’s possible that too much was expected from the studio who crafted several of the best licenced racing titles of all time. However, discerning gamers know they are capable of so much more than what has been delivered with EA Sports WRC.