What is new this time to WRC to warrant a sequel? All 16 WRC locations have been included, spanning over 5 continents and 100 stages. There have also been new WRC events added in Mexico and Japan, and a new location in Sardinia. Like most racing games these days, the damage model has been overhauled and is much more accurate than beforehand. There are a few modes in WRC to keep players entertained, including time trial, quick race and an events challenge which contains some good distractions including a test track.
Those of you with a network adaptor will get great use out of this game. Up to sixteen players can compete on the WRC stages. Players will face off against live ghost cars, which is different and fairer than the Rallisport Challenge 2 online structure. Players also have the option of downloading the best ghost car to time trial against in order to improve their skills. There are also two lobbys public, for those wanting general chit chat, and race, for those up for some racing action.
The main mode in WRC is the Pro Driver Challenge. This takes the player through the career of a professional rally driver, in a way which is very similar to Colin McRae Rally 2005. Players will be able to go through all aspects of rally racing, including learning how to setup and repair your car.
There is also a super special mode which pits the player against another rally car in a two-lane rally across the Super Special stages. WRC also includes a exclusive 2004 car, the Peugeot 307. New Super 1600 and Group N4 cars have also been added to the flock.
The game play has been tweaked in WRC 4 and cars now have a much more realistic feel. The unlockables included in the game help to extend the lifespan significantly. Winning races will earn points which unlock new cars, stages and cheats. One of the most disappointing things about WRC 4 is extremely trivial, but none the less irriating - it seems to use the same menu system from the past games. We would love to see an overhaul of the menu system to remove the resounding feeling of “familiarity”.
Evolution studios also claim that the graphics have undergone a huge change, but, to be honest, they look practically identical to the past game The dirt, mud and rain don’t compare to the crisp look of Colin McRae Rally 2005, and often the game looks worse than its predecessors. There are a few added features, such as more detail in the environment, but it's nothing substantial.
After four incarnations of WRC it is no surprise that the audio is pretty much spot on. The engine noises all sound extremely realistic, and the co-driver is as accurate as he is ever going to get. If you listen hard enough, you can even hear some parts falling off the cars, windows breaking or the crowd cheering. One other thing to note (as many of you are likely to compare this review to that of Colin McRae Rally 2005) is that the loading on WRC 4 is fantastic. There is barely two seconds between the action and this allows for a free-flowing gaming experience.
So far all of this is sounding like a pretty complete package that is bound to last for an extremely long time. We are warning you that actually completing everything the game has to offer is going to be one hell of a challenge. This can often be a positive and a negative, depending on how much you love your rally games.
Rally is not everybody’s type of game and WRC 4 is appealing strictly to the hardcore rally fans. As such, the game is a little harder to pick up and play than other driving games out there. WRC 4 really is a fantastic package though, offering a lot of modes, unlockables and exclusives which you will not find in any other rally game. At PALGN we are very apprehensive about the “yearly sequel” and we basically know that there is going to be a WRC title next year which would be the only thing holding us off a purchase. However, as it stands by itself, WRC 4 is a quality title that is surprisingly better than we expected - just don’t be too surprised when WRC 5 comes out next year.
*
Loading...
