La EA Sports WRC Review It comes exactly in the same week in which the race for the world title in the WRC championship ends with the victory, for the second time in a row, of the very young Kalle Rovanperä aboard the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. If the matches are practically over in the real world, in the virtual world things are just beginning, as fans around the world will now be able to tour all the stages of the official championship from the comfort of their desk or sofa.
There are many new features, but the most important goes beyond the game content and refers to the change of developers, where the English team Codemasters talks about Rally again having produced what is still recognized as the best of the genre: Dirt Rally 2.0. This is also the first title in the WRC series published by Electronic Arts, which now seems to aim to supply licensed products also in the world of four-wheeled sports thanks to the acquisition of one of the historic teams dedicated to racing.
To underline this change of direction of the series is the name, which will be from now on. EA Deportes WRC.
Climb to the summit
In our EA Sports WRC test we had already explored the general structure of the game, which does not bring with it any great new features. In fact, a similarly licensed title must feature a Career mode that always exactly reproduces the stages of the WRC championship. The team will be able to contribute its grain of sand when this progression is well done and interspersed with events capable of providing a breath of fresh air between one race and another.
In fact, the race is faithfully reproduced, but leaves room for sponsored events and other types of racing for manufacturers. who manage to break a monotonous succession of careers. Letting the player choose which event to undertake week after week, while not new, is a more than welcome confirmation. The only condition is that, once a championship has started, it cannot be interrupted and, consequently, there will be much less room to escape from the race for the world title.
The starting point is once again delegated to the player who will be able to start the Race from the Junior WRC division, from WRC 2 or directly from the top category of the WRC. Another possibility offered to the user is to compete for an already established team or create a completely new one with the possibility of creating your own car by choosing the components, used, reconditioned or new. This is closely related to an internal economic system, determined by a weekly budget, determined by victories and the results of events.
If spending money is really easy between repairs and improvements from our engineering team, winning is a little more complicated and depends solely on your location in stages: the better the latter, the greater the funds donated by the benefactor at the head of the team. The state of mind of those who invest in us is not the only one that influences the development of the team: the mechanics and the entire environment also need motivation and a well-deserved rest to stay in shape during the long championship.
Have the qualities of a champion
As we said above, although there are many variables to pay attention to, the bulk of the work comes when you put all four wheels on snow, asphalt or dirt. During the previous test we had some doubts and not everything seemed to work perfectly but now, with the final version at our disposal, most of those errors have been eliminated with a decisive deletion. It's really rare to see such a major change in the game in just a few weeks, but we can only be extremely happy and be able to say with absolute certainty that The EA Sports WRC driving model is the best seen in recent years..
Veterans and all those who want to spend some time learning braking times, timing the handbrake and, above all, understanding the balance of the car, will realize that they have it in their hands. one of the most satisfying experiences dedicated to this genre. Speeding down small strips of dirt or narrow city streets is just as fun as trying to maintain grip on snowy stretches. This isn't the most realistic rally driving model ever created, and it probably wasn't even Codemasters' main intention given that they also leave a lot of room for assists if you want to activate them to mitigate the difficulty.
Driving is extremely fun and satisfying, once you become familiar with your car, to the point that you will be able to alleviate the boredom that can be felt stage after stage, if you do not take a break in the tests proposed on the calendar. We also remind you that if you do not feel ready to face your career immediately, you can dedicate some time to rally school, very well structured to provide the right knowledge and driving lessons for beginners, but also as a useful refresher for those feeling a little rusty. To test yourself even more before trying to win the title, there are Time Trials, better known as sprint races, to see how you can achieve a time worthy of a world champion.
Having said this, we must admit however that there are some defects and we refer to sometimes excessive behavior in case of collision with some objects present on the edge of the track or excessive slippery in case of frozen ground, for example. It's not perfect or realistic, but that doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed most of the time. This fair balance between engine power and car weight offers an excellent driving model, even with the remote control. Obviously the steering wheel and pedals are the best peripherals for an immersive and precise experience.
Go back to the legends, at a high cost.
In addition to online, to compete with friends or with other users from around the world, there is another type of content beyond Race and Championship. We are talking about Meetings and Events, stages on iconic circuits with the cars that have made the history of the WRC: they are not only pure and tough races, but also a path of memories for rally lovers, who will be able to relive legendary moments of this sport.
Furthermore, the developer will constantly update this mode with the regular publication of new stages, both to keep the title alive over time and to enrich the game's offer for free with increasingly iconic stages to entertain fans. Unfortunately, not everything will be available to everyone; In the final version of the game we had confirmation of what we saw in our last test, that is Some stages, such as some cosmetics, will only be available to those with an active EA Play subscription., the Electronic Arts service that has been on the market for a few years.
This mechanic, in our opinion, could set a rather dangerous precedent within Electronic Arts titles, where paying the full price of the game will not be enough to enjoy all the offers that the title offers. Asking for an additional subscription cost seems to replace the previously known method of selling themed car packages, although in this case it is about real races and not just a larger fleet of cars and extra liveries. All of this obviously doesn't affect the quality of Moments, but we think it's right to keep this exclusion in mind for those who aren't willing to subscribe to play EA Sports WRC.
As mentioned, these limits also affect some cosmetic elements such as suits, helmets and liveries, but obviously these are only aesthetics and not game content. However, the editor and the free Season Pass are quite extensive and offer several mods capable of giving players many options without having to resort to spending money to have a range of satisfying options.
Del Ego Engine al Unreal Engine 4
For this new chapter, the development team wanted to abandon its historic Ego Engine to move to a more standard one. 4 Unreal Engine. With this step we noticed improvements on an aesthetic level, visually more pleasant and cleaner to look at, although the assets used are still outdated.
but nevertheless The appearance is that of a game with a few years behind it, if we had to make a comparison with what we saw in the last Gran Turismo and in Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon. A direct comparison is quite harsh and would not be entirely correct, but the visual standards are currently still very far from what the WRC shows.
However, settings from around the world, from Japan to Italy, are faithfully reproduced and decidedly easy on the eyes. like the new car proposal in every detail. What is mainly shocking are the details of the edge of the track, such as grass, some rocks, the crowd, etc. These are details that could certainly be taken better care of, but they certainly don't make the transition between a tight turn and a jump any worse.
We found it in its place the sound department is excellent, with a convincing reproduction of the roar of the engines and the sizzling of the muffler, the "noises" capable of exciting and immersing lovers of this sport even more outside of consoles and PC. The dubbing is also quite good, both for the characters who introduce the game's features and for the co-pilot, although he obviously does not show any emotion when listing the curves, but perhaps it was too much to ask.
Conclusions
Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store Holygamerz.com 8.0 Readers (17) 6.6 your voteEA Sports WRC marks two great returns: Codemasters returns to develop a rally-themed game and a driving model that closely imitates what was seen in Dirt Rally 2.0. These two variables alone would be enough to offer the best rally game in recent years, but this title also offers a Race quite full of events in addition to the main scenarios and Moments, the best content of the entire offer. Among the new features there is also a change in the graphics engine that improves the visual representation without standing out on a technical level. There are some uncertainties at the optimization level and some collisions are quite exaggerated for a game that does not offer rewinds, but only the possibility of restarting the race five times. Despite this, EA Sports WRC is undoubtedly a solid reboot of the series on which to base future titles under the Electronic Arts label.
PRO
- Solid and fun driving model.
- Graphic improvements with the engine change.
- Moments are great additional content for your career
AGAINST
- Collisions and road behavior (in some cases) still to be reviewed
- No it shines aesthetically
- Some game content requires an EA Play subscription
