WRC 2 FIA World Rally Championship is the latest of the official WRC games. Bringing up-to-date content from the 2011 championship, WRC 2 looks to bring the excitement of rallies to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and PC. Full of fast paced drifting rally action will WRC 2 FIA World Rally Championship get first position or fail to get off the line?
Let’s find out and kick-off the hots and nots.
Hots
Career mode
The career isn’t anything new to the racing genre. WRC 2 uses the classic main championship experience as the career; to be honest if anything more elaborate was used it wouldn’t seem at home, in the otherwise realistic rally title. During the career players will be able to hire mechanics, engineers and co-drivers, before participating in the event calendar. Winning and partaking in races will gain the player money, which can then be spent on upgrades to cars, new cars and even paint jobs.
Rally school
WRC 2 has a useful Rally School mode that allows players to hone in their driving skills, over the games multiple terrains. The rally school mode lets players practise on short sections of stages, to get used to the way the cars handle but also to use the ghost and racing line feature to improve at cornering. While it isn’t a step by step tutorial, it is still an effective practising tool which is great for new players.
Rally tracks
Each rally has its own unique feel to it: bringing urban stages, dirt stages and icy stages together over the single player career experience. Gamers will also find there is enough variation in the different stages of the rallies, to not only keep them entertained but more importantly engrossed in the game. Novices will be able to enjoy each track trying to beat their own time or friends records. Veterans will be able to enjoy hours of gameplay, whilst trying to shave off seconds of their overall time, while still enjoying the rally locations.
Choice of cars
There is a decent selection of vehicles set over nine different car categories; including WRC and Safari cars. Each comes with their own unique look, as well as information on who actually drives the car in real life. All have a pleasant feel to them, with their own attributes for the handling and acceleration, which means players will be able to select the one which suits their style best. During stages and rallies the vehicles will gain damage, which can be repaired either automatically or manually by the player; choosing whether they fix the body or parts underneath.
Navigation
While in a rally game having a navigator is an expected feature, this being said WRC 2 manages to do a phenomenal job. At no point does the navigator lag behind the race, leaving the player without directions or information on upcoming corners. A nice attribute is the way that the navigator congratulates the driver after setting a good time in a sector or screaming “Oh no” when a player drifts into a wall, losing valuable time.
The navigator not only helps inexperienced players but also those who are familiar with the game. With detailed information and forewarning on each corner and chicanes, new players will be able to enjoy driving and racing the tracks. Veterans will be capable of using it to perfectly master a stage or even a whole rally.
Nots
Graphics and effects
The visuals are by no means awful, yet they don’t match up to other driving rally titles such as Dirt 3. Despite the fact the graphics aren’t an eyesore and it would have been nice to see a little more polish on the presentation. Some nice touches are added such as water splashing onto the windscreen, followed by the windscreen wipers going, regrettably even these don’t seem as smooth as they could be. While not majorly important, when the player does see a crowd or at least a group of people stood at the side of the track they detract even more from the presentation, as they look like something from the last generation of gaming.
No spark
First and foremost I must point out the game is fun to play, alas it manages to lose the interest of players quicker than other rally titles. WRC 2 FIA World Rally Championship is, as the name makes clear, a rally game but it fails to bring anything else to the table. Other content could potentially make it a more sought after title. Unfortunately being just a solid rally game doesn’t seem enough.
Verdict
Overall WRC 2 is a well built entertaining title which many gamers will enjoy. While the graphical presentation does let it down, the game is about rallying and the cars, and this is what WRC 2 does well. Rallies and stages are all great fun to hurtle down, trying to set the best possible times and the cars handle realistically; drifting and sliding around corners differently over each terrain. Whether or not you will play WRC 2 for a couple of weeks or months truly depends on if you are a major rally fan, as it lacks the edge of other rally titles.
[Editor’s Note: WRC 2 FIA World Rally Championship was reviewed on the PlayStation 3. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]
