World Rally Championship 2 is the latest gaming representation of the popular World Rally Championship, widely considered to be one of the most technically challenging racing sports in the world. If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll feel immediately at home in WRC 2. If not, that doesn’t matter too much – getting into the swing of things is relatively easy.
Featuring 32 cars; 86 drivers; 14 locations; 13 rallies; *breathes*; 89 total tracks; 78 stages and 5 super special stages – the official WRC game lets you “Live the life of a real rally driver.”
But does it really?
Gameplay
Gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to the actual racing. The cars feel slightly disconnected, not quite as dynamic or responsive as you would expect from a rallying vehicle. This become less apparent as you play through more of the game; though I would attribute that to the player being able to better predict how the car will handle in situations, rather than the game mechanics improving.
Playing with a gamepad or racing wheel is especially immersive; though one would expect more vibration feedback from the controller given the types of courses you’re racing on, as well as the way you’re throwing your car around the track.
Beyond feeling slightly disconnected and the lack of feedback, WRC offers a solid racing experience in terms of gameplay. Menus are easy enough to navigate, and those who played the original WRC game will appreciate the familiarity.
New features
Graphics are a slight improvement over the original WRC game, and the game can hold its own against other late 2011 titles when it comes to eye candy. Interestingly, the game fares well on older systems, a bonus for those who are no longer on the cutting edge of technology.
Perhaps the most interesting new feature is the rewind effect, allowing drivers who didn’t take a section of the track perfectly to rewind the race by a few seconds, and allow them a second chance to nail the section perfectly. While this may be cheating in most other games, it does allow novice drivers to learn and master driving techniques in a very forgiving way.
There is also a rally school, to introduce newer drivers to the style of rallying, in the form of six short lessons – which is nice but leaves you feeling slightly underprepared for the game.
Career mode
Working your way through the career mode is exactly what you’d expect from a career racer; win races, progress further, unlock cool stuff.
The unfortunate side of the career mode is that better equipment and higher income is locked until you reach both a higher skill and higher reputation level – which does become slightly tedious and time-consuming. Beyond this, game progression feels rather set in stone, with not much allowing you to make strategic decisions that will have a large impact on your race results.
This makes the career slightly cumbersome, though beyond that, the career has the right mix of challenging and engaging aspects that make it entertaining enough.
Multiplayer
A new multiplayer aspect of WRC includes 16-player online racing – which features a new quick-match system dedicated to racing on the new super special game stages. Besides this quick-match aspect, there are the single stage, single rally and championship modes that allow you to spend varying amounts of time racing against online opponents. The multiplayer component works well on slower connections too, another feather in WRC 2’s cap.
The rest
Beyond the main aspects of the game there are various other features to pad things out. There is a photo mode which allows you pause the game, pose your vehicle and take a screenshot before applying various special effects – to end up with a new wallpaper.
The online ranking system is also fairly comprehensive and allows you to compare your progress with that of your friends and other WRC 2 gamers. Also worth a mention is the co-driver audio. Milestone took advice from professional rallying co-drivers which results in a co-driver experience that is informative and accurate.
Conclusion
Perhaps I’d be harder on WRC 2 if I were a rallying enthusiast. However, apart from the slight disconnected driving experience in the beginning, WRC 2 is an impressive racing simulator for those who want to “Live the life of a real rally driver” after a long day at the office.
Fun, challenging, graphically impressive, with accurate audio and a wide range of tracks, drivers and cars – WRC 2 won’t be a contender for game of the year, but it does justify its price tag for driving fans.
Pros: Fun, extensive gameplay options
Cons: Slightly disconnected driving experience
Loading ...
