Developer: Kylotonn Games
Publisher: Big Ben Interactive
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tested on: PS4
WRC 5 – Review
Racing games have been around ever since gaming first took off. As the platforms they’re played on become more powerful, so do the games themselves. WRC 5 is a great example of a relevant rally game that finds the perfect balance between being accessible and challenging. But most of all, it’s just very, very fun to play.
Story
The heart of every racing or rally game is its career mode, and WRC 5’s career mode is both fun and satisfying. With official cars, real teams and real drivers, WRC 5 brings its A game and expects you to bring yours. After a quick test drive, players are offered a variety of contracts. Are you someone who likes to drive fast and finish first no matter the damage to the car? Or do you take your corners carefully, minimising damage and costs while still aiming for the best results? The game urges you to choose carefully, as different contracts ask you to meet different requirements and have different minds behind them. You’re not only choosing a racing style, but also which team you’ll work with. WRC 5 tries its best to make you feel like your input matters: choosing the correct contract genuinely feels important and there is enough variety to fit any type of driver.
You would be hard pressed to find a racing game without a decent online game mode though, and of course WRC 5 also offers the opportunity to use its multiplayer and will feature an in-game championship during the duration of the real WRC.
Graphics
WRC 5’s graphics are decent. Environments and cars look great for a rally game, but the PS4 version of the game doesn’t always deliver stable results. Perhaps this is a side effect of the game’s simultaneous release for not only PC, but current and last gen consoles as well. While never too noticeable, it might bother graphic purists. With the game’s focus on details, different weather conditions as well as day and night cycles, the graphical hiccups are easily forgiven though. Tracks look great and are always interesting and challenging.
The game allows you to switch between a number of different points of view. The player can decide to take place behind the wheel with the cockpit view, focus on just the road with a street view only, or see the entire car for better control. The cockpit is relatively realistic and has enough details to make the game feel lifelike, but personally we felt as if the view where you see the entire car was the easiest one to use.
Sound
In-game cars sound good enough, with roaring engines and squeaking tires, but your co-pilot’s voice acting might become a bit too much to handle after long bouts of playing. This is easily fixed though, as WRC 5 has a detailed menu that allows you to control the volume of different aspects to the audio separately. It is great how the co-pilot responds to your driving style though, for example, when you crash your co-pilot will ask if you’re okay. The female voice welcoming you to the game when you first start it up is a neat touch, and the soundtrack has an exciting feel to it.
Gameplay
WRC5 is a rally slash racing game, and it does what it wants to do very well. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re a beginner or a die hard rally games fan: the cars handle well enough for beginners to have fun while racing, whilst more experienced players will find a challenge in beating the best AI drivers. There are different difficulty modes to suit everyone’s needs and you choose how much you want the game to help you as there is a variety of assets that can be turned on or off when necessary. Overall though, the game is quite forgiving. Controls are relatively easy to get the hang of and feel responsive, while allowing room for some mistakes. Sometimes it does feel as if the game doesn’t want to make you feel bad though; while the best AI players provide a challenge, it’s never too hard to beat at least a couple of drivers. The tutorial section of the game is quite broad, as is common for racing games, and very functional as it really teaches less experienced drivers how to handle the car on the often bendy roads.
The career mode offers a set of responsibilities that complement the game’s racing aspect. Damaging the car means you have to decide which parts need to be replaced, you are the one who needs to choose the appropriate set-up for the track you’ll be racing on (we tried racing with the wrong set of tires once, it will get you a trophy but is not otherwise recommended), and your co-pilot will act and react based on how you drive. All of these aspects make the game feel more lifelike and keep it from being too straightforward. Progress is made when you win more races, and this means you get worthier opponents as well as better cars, providing an incentive to move forward. The career mode is satisfying and challenging, but the game’s quick rally and offline and online multiplayer mode are also quite fun to try out. Racing other players’ “ghosts” is a cool touch to the otherwise familiar structure.
Conclusion
WRC 5 is a great rally game with minor let-downs when it comes to graphics and audio. The game does what it wants to do very well though, and racing with the various cars is very fun and as challenging as you want it to be. This is the type of game that will entertain even gamers who aren’t typically fans of the genre as well as rally purists. WRC 5 is a big game by a relatively small company, and definitely one to keep an eye on.
WRC 5 - Review,
No Comments