Review: WRC 4 FIA World Rally Championship

Now I know this may come as a surprise to some people, but racing isn’t only about going around the same circuit a bunch of times. Furthermore, for our American readers, racing isn’t all about turning left either.

As a matter of fact, when it comes to the world of motorsport, there’s a whole lot of variety, if not just from the different tracks and types of vehicles, but to the style of racing too. Whether it’s V8 Supercars or NASCAR, Formula One, or MotoGP, there’s no denying that each one takes a certain type of character and bravery, but as I’ve discovered recently, there’s really none which take it to the level that rally does.

The problem is, while we’ve seen a host of off-road racing titles this generation — think of the DiRT or Motorstorm franchises — very few really deliver an authentic rally experience, where none really showcase what it’s like to be an actual rally driver and what it entails. On the other hand, the last few WRC titles by Italian-based developers Milestone have done well in providing a solid rally experience. The problem, however, has always come with their presentation; in-short, the games played well, but looked horrid. For this reason, the past few WRC games have been a little hit-and-miss. Now with WRC 4 though, I think Milestone have finally released a product that looks as well as it plays.

The first thing I like about WRC 4 is its no-nonsense approach. The biggest gripe I’ve had with the last few titles from the DiRT franchise was how detracted they felt from the real world of rally; yes, they featured off-road racing, but the sheer emphasis on gymkhana just left the games feeling more about style than substance, and this is where Milestone need to be applauded. With WRC 4, the focus is on delivering an authentic rally experience, and I think they’ve succeeded in this regard.

One of the new features to the game comes in the form of the “Service Park” and the race weekend in career mode. Taking a similar leaf from the MotoGP franchise, the main hub for the career takes place in your motor-home. From here you can read press clippings, view the championship standings, and also select the next race weekend/rally to participate in. Once you’ve done this, you progress to the service park. Here you’ll be able to check the race conditions, repair your vehicle, and fine-tune your set-up for the rallies ahead. Each race weekend consists of six stages, with the ability to return to the service park after every second race. It works well in creating that true WRC atmosphere and really delivers this sense of strategy and caution when it comes to how aggressive you are during each of the rally stages – push too hard and you’ll risk damaging your car for the first stage, therefore affecting the second. Since you’re only given a limited amount of time to spent on repairs each time as well, you also need to make that trade-off between which parts are essential and which you can leave going into the next stage.

WRC 4 also introduces different light conditions as well. Throughout the weekend you’ll go from sunrise, to daylight, to sunset, and while the difference between sunrise and daylight seemed negligible, I was genuinely surprised at how much more difficult the rallies were at sunset. When you’re not given a mini-map to work from, relying strictly on pace-notes to determine what’s ahead really heightens that sense of driving blind. There were multiple times where I’d end up losing my lead on the evening tracks simply because it was that much harder to see where I was going.

Gameplay-wise, WRC 4 excels and is a real treat to play. With Milestone including each of the official WRC stages and vehicles, you’ll never feel like the game feels repetitive or boring, and with each rally varying both in look and layout, it’s always a (fun) learning process. Narrowly avoiding falling off a cliff or crashing into a barrier as you approach a hairpin, pull the handbrake, and throw your car into a corner makes for racing that you just don’t get from the likes of F1 2013 or the Forza Motorsport for example. As you progress throughout the different classes in WRC you’ll need to adjust your racing style too, where braking early and frequently is essentially in some of the top-tier WRC cars, compared to the WRC3 and WRC2 vehicles that allow you to get away with so much more. All-in-all, it’s sure to please those racing enthusiasts out there, and with all your standard driving assists in the game as well, should be accessible to newcomers of the sport too.

Now the last aspect of WRC 4 which needs to be covered is its presentation, and as I alluded to earlier, it’s here that the most noticeable changes in the franchise have been made. The menus in this game are clean, colourful and crisp. During the loading stages you’ll get to read driving tips or mock interviews from your fellow competitors, each with a picture of the drivers or their cars. While this might sound trivial, it seriously makes all the difference (especially when you compare it to the likes of WRC 2, where the game looked so bad it essentially made it difficult to keep playing). The cars also look and sound fantastic, where the crackling roar of my WRC2 Mitsubishi Evolution IX never failed to impress. It should be noted however that while the game boasts the fact that the audience, trees, and landscapes are more detailed and realistic than ever, they are somewhat lacking for a game in 2013, but when you’re blaring down the Italian countryside, the poorly modelled face of a spectator becomes irrelevant when you’re focusing understanding “hairpin left handbrake, caution, right 4, tightens” from your co-driver. You’ll really only notice it at the beginning of each rally when you’re not moving.

Often I’ll play licensed motorsport games where they just don’t feel ‘official’, however with WRC 4, this isn’t the case. I’m pleased to say that while this isn’t the greatest looking racer I’ve played, the franchise is finally at a stage where gameplay is solid and isn’t let down by its historically poor presentation. With each stage, team, and vehicle in the WRC world recreated in this game, there’s definitely enough for all rally fans to get stuck into and enjoy. Well done Milestone, this might be your best racing game yet.