WRC FIA World Rally Championship 4 Review

re: WRC FIA World Rally Championship 4 Review

Where We’re going, We don’t need roads

It’s something of a shame that the majority of the racing genre has gone all ‘Need for Speed’ over the years and frequently puts spectacle before performance. Forza has been doing fine things, of course, but it doesn’t seem like very long ago that if you really wanted to test your driving skills, you’d jump into a Colin McRae game. It probably says a lot about how much we miss those rally titles that we were genuinely excited by the off-road add-on to Forza Horizon –and why we’re happy to accept WRC 4’s limitations and simply revel in the pure and simple rallying experience it delivers. Why not search for your favorite WRC Game now?


There are no frills, no bombast, no neon or nitrous boosts; just a straightup  WRC experience that features every stage of every rally, in the closest thing to a rally sim that you’ll find on console. Milestone has even dropped the arcade-style mini-games from WRC 3 to focus purely on delivering what racing fans want, and that’s a superbly balanced handling system matched only by the demands of the terrain you’ll get to hammer down. It’s a bit of a shame, but we can fully understand its thinking that there’s only one serious part of the package worth perfecting.

While we’re looking for easy reasons to knock WRC 4, the game isn’t much of a looker, either. The authentically recreated settings (albeit scaled-down versions of the real thing) are packing more detail than before, and there’s a great contrast between them, with a mixture of snow-capped mountains, thick forests and dusty, open deserts.  However, even though there are some sweet vistas to soak up, if you can tear your eyes away from the track in front of you long enough to enjoy them, the visuals and overall presentation can appear somewhat old and dated in comparison to the majority of the modern mainstream.

Although that may be a problem for a title based on style over substance, for WRC 4 it’s merely a passing disappointment as the game is all about the racing. All 78 stages of the 13 rallies (as well as all the cars and drivers) from this year’s championships are in there, and in the Career mode you’ll get to work your way up from wildcard entries in Junior WRC, through WRC 3, WRC 2 [ps3] and finally to the big guns of the WRC. And besides a few multiplayer options, that’s about it – but if you’re into rallying then this should be plenty.  As you’d expect from a Milestone game (the dev also makes the SBK series), the handling is mostly spot-on throughout. At times you’ll think the cars feel a bit light or unduly slippery but that’s only until you find the limits of each vehicle, as the progression from your standard Ford Focus through to the likes of a Mitsubishi Lancer and the scarily fast cars of the WRC, such as Sébastian Loeb’s Citroen DS3, is noticeably different in response and performance. You’ll constantly need to push each car to its limit, but at the same time it’s about knowing when to ease off.

The tracks themselves tie into those choices, with the mixture of snow, mud, gravel and dust affecting grip, balance and slide. The icy surfaces of Sweden, for example, also include deep ruts down the side that will drag you into the snowy banks if you drift too wide, so maintaining a solid racing line becomes all the more important. Some corners can be cut, others need a precision handbrake turn to dig the nose into the apex of a hairpin and maintain speed into the next crazily tight turn. It’s very much balls out full throttle action, but with an overbearing sense of fear and respect for the environment.

The rewind feature remains to pull you out of any serious problems (though its use is limited based on your profile choices), which does prevent any frustrating last-stage rally-ending crashes, and the game itself isn’t too punishing if you don’t want it to be. But if you’re prepared to pit yourself against a worthy AI opponent then every second counts and you’ll soon know where a few tenths have been lost or when a section has been nailed – and that brings with it a sense of constant pressure and some incredibly satisfying rewards that you don’t get with too many racers these days. Looking for WRC 4 Online Game Code?

It’s by no means a perfect racing game, and the rather dated look might put a few people off in this dawn of next-generation consoles. However, if you’re after a pure (but not necessarily hardcore) racing experience, and one that brings a simple and straightforward rallying experience to your 360, then WRC 4 is so wonderfully dirty that you’ll be able to smell the mud on your fingers.

Verdict:

There’s not much to it in terms of style and variety, but rally fans looking for a pure and simple rallying simulation should be more than happy with what WRC 4 provides. With every stage of every rally condensed into one rather basic package, it could be said that there’s not a lot to it, but WRC 4 is about replaying every inch of every track over and over, perfecting your driving skills and ultimately becoming WRC champion against the best the game can offer. Or you can just blitz through it against easy AI and revel in your mud-soaked glory. It’s up to you, but we wouldn’t begrudge anyone for taking WRC 4 out for a spin; now it is time to slam the petal, and watch out for the ice and slick roads.

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