World Rally Championship 2 Review

Game: World Rally Championship 2

Developer: Black Bean Games

Publisher: Ubisoft

Available on: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC (Reviewed on Xbox 360)

The World Rally Championship games have had a long history with PlayStation consoles and many titles have been released over the years. In fact it has had a total of five on the PlayStation 2 and one on the PSP. But last year, the developers broke the mould and they were not only released on the PlayStation 3 but also the Xbox 360 and PC. In general, the game received some half decent reviews from many critics. But now we have the latest edition of this series which is simply titled World Rally Championship 2 (WRC 2).

Now with the likes of Gran Turismo 5 and Forza 4 showing off some frankly amazing graphics, outstanding gameplay and jaw dropping features, WRC 2 has got some serious catching up to do if it even thinks about competing with the big fish, but is this new release up to the task? Well start your engines and lets find out!

GRAPHICS: The cars in WRC look quite pretty and well designed, though they may not be as amazing graphically as Forza 4. They look very realistic and when you have an accident in them, the damage engine is very accurate, designed well and looks very good. However, the track graphics has room for improvement, as the textures are quite blocky and not that well detailed and reminiscent of a PlayStation 2 game. Another problem is that the effects from racing on some surfaces of the tracks looks false. For example the dust that the wheels create look like a last minute additional “paint with numbers” effect. The menus are a little bland although they are easy to use and get the job done.

As a technical exercise then, WRC 2 seems to fall quite short of its competition, although the cars and the damage they get do look good, the remainder of the graphics for the game are quite disappointing. We all know that this generation of consoles are most definitely capable of more than this.

SOUND: Musically, WRC 2 seems to sound a lot like previous Gran Turismo outings, with its funky jazz infusions combined with easy listening. It can be quite a relaxing experience when going though the menus. The voice acting in this game is pretty average and there have been voiceovers recorded for all of the corner difficulties and obstacles, but unfortunately they are not mixed very well and come across like a bloody annoying Sat Nav system, especially if you have a crash or go too slowly through a section. Vehicle wise the cars sound fantastic and realistic as well. Rally cars do sound like beasts and the developers have done a great job of simulating this.

GAMEPLAY: The handling of the cars is absolutely immense. You can pretty much slide around the courses putting the car where you want to and if you crash, you won’t be angry as you know that it is pretty much your own fault. Nonetheless, it really does handle like a dream. The amount of presets you can change on your car before a race are quite staggering as well, and if you know your car set ups, particularly rallying, you can make your car do what you want to, giving you that greater edge when competing on higher difficulties.

The “Road to the WRC” mode is very entertaining, making you start a team from scratch by getting your chief mechanic, manager and co-driver sorted, then ensuring that you drive well to progress up the ranks and eventually become the World Rally Champion. By winning you earn cash and reputation, allowing you to buy new cars (of which there are many to unlock) and also compete in harder or more prestigious races. As an aid when driving (and depending on the difficulty you are on) you have something called the rewind button, which lets you reverse time to allow you to avoid the crash you have just caused, but be warned, you only have so many – so use them wisely. You also have a respawn button which will quickly get you out of that ditch you have just stacked into. You have the single race option as well, to allow you to have that quick race should you desire it. There is a world of different tracks and rally cars to choose from in this mode.

This title has all the latest tracks, drivers and cars from the real life World Rally Championships, with this being the official game for the sport. Another nice addition to this title is the photo mode. Whilst you watch the replay after a race or even pause mid race, you can take some awesome action shots of your vehicle and if you’re feeling clever you can add some funky special effects. Afterwards you can then go to the “My WRC” option on the main menu, manage your photographs and even upload them to the WRC game website for everyone to share.

The only main problem with this title in general is that the loading screens can take a while which is a little annoying, but if you are the patient type then this shouldn’t be a problem. Otherwise the gameplay for WRC 2 is very good and will have rally fans extremely happy.

MULTIPLAYER: There are a few modes for the multiplayer through out this game. First of which is the “Hot Seat” mode, where up to 4 friends on local multiplayer can battle it out over a stage, a rally or a championship, each taking it in turns to get the fastest time. This mode would be great with a number of friends who love rallying and can take each other on for bragging rights. The other multiplayer mode is simply Xbox LIVE on the main menu, where you can challenge players from around the world, whether it be in a single stage, special stage, a whole rally or even an entire championship! Not only that, these rallies are set into categories, whether it be WRC, WRC Safari, Academy etc.

You have a leveling up system for all of these categories as well as an overall level and special stage level, so the amount of online racing you can do is absolutely mind boggling. Not only do you have this leveling up system, you also have worldwide rankings. These allow you to test yourself against the best and potentially become the greatest at this game in the whole world. During online play as well, instead of waiting your turn you will see the other players driving in ghost cars which makes you drive that little bit faster to help you win races, but don’t think about cheating as they are only ghosts, so trying to ram other drivers may cause you to stuff your car into a tree.

In summary then, the multiplayer experience whether it be local or online is very impressive and is quite a good laugh to play; online especially, as instead of just trying to get round a course, it turns into a proper race but with no one to blame but yourself when you crash. You could easily waste an evening with mates on the local multiplayer mode so in total, a top notch effort.

LONGEVITY: With its Road to WRC mode that could take weeks to months of endless multiplayer racing, WRC 2 could potentially take a very long time to play before you get bored and move on, but it all depends on how much you are into rallying in general. The online modes will no doubt be the major draw to this title and the overall enjoyment will definitely keep fans and some newcomers happy for the months to come.

VERDICT: WRC 2 is quite a good game for the target audience in the end. If you are a massive fan of the sport and into gaming, then this is without hesitation a title that should be in your collection now. The gameplay and modes are a major draw and genuinely fun to play and the cars and their damage component is brilliant, but unfortunately it is let down by poor PlayStation 2 era graphics and annoying voice acting when racing. Maybe the presentation could’ve been a little better also, as the menus which do serve their purpose are a little bland and there is only so much jazz funk infusion that one can take.

With the graphical standards of other racers being set so high and the fact that they are more opened up to a wider audience, WRC 2 may get lost with only the people who know where to look that will use it. But a sterling effort has been made nonetheless and deserves some recognition for some great handling and fantastic modes.