WRC 10 The Official Game
Here’s looking at you, skid
Games with yearly updates, like Kardashians, always tend to look the same. There might be a facelift, but it can be hard to tell one from another. The latest entry in this series, however, manages to differentiate itself from its relatives in (mostly) positive ways that go further than a more user-friendly top menu.
That official WRC licence continues to be put to good use, with more official cars, tracks, and drivers than you can shake a gearstick at. This includes the new Estonia, Croatia, Belgium, and Spain rallies, and, in celebration of the WRC’s 50th anniversary next year, there are more historic rallies than ever.
Moment-to-moment play, meanwhile, has been sharpened so that it’s the best it’s ever been. The physics, which last year had a few holes, have been improved enough to prevent you having to worry about the rare occasions when your car seems to flip over a pebble. The engines don’t even sound like angry washing machines any more!
FORD THE PLAYERS
Co-drivers have been injected with more personality.
Complete a sector in particularly good time and they’ll yell in triumph; veer off track or crash, and they’ll react with surprise, concern, or – amusingly – sarcasm. You can switch off the comments, but we love ’em.
It’s not all good news on the changes front, though. There’s a 120fps mode for fancy screens, but otherwise we recommend sticking with Balanced visuals.
In celebration of the WRC’s 50th anniversary next year, there are more historic rallies than ever.
Using the High-Fidelity mode offers only a minor upgrade, and the price is a major hit to the framerate and odd blurring.
Even sticking to Balanced, using a third-person camera can sometimes lead to frame drops and even brief screen tearing. It doesn’t ruin the experience, but it’s disappointing to see in a racer. At least you can still pick your own name in Career mode. Just ask our driver Walter Rally and co-driver Spanish Amanda.
Although the framerate has taken a step backwards, everything else is as good as, or better than, before. A rally racing experience that doesn’t disappoint. Luke Kemp