Being from Texas and staying here indefinitely limits my knowledge on rallying to basically nothing. I had definitely seen the cars before and maybe even had a passing glance at a few stills, but my awareness was limited to only a knowledge of existence. WRC 9, by NACON and KT Racing studio, captures that full, vibrant world of rallying and distills it down into a great racing experience that gives the player the opportunity to see every part of the rally experience from managing your own to team to navigating hair pin turns in the snow.
Racing games are a classic genre and it can be hard to stand out, particularly in the career mode with many games relying on car upgrades to progress. WRC 9 has 2 ways to play with a season mode that focuses on the racing itself and career mode which adds on team management. I spent most of my time in career mode with a few trips over to quick play when I felt like spinning out in the snow with no consequences. This allowed me to try out new cars that I could potentially upgrade to in one of the career modes or just take one of the classic rally cars out for a spin. I found it difficult to drive at first with sensitive steering and training that didn’t prepare me for the different terrains on the track. The tutorial came up a bit short by using a car that drove much different than the options at the beginning of the game.
For all the problems that tracks gave me due to my own lack of skill, each different terrain had distinct characteristics of how it drove. Easily the toughest was the snow, but gravel was a close second. The cars themselves were beautiful models, but the car customization was limited in a few spots. Aside from the driving, the team management was a great addition to the game, and it added an interesting level of difficulty through. Each team member has unique skill ratings and you must choose what skills matter most for each position in addition to balancing your garage budget. For instance, the mechanics have a skill tradeoff between reliability and speed of the repair. Your team also starts with an attribute that you can build by buying skills with the experience points you generate by winning races. These can include keeping your team’s morale up when you lose (I was in desperate need of this skill) and improving repair times when your car is damaged.
The cars gain damage through the races, so I found myself driving with a cracked windshield more than I would like to admit. I’ve always been a fan of this feature in racing games, and it was great to see it executed so well in WRC 9. In addition to the aesthetic damage, there were performance consequences for damaging the car as well. These repairs had to be made by your team in career mode and added another layer of importance to team management.
Overall, WRC 9 delivers beautifully on their goal of a truly authentic rally car experience and many of the issues I had could be remedied by more time behind the wheel. With an approach focused more on realism, this game offers a different challenge than flagship titles like Forza or Gran Turismo and offers a world that a player could really sink some hours in to while we’re all spending more time in our living room.
7.5/10
Check Out the WRC 9 Trailer:
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