In the small world of official racing games, two titles have always held their own in the hearts of gamers: the F1 and WRC series. If single-seaters have always been entitled to a certain amount of love because of the prestige of the discipline, this was always less the case for rallying with games whose quality was often uneven. After four episodes spent at Milestone where the series did not really seem to be a priority for the transalpine developers, the series recently migrated to the French from Kylotonn Games. So welcome to the official game of the 2015 World Rally Championship season. As usual, we will be able to find all the necessary and essential elements to titillate the fan. In terms of content, the game offers all of the teams entered in the FIA WRC, whether WRC, WRC-2 or J-WRC. Unsurprisingly, the WRC will allow you to drive 330hp all-wheel drive cars with the Volkswagen Polo, Citroën DS3, Hyundai i30 or Ford Fiesta for example. The WRC-2 will welcome all the vehicles of the R5, R4 and S2000 categories, as well as the group N production cars. Finally, the J-WRC welcomes the traction cars which are, according to the regulations, DS3 A3. All crews are also official with obviously the exact liveries on all cars. The deluge of official content does not stop there, since the 13 rallies on the calendar are present and in order. Once on the road, all the signage elements are taken over as in reality, so that you are not out of place. Vice has even gone so far as to retrieve the graphic charter from the official WRC website and its smartphone app to dress up the menu.
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
This menu, it is also beginning to crystallize some fears, given its rather starving content. Nothing too fancy indeed except for a single player mode and a fairly classic multiplayer. The solo has two distinct parts: the career mode and the rapid rallies. This last mode allows you to launch any rally or special race by adjusting each parameter to your liking, whether it's the weather or your car's gear ratios. We observe here one of the first novelties of this WRC 5, with certain special races which are now playable at night. Even if it seems to be anecdotal, one finds a malicious pleasure in traversing the Col du Turini with the road only lit by the glow of your Oscar ramp. Exhilarating. Unfortunately, this is one of the rare innovations since once propelled into the "Career" mode, we find the same system as before, namely a linear adventure where we are content to make you run the championships in the order of a young pilot, from the least powerful to the most prestigious. You start in J-WRC and then move up in rank at the rate of one category per season. Almost no function comes to involve you in the life of the team or in your career, and a curious affinity system decides between the teams.
Indeed, each team has a strategy and you will have to choose the one that fits your style of driving, since the objectives will not be the same. Some teams will ask you to go for example, regardless of the mechanical breakage (the best choice), while others will ask you to be more careful with the equipment, even if it means not being as well ranked. What happens if you screw up the car of a team that wants to save money on parts and labour? It's simple, you spoil the atmosphere within the group and the latter will end up dismissing you if you bring back a car bent in half after each special, even if you come back with correct results. Moreover, the inconsistencies do not stop there since to avoid having an identical classification at each rally, Kylotonn Games had the good idea to add a random module which means that the best do not always win all the specials. . An excellent idea except that in their overzealousness, the developers have put everyone in the same basket. You will therefore sometimes be able to see very suspicious rankings, such as the fact that Stephane Lefebvre (J-WRC 2-wheel drive 240hp) had stuck more than 6 seconds to Sebastien Ogier (current WRC world champion, 4-wheel drive 330hp) on a stage, which seems quite unlikely in reality…
PARTS & LABOR WARRANTY
In terms of gameplay, WRC 5 shows a serious improvement over its predecessors. Physics has clearly progressed and the mass transfers are now almost believable, as is the general behavior of the car which is well differentiated between all-wheel drive and traction, provided however that the game is switched to simulation mode. The grip is also well reproduced with the changes in grip related to the different surfaces which are well felt. It is at the technical level that the game has progressed the most, since the sound effects of the cars are now of very good quality, with real differences in sound between the different types of engine. You can hear the turbos whistle and the naturally aspirated engines howl to death, high up in the towers. The visual is not left aside since WRC 5 displays quality graphics (especially on PC) which do not have to be ashamed in the face of the competition. Same success for the management of the damage which is doing very well, knowing that obviously, the damaged parts will impact the driving of your vehicle. Obligatory passage, after each day of competition, you will have to repair your car in the closed park, with as always 40 minutes to carry out your interventions and not one more. However, the series also continues to have recurring flaws, such as the glaring lack of special races. With around six stages per rally, including 3 or 4 unique ones at most, don't be surprised if some corners have a taste of rehash. Deja-vu and deja-heard even, since your co-pilot is not a model of the genre either. If the indications distilled to the voice are precise and rich in information, the perfectly monotone and chopped tone should end up completing any attempt at immersion. To remedy this problem a little, we advise you to switch the game to English, the notes being dictated with a much more fluid voice. Also remember to adjust the pace of the dictation, because the co-pilot will announce the turns to you when you are already negotiating it. Fortunately, a little tour in the options can correct this problem.
Problems, there are still a lot. The game is indeed full of more or less disturbing bugs depending on the case. Among the most annoying, it should be noted that the co-pilot will bug irreparably each time you use the "Rewind" function. So much the worse for the casuals of the rally who will have to restart their special in the event of a crash, or assume the consequences by taking to the road again with a wrecked car. The multiplayer which allows you to face other players on a stage also suffers from stability problems since the game crashes completely on a recurring basis in this mode. Finally, we can complain about the lack of content with the absence of vintage racing cars, whether it's the legendary group B of the 80s, the WRCs of the 90s, or the old rally cars of the 70s (Alpine berlinetta , R8 Gordini or Lancia Stratos).
