My Thoughts (2 days of playing)

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AltF8

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Wow, what a game! Ever since buying Rallisport Challenge for the Xbox, I'd been left with a nasty taste for rally games. I found myself yearning for a true rally experience (short of my occasional gravel trips in the WRX...;)). Enter WRC.

Firstly, for those who haven't played this one, the game plays like an interactive version of the Speed Channel coverage. The menus, intro movies for the stages - everything - is just like it is on the television. Very cool. The car physics are very well done, and the navigator instructions sound very authentic and are much more intuitive than Rallisport Challenge.

And the sound - my goodness, the sound - is so amazing! Every bit of gravel, engine noise, gearbox sounds and even your wiper blades swishing is replicated very very well.

Graphically, it's no GT3, but it's the best of any rally game I've seen - and that includes RSC. The interior rendering of the cars probably makes up for any other lack of graphic prowess. The in-car camera views are amazing! You can actually see the driver and navigator moving around as the car turns, brakes and accelerates. You can even drive from the pilot's position, behind the wheel (which kinda sucks when you smack a wall and shatter that pretty windshield!).

Which brings me to car damage. Unlike RSC, you can actually damage your car. You'll see minor body damage, such as torn bumpers and broken windows, but major deformation of body panels seems to be absent. You can also break things on your car, such as the steering (which makes steering sluggish and inaccurate), a drive shaft (which reduces grip by making that AWD into 3WD or less), your gearbox (which drastically reduces your ability to shift, I hate this one, :lol:), and also two related to cooling that when damaged can cause the engine to overheat, sapping power.

You'll also notice nice graphical touches such as the cars getting very dirty over the course of the stages, even gathering on the windshield where it's wiped away by the wipers.

Even though we only get to run 5 stages in each rally, you'll have plenty of racing to do. And, there is supposedly some extra tracks available that I haven't unlocked yet.

Complaint time (there are always some). First beef: the navigator. I'm gonna fire mine...he seems to get behind sometimes. Now, maybe I'm just driving a little faster than they intended (more on difficulty in a bit), but it seems that sometimes I'm already into a corner (usually WAY too fast), just as he says "50 caution, hairpin left". Oh great, now you tell me - CRUNCH! Sure, I didnt' need that drive shaft anyway. 98% of the time, the voice commands do great, but it's that 2% that really gets me (usually up onto a bank upside down...).

Second beef: Load times. For pete's sake people, this is a DVD! I understand that the stages are pretty big, but a 2 minute load time is a bit excessive. At least give me some pretty rally action shots to look at or something. (Note: this is a big nitpicking thing, do not let this keep you from playing the game)

Third beef: Difficulty. Now, this is probably because of several things. First, I'm playing through on Novice first to get a feel for the car and the stages. I've never finished a rally with less than a 45 second lead. Others have mentioned how easy the game seems, and I can only think that it has something to do with how experienced we all are with this type of racing. We've been rallying since GT2, so we know how the cars are supposed to react. Dunno, I'll step up to the hardest level for my second time through, and we'll see how it does.

That's about it for this very lengthy mini-review (can't tell I used to write for GSI...;)). If you like the WRC, get this game. Period.
 
I bought this game some months ago, and to be honest it was not what i expected.
Sure, the graphics are sweet, the real drivers and cars present is cool too, but the gameplay was a little dissappointed. Especially when you have Colin McRae 2 too.
I just don't get the true rally spirit from this game, but it is a nice game for a holiday week:)
 
I couldn't have said it better myself, Alt, and I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who wants to yell at the co-driver sometimes! :mad: You never realize how much you depend on their directions until you don't have them.

I would have to disagree on the load times, though. 2 minutes? I've never timed it, but it would seem more like 30 seconds to me. :confused:

Oh, and by the way, I'm sticking this at the top... :)
 
I've never played WipeOut Fusion, so I can't say...
 
Gee, WRC and Wipeout aren't games that come immediately to mind as competition...

Good to see I'm not the only one that's been burnt by the slow co-driver.

The first night I had the game I was flying through a tarmac stage and heard the call on a corner (tightish right, as I recall) I thought I saw I could cut.

The call of 'don't cut' came just as the car left the road and plunged down a 100 ft deep ravine that was hidden....
 
Originally posted by vat_man
Gee, WRC and Wipeout aren't games that come immediately to mind as competition...

Well, no, not normally. Only when you're considering returning WipeOut for WRC because WipeOut sux0red. ;)
 
That's a shame - I really liked Wipeout 2097 in the ol' PSX (although I could never play it just before going to bed - I'd just lie there with all these colours going through my brain!).
 
Originally posted by vat_man
Good to see I'm not the only one that's been burnt by the slow co-driver.

The first night I had the game I was flying through a tarmac stage and heard the call on a corner (tightish right, as I recall) I thought I saw I could cut.

The call of 'don't cut' came just as the car left the road and plunged down a 100 ft deep ravine that was hidden....
Haha! :D My biggest quirk is when you're flying over a crest and don't have any clue what's on the other side... :eek:
 
WRC = :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Incredible...I think it's on par with the Xbox, graphically.

Controls are great...so are the setup options. They're not complex, but they do add a bit of strategy...the wrong setup costs dearly ( like having long gears on stage with steep grades).

Sound...AWESOME! Why can't GT sound this good? :mad: The WRC cars sound real...not like buzzy vacuum cleaners.

The co-driver...yeah, a touch slow. I've found that leaving the directional arrows on helps.

"50, left 2, over crest..." (and as I hit the top of the crest) "...into right 5." Huh?! *CRUNCH* :eek:

Vat_man: Yeah, I really liked Wipeout 2097 (XL in the States) too. Played it to completion. I purchased Fusion figuring I would enjoy it...go fig, eh?

Oh well. I have WRC now! :D
 
Originally posted by risingson77
WRC = :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

The co-driver...yeah, a touch slow. I've found that leaving the directional arrows on helps.


To speed up the Co-Driver:
Go to "secrets" in the Extras menu
Then type in: heliumaid

And yes, if you find the game too easy?! turn all, I mean all the screen stuff off. Like the track, splits, arrows, etc..... :eek:
I had to turn the arrows back on, although I left the rest off.
 
Better Acceleration
To improve your acceleration and top speed, go to the Secrets
screen (in the Extras menu) and enter this code: evopower.

Flying Car (Replays Only)
To see your car take fligt in replays, go to the Secrets
screen (in the Extras menu) and enter this code: floatylight.

I'm Underwater!
To make the screen look like you're underwater, go to the
Secrets screen (in the Extras menu) and enter this
code: wibblywobbly.

Sixties Filter
To turn on a groovy effect, go to the Secrets screen
(in the Extras menu) and enter this code: imgoingcrazy.

Stripped-down
To play with a stripped-down car, go to the Secrets screen
(in the Extras menu) and enter this code: thatsstupid.

Upside-down Vision
To see everything all upside-downy (like they do in Australia),
go to the Secrets screen (in the Extras menu) and enter this
code: ontheceiling.
 
I'm glad to hear you like it as much as I do, risingson! :) Those sound like some very interesting codes, barry, have you tried them all out yet? What exactly does the "stripped-down" car look like?
 
Originally posted by Jordan
I'm glad to hear you like it as much as I do, risingson! :) Those sound like some very interesting codes, barry, have you tried them all out yet? What exactly does the "stripped-down" car look like?

I just got them yesterday off IGN PS2 Codes for WRC and haven't tried them yet. I hope they work.

You can bet I'll be trying them out this weekend. :thumbsup:
 
Originally posted by Jordan
... Those sound like some very interesting codes, barry, have you tried them all out yet? What exactly does the "stripped-down" car look like?

I tried the codes last night, finally. I'm trying to take the Sooners to a National Championship (again :P ).

All the codes work great. Some of them are just freaky though.

Try them out. The underwater one is really kinda cool. The
on the ceiling one is way too hard but funny. The stripped down code is hilarious, it looks like your racing a dune buggy with tail lights. :P
 
Well I've played it now for one evening, and I have to say I'm impressed. The graphics are simply awesome, and the sound is pretty hot too, although I'm not too sure about the accuracy of the anti-lag sound timing.

The co-driver is as everyone has said, a bit slow, especially on the "caution" and "don't cut" calls - I went head on into an armco at one point because of a late "don't cut". I've only played it on novice so far, and it does seem reasonably easy, but then hey, this is the most basic level, I am over 90% in GT3, and it was my first night playing.

I'm glad I waited until it came out on Platinum because I feel I may have been a bit disappointed had I paid full price. But at the moment, I'm quite happy with my purchase!
 
None of the rallies can actually compare to Great Britain, i think that was a little bit too much of a learning curve. The rest are really easy. I'm just waiting for CMR3 :drool: That will be twice as better as this (this is a great game) and hopefully less loading times :smilewink
 
ive been wanting to play this game, but i cant rent it anywhere. ive tried blockbuster and all the "mom and pop" shops around me. no one has it.

there are only a few games i purchase without buying. Gran Turismo and Madden, and other select few.
 
i don't know where to start......................
beleive it or not i found that gt3 sucked when it came to rallying that's why i returned the game when i first bought it, then W.R.C. came along and this game gave me second thoughts about GT3, to make the story short W.R.C, sucked so much that i went out and bought GT3. Don't ask me why but playing that game made me noscious, i'm telling i almost fell asleep a few times while playing it!!! :sleep:
I bought that game 30 minutes after it was released over here in th U.S. and i regret the minute i did that!!!! :mad:
where do i begin, by the way i am a great rally fan and it shows from my screen name, setup of the car it is so basic nothing much to it. damage, the only time i got to see damage is when i hit the car head on into a wall while going 200-220 Km/h that's when the car gets damaged. the interior looks miserable, if you look at the peugeots you will see that the driver changes gears using a shift knob, while in reality they use the tiptronic gear shifter mounted on the steering wheel. half of the driver's faces are not shown maybe even more. Collin Mcrae's name does not appear, instead it says Ford driver. the tracks are very wide, and when you go offroad the power of the car is lost dramatically.
What else, many time i finish the stage sliding backwards and suddenly the car is facing forward. the brakes are always glowing even if you don't hit the brakes.
i might sound too picky but hey i am spending money here and i expect a lot from liscenced games. I still play Collin Mcrae 2.0 and W.R.C. is still collecting dust somewhere in my room.
i already sent Evolution studios a letter with some ideas on how a better game might be done, i am not an expert but i know what i want and i make sure that the other side is listening. and if you look into the latest W.R.C. Extreem i think some of what i recomended is out there!! hint: 3D photography, used by a special traffic unit in britain in which a 3D photograph is taken in case of an accident and then analyzed by rotating the picture, it looks so real and you can interact with it like zooming in and out and stuff.
bottom line rally games are still not perfected unless Collin McRae 3.0 brakes the rule and for this we need an old chap from britain to give us the latest since it is going to be released over there 2 days from today that is friday the 25th of October 2002. common laddy be a sport and tell us your opinion, i say.
 
oh, i don`think it really sucks but there are possibilitys to make the game better and i bet that wrc2 is more interesting ;)

wrc is a good arcade game for the times you really wanna speed down a hill, befor u have to make a mission in gta f. example :D
 
So I assume this is definitely a "go out and buy it now for the love of all things pure and holy why are you still here reading this you should already be playing the game!!!!!".

But if you were only going to get one, Colin McRae or WRC, which would you get?
 
Same here :) And i have rented CMR 3.0 and i bought WRC II and if i could go back i would never ever change my mind. CMR 3 only lets you use one car in the championship, which is very crap. WRC II you can use a lot more cars and it is much more well done than the WRC I and also CMR 3.
 
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