Racing games feel like an exercise in intuitive geometry. You internalize the shape of a track and try to find the right lines through that. Rally games increase the complexity by also demanding that you come to grips with and understand the physical nature of tracks made out of quite distinct materials. The character of the terrain dramatically changes what a driver must do to stay on those optimal lines (and how to make up for lost time whenever they come off them.) This game nails the handling and terrain. Not in the sense that it is perfectly faithful in a simulation-like way. Different surfaces and conditions just feel different and those contrasts feel appropriate and interesting. Tunings really change the feel and can make life easier or harder depending—but without fully losing the feel of the terrain underneath. One tuning setup might get you much more grip on a muddy dirt road, but it won’t feel like tarmac.

Most importantly, it all feels good. The difficulty of the handling is pitched at just the right level. It’s demanding enough to master to keep things perpetually interesting if you are invested, but never feels impossible to improve.

This is a strong start. The fundamental mechanics are solid, probably better than they’ve ever been. This could be evergreen. They just just need just take care of a few performance issues and slap a new coat of paint on and this series could really do justice to the WRC in a way nothing quite has before.

This is a weird game, considering Codies Leeds are very much defined by their own attempts to make rally games outside the auspices of WRC, and the somewhat cheap feeling attempts from Milestone and Kylotonn respectively. Still, it's a wonderful sim that retains all of what made DR1 and 2.0 the brutal sim racing experiences they were, but coming out with the finest collection of metal ever assembled in a rally game, and finally shedding the Codemasters habit of taking one long route and cutting up into stages with bespoke routes based off actual WRC stages and locations, that are long and demand precision.

I believe that EA WRC could be considered the best rally game. The cars handle exceptionally well, and the variety of courses is also impressive. If it weren't for a few grievances, I would give this game a 5-star rating. My main complaint is that the game lacks optimization. Despite having a computer capable of running current titles at maximum settings, I sometimes struggle to maintain a consistent 30 fps, even with reduced settings. Additionally, there are unavoidable stutters during gameplay. Another issue is that there's a 25% chance of the game failing to connect to EA servers, requiring me to quit and try again. Lastly, I wish the rally school provided more comprehensive instruction. While it covers the basics, it would be beneficial to have a structured teaching system that focuses on different car types and includes practice areas for more advanced driving techniques.

After Dirt Rally and Dirt Rally 2, this entry in the modern Codemasters/EA rally game series seems a bit less revolutionary and falls a bit flat for me.

At this point in my life, I've played a lot of racing games and a significant number of the rally games there are. Dirt Rally was a hard cut towards sim-style rally gaming that Dirt Rally 2 faithfully stuck to. I played through both of those on the standard Playstation controller, which was particularly difficult since they leaned towards a wheel input due to their sim-like nature. Booting up EA WRC, I expected to crash on the first stage and blame the controller immediately. However, I found myself just racing down the stage unimpeded by the unwieldiness of the input system! Has EA found the correct balance between sim and arcade style racing or did I just set the options to baby me through the world?

Whatever the case, if you liked the Dirt Rally series, this WRC game adds some branding and more car choice to the racing experience. I spent most of my time in the career mode, however, and found it a bit of a mess. While most racing career modes are pretty linear and straightforward, EA dumps you in as the team manager, choosing rallies to compete in, hiring staff, managing teammates, negotiating with sponsors, and even building cars. You are left to wonder what that British guy who keeps talking to you in the menu is for... The whole process becomes a bit tedious, but luckily it is easy enough to just focus on the main series and get to the WRC in two years. The difficulty is adjustable to your skill level and I always tend to pick a level that lets me win by 30 seconds, so I guess I'm awesome at video game rally driving.

It is a racing game based on the best genre of racing and it does the racing part very well. If you're looking for a solid rally game, you can't go wrong with this one.

Review from thedonproject.com