WRC Generations takes us to the 2022 Rally World Championship with the review of the new chapter

From WRC 10 to WRC Generations in the latest iteration of the licensed game dedicated to all-terrain motorsport. The rally experience of the French developer, KT Racing, arrives on the market while the final stage of the world championship is staged in Japan. A year that reserved some important innovations, above all the introduction of hybrid engines in the maximum category, the homonymous WRC.

Consequently, the official game also had to introduce the same changes, something that forced developers to take more time to introduce them into the established annual development mechanism. WRC Generations, however, is not a revolution for the series, it is instead a sum of the last six chapters developed by KT Racing. The evolution from the old to the new in WRC Generations is linear and moderate on almost all aspects, also due to the strong link on a technical level with the previous generation of consoles, which is added to the other elements of continuity that we will discover with ours WRC Generations review.

The Career and the single player offer

After the tutorial that introduces the basic driving mechanics and those dedicated to the debut of hybrid engines, WRC Generations takes us straight to the career that immediately puts us to grips with a new season. In the first we take part in a minor “Junior” or WRC2 circuit since the sponsors will allow us to participate in the maximum category only after having verified our skills.

We can experience it in the role of a classic driver, without deepening the team mechanics or instead exploring the managerial aspects, managing the calendar, economic and human resources, as well as deciding the improvement path of the research and development department. We can proceed within an existing team, or create one from scratch depending on how much we want to embrace the management factor of WRC Generations.

Built strictly according to the racing game creation manual, WRC Generations offers the usual game modes: career, challenges, competitive multiplayer and an aesthetic processing system of liveries, which for the occasion has been made more complete and “shared”. The new setting of the Swedish Rally brings the length of the entire WRC Generations track park to 750km.

Nothing particularly new for the WRC series, but certainly over the years a rather complete and rewarding picture of activities has come to be defined, despite being simple and not very varied.

Climbing the leagues is a step-by-step undertaking

The system is much broader multiplayer, whose competitive front is divided into leagues, from Beginners to Legends, to allow all players to face opponents of the same skill. By playing and winning you rise in the rankings. At the end of each week that makes up a season, a synchronization phase is carried out in which category swaps are made, effectively rebalancing all leagues, making the deserving ones rise in rank and lowering those who play at the bottom of the standings.

Each week has events that correspond to the classic rallies. There are qualifying events, weekly and daily events, which offer a different activity on virtually every login. Everyone can participate both individually and as a team, although in the latter case all the dynamics of participation and competition are managed individually and at the end the results of all team participants are added up.

Always the usual KT Engine

On a technical level WRC is one slight evolution compared to its predecessor. The simul-arcade game engine is pleasant, does not require particular experience and gives both the steering wheel and the pad in the hand good feedback. In a short time you become familiar with the result of weight management, the effectiveness of hard or soft tires or suspension tuning. We see an improvement in the management of collisions off the “track” with very few bugs left on the cut of the curves and on the collisions between the car and the environment.

The novelty of the game system lies in the physics of the three hybrid racing cars of which it was the spokesperson for the 2022 World Championship: Ford Puma Rally1, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 and Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. WRC cars feature an additional hybrid engine that provides an electric boost. The battery recharges under braking and the accumulated power is then released during acceleration. The in-game yield is well packaged, differentiating itself from that of fully endothermic engines.

Even the noise is appropriately re-proposed. It is almost a shame that the high frequencies of the electric circuits are anything but pleasant to listen to, so much so that the sound of the WRC is a compromise to be accepted rather than a pleasant experience. There are three hybrid intervention modes that can be set to offer the maximum starting point, from one with maximum power but with short duration to one with the gentlest but prolonged delivery.

A “Generational” graphic

The “proven” game engine also brings with it all the strengths and weaknesses of the past. There graphics are not very expensive, but also anything but captivating. There are no notable improvements over previous chapters and the production maintains PS4 and Xbox One generation standards. A few bare scenarios are always striking, especially in the countryside.

The support for ultra-wide monitors is not convincing, in the face of a good management of the in-game camera, there are few assets adapted for this resolution and many graphic elements are incorrectly stretched. In the racing field, monitors with an aspect ratio greater than 21: 9 are often used and for this reason more attention should be paid. Beyond this problem, the work on the interface and on the menus is excellent, and despite being in line with that of the last few chapters, we can only appreciate it.