WRC 10 is the latest entry in the yearly official World Rally Championship games. Developed by Kylotonn, the French studio behind every WRC game since WRC 5, this year’s title is a great rally sim. It can be a little tricky to judge whether or not yearly franchises are worth buying but let’s dive into this review for WRC 10 and find out.
WRC 10 is available now on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The Nintendo Switch release date has not yet been announced.
You’ve Got a Long Career Ahead of You
Career mode is where WRC 10 shines. When starting in career mode, you can select your starting point. You can start in the World Rally Championship right off the bat or you can do a season in the Junior World Rally Championship. I highly recommend, as does the game, starting in the J-WRC so you can get used to the driving mechanics at a slower speed. Once you’ve picked your team, the options in career mode are almost dizzying. You have control over everything. Choosing your calendar events, upgrading your team, hiring staff, managing your car, and the list goes on. If you’re after an in-depth rally career sim, look no further.
Between completing the main rally events you can also choose to participate in anniversary events and manufacturer tryouts. These are two of my favorite extra calendar events in the game. Anniversary events let you drive a classic rally car and the level of detail is sublime. Each car feels unique and different from the modern car you drive during the rest of the season. Manufacturer tryouts give you a chance, as the name suggests, to try out different cars from different manufacturers. Each event has you race your car as far as you can. The further you get, the better your reputation will be with the manufacturer. This is a great way to increase your rep and get an idea of which manufacturer you’d like to join in the next season. Career mode offers a ton of replayability and Kylotonn did a great job of making it feel like a real rally career.
Driving, Driving, Driving in WRC 10
In a racing game, there’s nothing more important than driving (obviously). How the cars handle, how they feel, cornering, straight-line speed, all of these make or break a racing game. So in any review that is going to be a focus and it’s no different with WRC 10. So I’m happy to report that the driving WRC 10 is excellent. I’ve never played a rally game as realistic as WRC 10. The cars feel right in all the right areas. The difference between racing on gravel, desert, snow, and asphalt can be felt perfectly. If there’s one thing that WRC 10 does well, it’s the driving mechanics.
However, there’s one issue with the gameplay that I found frustrating. That is environmental objects. Too often when racing in WRC 10, I would hit something and my event would be ruined. I’m not talking about bad driving here. For some reason, a lot of the environment that isn’t the defined rally course exactly will just destroy your car. One example I came across was going around a fast corner. I clipped a small bit of dirt at the side of the road. Like, barely touched the tiny pile of dirt. The next thing I know, my car was doing a full 360-degree spin and my event was over, I had to restart. This kind of issue popped up repeatedly during my time playing WRC 10 for this review. The environment seems designed to completely wreck your day if you come anywhere close to it. There should be some leniency with going slightly off track or coming into contact with a fence but there isn’t. It didn’t ruin the game for me but it lessened the experience for sure.
One thing that may split opinion on WRC 10 is the learning curve. WRC 10 is not your average racing game, it’s a rally racing game. So much so that the learning curve can be pretty steep. I consider myself to be an expert on playing racing games but even I had some issues in the beginning. However, I came to appreciate the learning curve. Once I got the hang of how the cars handle and what to expect in different weather conditions it felt satisfying to win rallies. Learning curves aren’t for everyone though so if you’re looking for a simple drop-in arcadey rally game, this one might not be for you.
She’s a Beaut
The graphics of WRC 10 are superb. I played on the Xbox Series S for my review and even on there, this looks like a next-gen racing game. The car detail is magnificent and the weather effects and lighting elevate the game to make it feel even more immersive.
The audio quality in WRC 10 is excellent too. I played with a mixture of high-end headphones and a home theater surround sound set-up and both are great. The cars sound like they should and the different environments and weather all sound distinct and unique. WRC 10 is the second game in the series to be on next-gen consoles so I would expect that the game looks and sounds great. Even so, it’s nice to see. Especially when some other yearly franchises don’t seem to be able to get the graphics up to par on Xbox Series S.
WRC 10 Conclusion
WRC 10 is an excellent rally game and I had a lot of fun with the game during this review. There may be a slight miss-step with the environmental objects and how cars interact with them, but it fails to detract too much from what is a well-made game. WRC 10 does everything it needs to as a yearly franchise and, to be honest, more. WRC 10 doesn’t feel like a new paint job like other yearly franchises tend to do. It plays well, looks great, and is very rewarding if you enjoy a stable learning curve. The career mode is one of the most in-depth career experiences I’ve had in any racing game. For those who want a realistic rally sim, complete with a rewarding learning curve, WRC 10’s drifts and straight shots will offer plenty of enjoyment.
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