Review
Played on: Xbox One X
Released: 2018
Released: 2018
Introduction
You wouldn't be blamed for looking twice when V-Rally 4 was announced earlier last year and released later that same year. Like a ghost from the past and a odd decision to revive such a franchise. It didn't go unnoticed by me though, as I have played, and very much enjoyed, the earlier V-Rally games.
In fact, I was a bit of a fan of the series, although they never were perfect. Apart from V-Rally 2, maybe a little quirky at times. They were always good fun though and kept rallying at an accessible and entertaining expereince in a crossroad between arcade and simulation. Somewhere between the Sega Rally and Colin McRae Rally back in the 90's. So, while I didn't know what to expect from this release or what it intended to be, I had to check it out eventually.
In fact, I was a bit of a fan of the series, although they never were perfect. Apart from V-Rally 2, maybe a little quirky at times. They were always good fun though and kept rallying at an accessible and entertaining expereince in a crossroad between arcade and simulation. Somewhere between the Sega Rally and Colin McRae Rally back in the 90's. So, while I didn't know what to expect from this release or what it intended to be, I had to check it out eventually.
Let's take it for a ride!
Premise
One could say the first V-Rally lends a lot of inspiration from Sega Rally, but it was built for home gaming and not arcades, with far more tracks and cars. V-Rally 2 saw a huge leap in scale, with various modes to race, lots of unlockables, more matured graphics and even a track editor! However, the V-Rally series changed quite a bit from 1 & 2's arcade roots, to a more serious and simulation approach in V-Rally 3. Gone were the many race types with multiple car races, and in it's place, single races against the clock. Just like real life rally.
V-Rally 4 settles for a middle ground between these styles. It can be dialled up to a simulation experience, but also pulled down to a easy and care free arcade-ish racer. It's about having a fun rally experience, but also feeling like it isn't completely arcade madness either. Despite this uncertainty as to what it is, VR4 brings back the vibe of the old games, strangely enough.
V-Rally 4 settles for a middle ground between these styles. It can be dialled up to a simulation experience, but also pulled down to a easy and care free arcade-ish racer. It's about having a fun rally experience, but also feeling like it isn't completely arcade madness either. Despite this uncertainty as to what it is, VR4 brings back the vibe of the old games, strangely enough.
Gameplay and features
The handling is what in VR4 surprisingly reminded me of how the old games controlled: easy to grasp but a bit on the over sensitive side, bordering on being twitchy. It takes a few races to get used to, but once you grasp the handling model, things pick up pace. Though the game never lets you feel completely comfortable behind the wheel, it always has that sensitive touch that will punish you hard if you screw up a turn. That said, it's nowhere near the super twitchy first game, man that was a beast to tame.
The main mode in VR4 features a world map. Here your rally career takes place and I'm happy to say that this mode is more interesting than you would first expect. You rent in a manager, mechanics and engineers, these will in turn help to fix cars midway in cups or unlock upgrade parts for your cars. Dealers sell various car types for suiting the race types on offer. The game is divided in a week, with the days being spread out on cups and events spread across the world. When the week has ended it's payday for your hired crew and a new week begins with races to attend.
The game tailors the types of races on the map towards what you seem to choose most often. I quite liked this, as I preferred certain race types to others. The genres offered are straight up rally races against the clock with a co-driver, super fast hill climbing events, these are very fun, buggy races, gymkhana show off races and rally cross. It's a nice selection, if not a bit standard after all the Dirt racing games from Codemasters. In fact, VR4 lends itself a lot of inspiration from the older Dirt games, think Dirt 1 to 3. However, I liked the career mode here better and it's certainly a more interesting compared to the bland Dirt 4, of recent years.
Car selection is varied, with quite a few, fairly rare, models, but the overall number is small. Every car has a modelled interior and the camera angles can be tweaked to your liking in the options menu, which is a welcome sight. They even let you have manual control over headlights and the wipers ingame. I enjoy attention to detail like that. Racing environments featured is the classic list of rally settings: pine forest gravel roads, snowy tracks, deserts and muddy jungles to name the most obvious.
The main mode in VR4 features a world map. Here your rally career takes place and I'm happy to say that this mode is more interesting than you would first expect. You rent in a manager, mechanics and engineers, these will in turn help to fix cars midway in cups or unlock upgrade parts for your cars. Dealers sell various car types for suiting the race types on offer. The game is divided in a week, with the days being spread out on cups and events spread across the world. When the week has ended it's payday for your hired crew and a new week begins with races to attend.
The game tailors the types of races on the map towards what you seem to choose most often. I quite liked this, as I preferred certain race types to others. The genres offered are straight up rally races against the clock with a co-driver, super fast hill climbing events, these are very fun, buggy races, gymkhana show off races and rally cross. It's a nice selection, if not a bit standard after all the Dirt racing games from Codemasters. In fact, VR4 lends itself a lot of inspiration from the older Dirt games, think Dirt 1 to 3. However, I liked the career mode here better and it's certainly a more interesting compared to the bland Dirt 4, of recent years.
Car selection is varied, with quite a few, fairly rare, models, but the overall number is small. Every car has a modelled interior and the camera angles can be tweaked to your liking in the options menu, which is a welcome sight. They even let you have manual control over headlights and the wipers ingame. I enjoy attention to detail like that. Racing environments featured is the classic list of rally settings: pine forest gravel roads, snowy tracks, deserts and muddy jungles to name the most obvious.
Video
Nothing out of the ordinary visually, developers Kylotonn have used their own WRC game engine and added a little more arcade styled environments. There are airplanes and helicopters buzzing by, very colourful fields of flowers and some cool buildings along the roadside. It's clear to see that they have gone beyond the typical WRC games, with their typical rally scenery, to deliver more memorable and distinct variations of rally locations.
Xbox One X sees a solid boost to native 4K@30fps over the 1080p@30fps on base consoles. Sadly a 60fps target would have been real nice in a racing game like this, PC players can indulge though. Otherwise the sharp resolution on this X version shows off quite a bit of detail put into scenery and textures.
VR4 is not a racer that will lead the pack visually, in any way, but overall it works nicely and shows some flair when elements like weather effects and interesting scenery all coincide to show off a pretty view. I was happy with how it looked.
VR4 is not a racer that will lead the pack visually, in any way, but overall it works nicely and shows some flair when elements like weather effects and interesting scenery all coincide to show off a pretty view. I was happy with how it looked.
Sound
Growling and punchy car sounds, I really like the distinct turbo sound of these powerful rally cars, especially the hill climbing monsters. Same with sound effects of the actually gravel and road being driven on.
The music is bad. There's literally one single rap song that plays over and over in the menus. I was so bored by it, I had to turn it off in the end. Kinda disappointing when the old V-Rally games had some cool tunes. No music is used in races, but that is fine in a rally racer as you're mostly listening to the co-driver reading directional notes, anyway.
Summary
I came in expecting a game that was low budget and a shadow of it's former self, simply bearing it's name. Indeed, I still feel it was an odd decision to resurrect this old franchise, which wasn't exactly blowing the minds of many back in it's prime either. I guess V-Rally 2 will always be the champion, with strong reviews and most sales.
However, I was pleasantly surprised to see quite a bit of that old V-Rally DNA going into VR4 and what seems like a lot of passion put in here. It actually does feel and look like what I'd expect V-Rally to do in modern times.
As such, I enjoyed playing it quite a bit, it never completely blew me away or anything, but it just does its thing well. It's a fine rally racer balanced between arcade and simulation, not taking itself too serious in it's simulation attempts and offers a solid career mode to manage a rally career in.
As such, I enjoyed playing it quite a bit, it never completely blew me away or anything, but it just does its thing well. It's a fine rally racer balanced between arcade and simulation, not taking itself too serious in it's simulation attempts and offers a solid career mode to manage a rally career in.
While the handling might not be everyone's cup of tea with it's sensitive and unforgiving approach, I can recommend it to old V-Rally players and those seeking something similar to the older Dirt games.
