Review
Played on: Xbox Series X
Released: 2022
While WRC 10 was packed with content, considering it marked the 50th anniversary of WRC with a lot of bonus content and races, it had smaller issues I wanted fixed. WRC Generations then, the swan song of Kylotonn’s development of the WRC titles as the former Codemasters team under Electronic Arts is taking the franchise further, should've been a perfect package. The result though, is a little mixed, even though it’s solid quality at its core.
Let’s take a look.
Firstly, what is WRC Generations? Well, it’s basically WRC 11, but named differently. Not only does it take on the current season of WRC drivers, cars and rally stages, but also keeps all the rally stages from the later WRC releases too. The career mode sticks to the current WRC season rally stages only, but quick play allows you to jump into the vast number of rally stages. I would've liked to have seen these implemented into the main game structure somehow.
What’s nice is that WRC Generations launches at a generous, lower price point than a new title normally does. Sure, it reuses a ton of stages and assets from last year's WRC10, but there’s a lot of value for money here if you’ve never played the earlier instalments. The vast amount of rally stages to drive will keep you occupied for weeks.
For the new WRC season there are Hybrid Electric cars to drive, allowing you to set up power programs for these hybrid cars. For casual players, like myself, we’ll probably leave it on default, but for stages with a lot of sharp turns, I’d recommend the heavy acceleration setting to maximise acceleration. Hybrids are a nifty addition, but nothing revolutionary.
A clearer improvement, is the controller feel. WRC10 felt a little twitchy and the cars too light when using a controller to drive, Generations partially fixes this. Cars feel heavier and the controls less over-sensitive when steering. Improvement for sure, but I still feel it could've been made ever so slightly heavier. A big plus for the elaborate use of rumble in the controller for road surface feedback though, braking and tire grip are well nuanced through rumble.
Secondly, it’s the graphics performance. This time around the 120fps option is removed, which for a VRR TV users is sadly missed, I could get a smooth framerate at the sacrifice of visual flair. It was a great mode for using a steering wheel and avoiding the framerate drops from the 60fps mode.
WRC Generations cuts down to two modes: 4k@30fps and 2K@60fps. Which in theory could have been fine, had it not been for the fact that this game engine still suffers from framerate stutters.
Every now and then it’ll have a hiccup, or two, in the framerate. Even more noticeable when using a steering wheel, up close to the TV. It’s annoying as hell and breaks the flow you need to be in when racing fast. You’d think they could have fixed this, but once gain we see the 60fps mode slightly underperforming. Most players probably won’t notice, but it really should have been smoothed out.
Visually it’s a minor, but welcome update to last year's WRC10. With a little more spice added to weather effects like snow and small foliage effects to make the whole visual presentation better. As mentioned, the way the game portrays natural environments and how far into the distance the road continues, really is neat looking.
Every now and then it’ll have a hiccup, or two, in the framerate. Even more noticeable when using a steering wheel, up close to the TV. It’s annoying as hell and breaks the flow you need to be in when racing fast. You’d think they could have fixed this, but once gain we see the 60fps mode slightly underperforming. Most players probably won’t notice, but it really should have been smoothed out.
Visually it’s a minor, but welcome update to last year's WRC10. With a little more spice added to weather effects like snow and small foliage effects to make the whole visual presentation better. As mentioned, the way the game portrays natural environments and how far into the distance the road continues, really is neat looking.
Every country looks distinctly different and sport some beautiful sunsets and variation of road surfaces. On the flipside, shiny environments, like lakes and water on the road when it’s raining, look jaggy and rough.
As such, the swan song has become a more lukewarm farewell. Sure, the package as a whole, with its solid gameplay, neat visuals, nice portrayal of roadside nature and packed content is highly recommended for newcomers, but for someone who’s played quite a few of the recent WRC titles it has annoying issues and bugs.
Thanks for the rally memories Kylotonn, although some of them aren’t as welcome as I’d hoped. That said, I had hours of fun, once again, rallying my way through dirt roads worldwide.
As such, the swan song has become a more lukewarm farewell. Sure, the package as a whole, with its solid gameplay, neat visuals, nice portrayal of roadside nature and packed content is highly recommended for newcomers, but for someone who’s played quite a few of the recent WRC titles it has annoying issues and bugs.
Thanks for the rally memories Kylotonn, although some of them aren’t as welcome as I’d hoped. That said, I had hours of fun, once again, rallying my way through dirt roads worldwide.
