WRC 7 (PC) Review

By Jamie Mercer 28.10.2017

Review for WRC 7 on PC

Last year, Kylotonn seemed to turn a corner with WRC 6 and produced arguably the best officially licensed WRC rally game since the early days of the PlayStation 2. Will WRC 7 take pole position or will it veer off the track, though? Kylotonn is a developer that listens to its fan base in order to make changes and improvements to future releases to satisfy racing enthusiasts' thirst. In 2015, after WRC 5, fans said the tracks were too wide and that there wasn't enough sense of speed. Last year, in WRC 6, those changes had been made and a former rallying champion had been brought on board to help with making the handling feel more authentic. Has the series continued to improve or has it stagnated?

It didn't seem possible at the time, but the stages in WRC 7 are even more claustrophobic than in last year's iteration, which means that every inch of the track and every fraction of movement with the steering wheel matters. The road 'grip' varies greatly depending on a range of factors, such as the type of road surface, what the weather is like, and what tyres you have on the vehicle. It could just be a clever visual effect, but the tracks feel 'bumpier,' too, and a bit more visceral than before. The range of cars and drivers cannot be faulted, either, with 55 official teams and a selection of drivers that also includes WRC 2 and WRC Junior drivers.

Each rally is made up of four stages across 13 different locations (that's 52 stages, maths fans) and, thankfully, no two look or feel the same. There are also 13 epic stages that contain specials that can last over 15 minutes and provides gamers with a test of endurance and concentration, as well as their driving skills. The graphics are a modest improvement over WRC 6 but are going to start looking a little bit dated before too long as other racing games such as Project CARS 2 are really nailing their visual presentation at this moment in time.

Screenshot for WRC 7 on PC

Sadly, not everything is worthy of a podium finish. The co-driver does not feel too accurate and often calls out instructions far too early, meaning you are preparing for a leisurely left lean into hard right hairpin but the call for "BRAAAAAKE!" comes too early, messing up your line. The amount of instructions that the co-driver stacks can be a little overwhelming, too, and begins to get confusing as to what is happening first and when. It seems a little bit of a shame, though, that when careful attention to detail in the physics and graphics is taken into consideration that the co-driver sounds like they are sat perfectly still in a nice comfy chair in a recording booth. A little vocal motion to give the impression that they are going over bumpy surfaces and jumps would only further go to sell the immersion.

The career mode is still a little light. The 52 stages might sound like a lot but after completing them, some might be left asking 'what next?' and the majority of time is going to be spent either in multiplayer or in the quick game or 'challenges' modes. The eSports aspect looks to have been toned down slightly from last year as, although their ambition is to be recognised, the market for competitive eSports racing games just doesn't exist at the moment. The weekly online challenges are a nice touch, though, and should add a bit more variety to racing game fans.

Screenshot for WRC 7 on PC

Cubed3 Rating

6/10
Rated 6 out of 10

Good

WRC 7 is, much like its predecessor, a step in the right direction but is still just falling short of the mark when compared to others in its class, such as DIRT 4 and Project CARS 2. This is, however, the best officially licensed rally game out at the moment and is certainly the most sim-like the series has been for a long, long time. Die hard WRC enthusiasts will be happy with this year's offering and there's enough here for casual racing sim fans to find something to keep their interest, despite stiff competition from other racing games.

Developer

Kylotonn

Publisher

Big Ben

Genre

Driving

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  6/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

Comments

Comments are currently disabled

Subscribe to this topic Subscribe to this topic

If you are a registered member and logged in, you can also subscribe to topics by email.
Sign up today for blogs, games collections, reader reviews and much more
Site Feed
Who's Online?
Insanoflex

There are 1 members online at the moment.