WRC - World Rally Championship
First impression:
I completed the first 2 challenges of the 'learn to drive' feature. And I have to say.. it was a challenge!
In many ways this game reminds me of the good old CMR2. The environment and surface of the tracks feel rather flat, as compared to the new generation Dirt games (and CMR4 for example). The background is the same as in CMR2: there's space at the sides of the track with some trees and stones on it, but further away there's a wall of trees you can't see through (or race through). This isn't much of a problem, you still feel you're driving in a real landscape, but yeah.. it's still 2d-ish like the old PS-games.
The surface of the road is a different matter. With Dirt (and recently Baja), I got used to roads being bumpy, with carved in tracks that push you in a certain direction and puddles of mud & water that grind you down.. In this game the road is just flat.. you can't feel the gravel, there's no inefficiences, there's no tracks, no nothing. It's like driving on asphalt with the colour of sand
This doesn't really help getting you into rally mode, although it does give you quite a comfortable ride through lush fields and tree-infested hillsides (it's soothing
).
The driving is another issue. It took me over 10 times to complete each of these two challenges. I had a lot of problem with understeer, oversteer... basically it was very sensitive. In my beloved CMR2 I remember pushing myself through corners, holding down the direction key to the point where I thought it was gonna break.. giving it all I had to set a faster time. In this game it feels like I'm driving on ice (even on the asphalt surface which is supposed to give a lot of grip).
The challenges were just 4 or 5 corners, but heck, even when I did beat the time I still didn't manage to stay on track the whole way. It is indeed like driving on ice.. you have to go real slow, hitting the brake and adjusting your path even in the midst of corners to keep you from spinning out. Quite a challenge (and not suitable for children who have no patience).
On the long run though, I guess this may not be a bad thing. I've always liked games with rather difficult steering. It's frustrating at first, but it keeps you challenged for a far longer time.
The biggest frustration so far is the teeny tiny letters in the menu. This game obviously was made for big-ass monitors like Komito's.. I wear glasses, but even I had to squeek my eyes to make out what it said. I don't see an option in the game either to make it look bigger.
All in all, I can see myself having fun with this game. However, it's far from a classic and definitely not comparable with the CMR Dirt series. 6.5/10.
Edit: just did challenge 3. Driving through a snowy landscape. Hmm. There's piles of snow at the sides of the road, but the strange thing is that when you hit them the car makes the same sound as it does when hitting a rock.. and what's worse, it does equal damage!! What the hell were they thinking? Snow as dense as stone?? The road's already narrow enough, 3 bumps against the sides and your car is ready for the African market
Oddly enough the grip is equally good as the asphalt track of last challenge
This game deserves a 5/10 at best. It looks pretty good and the official cars are sweet to race with, but things like the above.. that's just facepalm-worthy
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Topic: ** Sony Game Reviews ** (Read 13464 times)