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GT3? What's that?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: December 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Okay, maybe that is a bit much, but at least the cars can get damaged, unlike in Gran Turismo. Unfortunately, they seem to get damaged very easily. But, hey, that's the WRC for ya! After all, one guy in the WRC smoked an engine this year when he clipped a snow bank with the front of his car thus blocking the air flow to to the radiator with a mess of ice and snow.

But, on to the game. First off, this game is presented exactly as you see it on the WRC TV coverage. Same graphics, same narations, and pretty much the same camera angles. Even the music is the same. So, if you like watch the WRC, you are in for a treat.

The graphics are some of the best out there. The headlights at night when you do some of the night time rallys are a treat. The sun gets in your eyes at times and makes it hard to navigate some of the mountain sides.

The scenery is top notch. Spectators are as dumb in this game as they are in the real world - they stand right at the side of the road all over the place. And they have those can-o-air-horn things as well. The terrain is spectacular, and on some stages you will get to see it as your car flys off the side of a very large mountain. Everything is modeled very well. The cars look like the real things.

An added treat to all this is the navigator. I finally learned what the heck he was saying as I never could figure it out when I would watch WRC on TV. Now I know. Learn how to do his rally notes and you too can drive your friends nuts when you ride with them.

There is one down side to the game though - when you are doing the in car camera and are watching the driver and the navigator, the navigator seems to be throwing his voice and doing a ventriloquist act. Would be much more impressive if the programmers had actually made the navigators mouth move while he is reading the notes.

The game is hard, but is not extremely hard. I managed to get 1st place in the driver's championship as Marcus Gronholm (who won the real WRC DC this year, btw), and managed to get three extra rallys open by finishing in 1st place in them. You have to get points in each rally to move on to the next one, so you really have to push it. I did this with the medium difficulty level. Younger folks may have some troubles doing this.

I sure hope bam! comes out with WRC 2002 soon. If you are a fan of WRC, you are gonna love this. It is a very good representation of what kinds of nuts become WRC drivers. They would have to be after seeing some of these courses.

Awesome rally experience

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: June 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First off, I want to say that I love watching WRC on the Speed Channel. It's my favorite show on TV, and I try to never miss it. Also, this is the first rally game I've ever played, so I have nothing to compare it to. But this game is fun as hell.

The graphics are very good - very appealling. The environs look exceptional, although they sometimes look too much like a cardboard cutout, but that can only be expected. The replays are absolutely INCREDIBLE. It looks very much like it would on the Speed Channel, with various angles all about the stage. One second you'll see your rally car speed by a stationary camera, the next you'll have an in-cockpit view (complete with co-driver spitting out directions), and the next it will be an awesome view from a following helicopter. Not even Gran Turismo 3's replays beat this.

The gameplay is also very good. The cars handle as you would expect for a rally car, but each one is different. Some tend to whip the rear out on a hairpin, while others are simply slower than others. This adds quite a bit of replay value to the game. The controls are simple and make sense. There are plenty of views to choose from, both in-race and during the replays. The menus look nice, as well. One good point of the game are the videos that play before each new rally - these give you a preview of what's to come, while showing some sweet rally footage. You can also find these in the menu and watch them any time you desire, which is nice.

The sound is phenomenal. You can hear your co-driver very clearly, along with the sound of your car's engine (every car sounds different), and the sound of your car sliding about the stage. The background music is a bit annoying, but you can adjust the volume levels as you see fit. The music during the replays is also very annoying - horrible, actually, which warrants it being muted.

There are a number of modes of play. First and foremost is the "world rally championship" mode, which puts you through a virtual season of the WRC with a car and driver of your choosing. This mode covers quite a number of completely unique rallys (between 14 and 16), each one with 5 stages that offer their own challenges you must overcome to be the fastest. It took me about a week to beat this on "normal" difficulty setting, but I played it almost constantly. Also featured are the "single rally," "time trial," and "2 player" modes, which are exactly as they sound.

Now, here's my only complaint with this game. It's too easy for me. The very first time I played it, I had it on "normal" setting. I also won the first rally of the "world rally championship" mode with ease. I went on to win EVERY single other rally of this mode. I barely ever even placed worse than first on a single stage - let alone an entire rally. Currently I am doing another one on "professional" setting, and I have yet to lose a rally, although I am losing quite a few stages. For added difficulty though, I sugget changing the view to the in-cockpit view. With this view, I found it hard to stay on the course through most of the turns. It adds a great degree of difficulty, I think.

All in all, this is a very well-done game. I would suggest this to any fan of the WRC, or racing in general. If you want a fun racing game that doesn't have hour-long races, ala GT3, then check this it. It's a blast.

I can't wait for V-Rally 3 and Colin Mcrae 3

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: April 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

...It's not a bad game.In fact it's incredibly fast and handles the way a good rally game should. I just have a few personal problems with this game.

First of all,there is no service area like in Colin Mcrae or V-Rally.You can totaly trash your car and it will be fine for the next stage.Ridiculous.

Secondly,the normal difficulty is too easy.The only trouble I had was in the first rally when I kept picking the wrong controller set up,or had it on manual transmission or thought I should change the type of tires on the car.Actually The Network Q rally was a challenge as well.The only way to get the proffesional difficulty is to become the WRC champion.Not that hard to do,but you have to finnish all 14 rallies to do so.I wanted a harder setting after the fourth rally.

Next,Although you can change some settings on your car,the computer allready sets it up for you at the begining of every stage.The only thing I played around with was the gear ratio.

Also,for a game that is officially licensed it would of been nice if the rallies shared something in common with there real life locations.For instance,they show several watersplashes in the intro for Argentina and there weren't any in the game.They mention the ballbearing like gravel in Australia and it drove like gravel anywhere else.In Colin Mcrae2 the Australia stages are really hard because you can't get a good grip of the road.It would of been nice to see the bridge in Catalyuna as well.

Speaking of the individual rallies in general,there seem to be too much driving up hill.This isn't a hill climbing game.

The level designers also liked to put jumps(or yumps) just before a major turn.This was a good trick at first but quickly lost it's appeal.

I lost count of what number this is suppose to be but trust me I'm not done yet.

Oh yes the load times.Bring your laundry to the room your PS2 is.I have had a lot of time to sort my socks and get everything on hangers while I'm waiting for the game to load.A magazine or comic is also handy.I tried reading some of The Two Towers while waiting but there wasn't enough time.

The co-driver's calls are also at times off.A hairpin on one stage is just a "5" on another.Sometimes he is even way too late on his call.Luckily there is a map you can take a quick peek at if you need to.

If you plan on playing this with friends ,forget it.The two player mode is done by split screen.You still are not technicly on the stage at the same time but yet you are stuck doing it at the same time.It's retarded.Colin Mcrae2 had up to 8 players each taking turns at the stages.It might take awhile to play but at least it was playable.

I just unlocked the professional mode and am currently doing the championship while driving a Hyundai.So far I'm earning top 3 finishes,unlike the easy mode where i could drive off a cliff and still win.The proffesional mode so far seem more competitive.There was no fun in knowing I was going to win all the time on the easy mode.

Hopefully most of this will be fixed before the next version of this game comes out.Only problem is ,by then Colin Mcrae 3 and V-Rally 3 should be out and the previous versions of those two games are allready better in so many ways than WRC,except graphically and the lack of the official WRC license.(The intro's for the rallies are cool.)

Despite all of the bad stuff I had to say,(there was a lot wasn't there),I still have to give this game 3 stars.Rally fans are going to buy this game regardless what anybody says,I just wanted to warn them that it wasn't as perfect as some people may of told them.For those who are not rally fans I'm sure someone has a nascar game for you somewhere,but please give this game (and sport)a try,you might be surprised.

Best Rally Game Yet?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: March 16, 2002
Author: Amazon User

*Preview* (based on European version) Famitsu rated this game 35 out of 40 which is pretty good based on their high standards. Visually WRC looks great. One thing that really stands out to me is the revolutionary cockpit view that keeps the center view position in the direction your are moving instead of always in front of the car. I have been dreaming of this functionality for years. This game was originally set out to take the top rally game position away from Colin McRae Rally 2.0 but I have read that Sony of Europe forced Evolution Studios to dumb down the game so that it would appeal to a broader audience. This might be one reason why some say the game is far too easy. Even though your car will take on damage to the body, there is no affect to the performance of the car. There is also no repair management/penalty system which means your car is automatically fixed for the next race. Dispite some of these gripes, WRC is looking VERY good. This will probably be the best rally game for the PS2 for a long time so I gave WRC the benefit of doubt with 5 stars. I am glad I wont have to import this game. I can't wait!

The perfect complement to GT3

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: March 10, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you enjoyed Gran Turismo 3 yet wished for more rally racing, THIS is the game you want. I've played the PAL version and can attest to the level of realism. Even in two player mode, the machine cannot be slowed. You will be able to tell the difference in surfaces and you -will- be challenged to keep yor car moving. In a word, awesome!

awesome game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: March 21, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Played this at the WRC race in Great Britain this past Novemeber. What an awesome game-especially for rally enthustiasts! Tease the Sony people at the race why it was delayed for sale in the US 'cause they felt there wasn't the player base in the US......I think they are dead wrong...

Fun... but way too easy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: April 05, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Finally the satisfaction of driving a WRC car. Graphics and framerate are great. But the game falls short on realism (it's an arcade game rather than a simulation) and it is way too easy... Replay value is low, so rent it unless you are a huge WRC fan!

HORRIBLE experience

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 13
Date: May 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First of all, I watch a lot of WRC racing, I'm a big fan. The game has its high-points: realistic sound, official licensing, and plenty of tracks. But the cars handle COMPLETELY unrealistically. To give you an idea, I brought the car to a complete stop, but my car still mysteriously floated a few inches in whichever direction. Even on asphalt! The car powerslides with the gentlest turn of the wheel! I'm not just a bad driver (No one in my neighborhood can beat me at the Gran Turismo series), the cars just handle horribly. While the cars sounded GREAT (I could hear the signature Peugeot exhaust note), the skidding sounded just harsh and awful, nothing like real skidmarks, and it made the entire driving experience painful. This game has its high points, but its lows drop below sea level, and I'm regretting having bought this game.

I expected A LOT more

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I'm very disapointed. Sure the graphics are amazing, but there's just too much low points in this game to get a decent score.
1. You can drive as reckless as you want. Your car will be fine for the next stage.

2. Setup of the car is way to basic. We're all used to the CMR series, Rally Masters and Rally Championship, where setup is essential.

3. It's just way to easy to complete. Drive the Accent or the Octavia for a half-decent challenge.

4. They have everyone listed, except Colin McRae. Why is he listed as "Ford Driver" and doesn't score any points?? Unfair I tell ya!!

I can't wait for CMR3.

Lackluster, Poor Physics, Pace Notes often useless

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: August 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I really *love* Rally and rally games, but I'm quite disappointed with World Rally Championship. Don't let the nice graphics fool you, this game has poor overall production values. It's not challenging, has sub-par driving physics and is lacking both realism and depth. Combine this with the very, very long load times and non intuitive menus and you have one stinker of a game.

Within 1/2 hour of playing this game on normal mode, I was winning everything. A bit longer and I was easily beating the game on the most difficult mode.

Rally driving is all about pace notes, it's the one thing that needs to be right for any rally game. However in this game, the pace notes are often read so late that the corner appears before the note is read. There's also no provision for controlling the speed at which pace notes are read. Professional rally drivers often have notes read to them 4 or more corners ahead of where they are at the time. In this game, some notes are either mumbled badly or simply dead wrong. Either way the game forces you into corners while giving you no idea what is on the other side. I can only think this was done by design in order to make the game somewhat challenging...

A WRC Rally runs over 3 days, with 6 or more stages a day. This game has only 5 stages in total for each round of the championship. An average rally stage is about 10 to 15 miles in length, sometimes much longer. The stages in this game average 3 to 5 miles in length, with the longest being a 6 mile stage. These stages are so short as to be totally unrealistic.

The cars in this game are horribly simple to drive and fail sharply in realism. For instance, in real-world tarmac rallies, the brakes are the most important component. Often having to be water cooled as they're used so frequently. Yet one can manage to drive many tarmac stages in this game with only barely touching the brakes. Certain stages could probably be won in this game without touching them at all. This is unrealistic in the extreme and makes the game very unchallenging. In fact, the driving physics in Gran Turismo 3 and Grand Theft Auto 3 are much better than those in this game. The short rally portion of GT3 features a far better "rally driving" experience that the one available in this game.

The game has little depth. One of the main issues in rallying is that the drivers often have to repair their own cars when flat tires and such happen. And rally drivers often have to conserve their cars and tires so failures will not happen. This game simply glosses over all those issues, drive as hard as you like, run over stones, the car will live. In all but the most extreme head-on collisions the car will remain totally undamaged. I've flipped a car a half a dozen times in expert mode and no damage resulted. In an actual rally, major repairs can only be done at certain times. This game mysteriously repairs your car to full functionality after every stage.

In addition, there is no way to get a detailed overview map of all the stages before a rally, just a basic map of the stage you are about to attack. The car set up is very limiting with only 3 different tire, brake and transmission settings. Most of the time a choice other than the default will result in far worse times. Not that it really matters, as the driving physics likely aren't good enough to take advantage of subtle tweaks available in other titles.

Various gripes: The production values of this game are quite low and are clearly evident from the plain white outside cover. The video clips are of a very low resolution and were obviously just ripped from the 2000 WRC television coverage. The game forces you to enter a replay mode after completion of every stage, there is no way to disable automatic replays (although they can be aborted). During the replay, music plays in the background but only 5 songs are available. But for each stage a single song will play over and over, there is no provision for selecting which track you would prefer to hear.

The load times in this game are nearly unbearable and poorly thought out. Unlike better games, WRC doesn't load and automatically pause you, you have to stick around while the game is loading or you'll definitely loose the stage. Because once this game's horribly long loading is done, it automatically launches you right into the stage.

The menu system takes a long time to load as well, and surprise, it's poorly thought out. There is *no* way to quickly move along through the stages of a rally. To continue from one stage of the same rally to the next, you have to hit the continue button 8 times, and wait for a few loads in the middle of those. After many screens are is passed, there's no going back. This also counts for things like secret codes that are given after winning a rally. If you hit the continue button (as you'll soon automatically do all the time just to get through all those screens), you'll have to win the whole rally again in order to see the code.

Concluding, this is obviously just a cheap license title of the WRC trademark. It has poor menus, long load times, horrible driving physics and is a thoroughly lackluster effort. However, if you really love rally and can find this game at a bargain or rental (as I did), give it a shot. It does have nice graphics, (although not as nice as GT3). Otherwise I'd wait for V-Rally or Colin McRae to arrive on PS2.

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