EA Sports WRC Preview

As the release draws closer for EA Sports WRC, we were given the opportunity to have a hands-on with the title to gather first impressions of what’s to come — and boy, are there some great points to talk about.

Let’s dive into one of the talking points that’s likely going to go unnoticed by most people. Codemasters has taken a “hairpin left” from their tried and tested EGO engine that the game sat atop, in favour of Unreal Engine — and whilst most people won’t notice the change, what they will notice as a result of this is that stages are not only more detailed, but they can also be much longer than those found in DiRT Rally 2.0. Previously, the longest stage topped out around 8 miles (roughly 13km), but now they can go over double that length to around 19 miles (or 30km), making for longer and more demanding challenges for you as a driver.

The physics that drove DiRT Rally 2.0 have been ported over to the new engine as well and have been tweaked to provide an even more realistic feel — especially where asphalt stages are concerned. Taking one of the new hybrid beasts through a Monaco stage, I felt like I was able to push the car more than I would previously, with a much grippier surface than what I came to know as “gravel lite tarmac” in DR2.0.

It’s also much more accessible to newcomers to the discipline or those who consider themselves less skilled, with a range of assists making car control easier to get from A to B without going via trees or verges along the roadside. Pace notes can also be simplified to alleviate the additional cognitive load that comes with trying to concentrate on what your co-driver has said and not on keeping it between the rocks and the cliff edge. With the addition of a rally school to help you nail all of the tricks you’re going to need to put in blazing fast times whilst mostly going sideways, and as you progress and become more confident, you can start switching these helpers off entirely to get to the hardcore experience that series veterans know and have grown to be accustomed to.

Simply put, if you’re a rally fan, EA Sports WRC should have you excited. We’ve got massive stages, some of the best handling physics that Codemasters has ever produced, a cracking career mode that lets you build your own car and pit it against the competition, and what sounds like some great options for multiplayer — though the hands-on build didn’t have access to it, so fingers crossed in that regard! Overall, the 3rd of November cannot come around quickly enough.