WRC 6 review

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• Manufacturer: Kylotonn Racing
• Publisher: Big Ben Interactive
• Genre: Rally racing
• Release Date: 7/10/16
• Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC
• Game Supplied by: Lick PR

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The art of rallying is back, tarmac, gravel, dirt, sunny skies and torrential rain. I have an old passion for rally games and love playing dirt rally in the arcades so always look forward to rally titles.

WRC 6 is possibly the best known rally game around and should also offer the best rally experience but I found that flaws in certain areas of the visuals were also found throughout the game in physics and handling.

On offer is a set of Solo options such as:

Quick game, Career, Custom Championship and a useful introduction and driving test.

In multiplayer you can create a local game or join a quick match online. If you have a few friends you can also set up a lobby.

One of my favourite features/modes is the championship and shakedown challenges which are similar to daily/weekly events found in many other titles right now. I always like to see how I am developing my skills over time and this is a great way to see that as well as extend the game’s appeal.

Aside from the expected options there are also some nice extras, such as a driver card showing your accomplishments and failures. Statistics whilst nice could show averages so you could see if you are having less crashes or penalties in the last 10 games to overall or something.

Similar to Forza’s vista you can also check out your cars in more detail in the showroom.

Visually some cars and tracks are simply stunning and the level of detail cannot be questioned however basics such as the menu look like it was stolen from the 80’s screen. The pixelation is simply unacceptable with the latest generation of console. Frankly the whole menu system is weak, badly laid out and annoying.

The good side of the graphics extends over to the damage, whilst not realistic the gradual dents, cracks and in part demolition of the car as you hit rocks, side swipe trees and honestly I never did it but flying off cliffs and rolling the car do end up adding a realistic feel to the cars.

Co pilot commentary is good and the directions come in at just about the right speed however if required this can be changed in the menu. General cars sound as you would expect from a rally car and the lack of music I found helped me focus on the task in hand. Menu music is predictably annoying though.

Now taking all that aside rally games over the years have varied from downright unacceptable, to ultra realistic and undriveable. At first I thought that WRC 6 had nailed it, but as the races passed me by and I became more familiar with the handling I found annoying traits that eventually just put me off. Seeing suspension react is great but when the wheel drops down into ditches almost lower than the car’s bodywork itself really annoyed me, how can a car wheel drop over 2 foot! and in those odd occasions where I hit something or went up in the air I found the physics so far from realistic it was almost back to the old arcade style. I appreciate some might like this but there is a fine line between arcade enjoyment and ultra realistic and I feel like the developers got confused somewhere along their path and mixed the two up a little too much.

Thankfully though you are able to adjust the settings and difficulty to your liking, I just never seemed to find that balance.

SUMMARY

Don’t think it’s all negative, the game is still fun to play and with enough to do for a good couple of weeks but it really felt like it was lacking the cutting edge it could so easily be with an extra few details here and there.