WRC 3: FIA World Rally Championship Review

If you find Sebastian Vettel’s idea of winning a third consecutive Formula 1 title a bit annoying, remember the WRC fans who had to accept the dominance of another incredibly talented Sebastian. A few Sundays ago, Sebastien Loeb from Citroen won another world title – he has a total of nine, each obtained through a stunning series of annual victories since 2004.

The results suggest that sports is somewhat like a fall, which is partially true. The rally’s heyday in the 90s is nothing more than a distant memory, just like the heyday of rally games in the 90s. Even Codemasters, the company, has been focusing more on sports, and as for all the off-road fun that characterizes the Dirt series, the emphasis has shifted to something else for quite some time now.

What does the developer – Milestone company – have? A few passionate veterans of the racing genre, whose trust was given to Screamer in 1995, with the current not-so-valuable WRC license. For two years, the Italian studio has been doing what it does best with WRC – or, more precisely, doing what it does most adequately – working on a conscientious but uninspiring game, the conditions of which were stipulated in the contract.

WRC 3 fits into this trend, even considering that compared to previous years, it is a slightly improved version. This year’s championship is presented in all its slightly faded glory – 13 different rallies, taking place in the snowy drifts of Sweden, the concrete roads of Alsace, and the dirty orange roads of Portugal – all ready to be conquered, choosing one of the racing categories: WRC, Super 2000, Group N, or classic.

The basics are here, and they are sufficient – a variety and generosity of tracks that differ with worthy visual accuracy; the car models could be a bit more detailed, and the surrounding terrain more attractive. There are moments when you race through the forests of Finland in a Citroen DS3, and you get the feeling that there are just two angles above you. Is this enough to make you believe that WRC 3 is the best you could get from an official game?

When you start to look closer, you realize that the game has a lot of shortcomings. The controls are suitable, although the situation is marred by a mortal sin – not giving proper attention to off-road driving training, the interaction between tires and the road on sandy surfaces, which is an aspect that largely determines the level of racing games.

And if we ignore the main points, then WRC 3 clearly fell short again, if not became even worse. Look at the developers’ slightly dull experience with previous works, it would have made them hire a team that worked from the ground up, but no, they decided to focus on the character, copying recent attempts by Codemasters. It’s incredibly, incredibly wrong. Dubstep in some places, as well as extravagant events, and instead of a pleasant interface and skillfully created adventure from race to race – a mess of a contradictory reward system, mixed with visuals reminiscent of illustrations from a 15-year-old teenager’s sketchbook.

This is enough to send you to the bare facts about the official WRC game, made in the traditional Milestone style: competent and conscientious, but without any thoughts or polishing that could make the game truly worthwhile. It may be the game that the WRC series deserved, but whether it deserves your attention and effort – that’s another question.