Following our previous coverage of EA Sports WRC, we had the opportunity to preview the title before the game’s launch.

Handle With Care

One of the highlights with EA Sports WRC was definitely how they redesigned the entire Dynamic Handling System. There’s been notable improvements made to features such as tarmac handling, force feedback, aerodynamic simulations, drivetrain inertia, progressive braking, as they used the handling system from the DiRT Rally 2.0 as a base.

Additionally, the EA Sports WRC team has added in a few more assists to appeal for a broader audience. The updated features include traction control to lessen wheelspin, a throttle limiter to prevent drivers from accelerating too quickly, stability control to prevent obvious sideways motion, and a wide range of accessibility options.

Another neat feature that players can expect is the differences in how cars handle on various terrain such as snow, mud or asphalt. As the cars race over those stages, you can see deterioration just like you would in real life, with mud for instance, becoming churned up and developing ruts.

In real world context, drives use a complex language of coded notes called pacenotes to accurately describe the road ahead in the real world.

The two pacenote systems, called out by your co-driver will be available in EA Sports WRC. While this is faithfully recreated in-game, a simplified pace note system can break down the complex language of rallying into simple terms that’s understandable for all players. One example was describing corners in terms of shallowness or sharpness as opposed to the real-life counterpart of using a system of numbers.

Feel The Rally

While previous Codemasters Rally titles featured graphics from the developer’s in-house Ego engine, the newest take on the official WRC title uses Unreal Engine instead.

The preview build for EA Sports WRC was every bit as impressive as fans of previous Codemasters’ rally games expect it to be. This title will certainly be a looker, as the in-game graphics approaching photorealistic levels in terms on the cars and environment surrounding the stages.

Colours look softer and much more true-to-life than the boosted saturation of the previous titles. Each location looks distinct, and the stage-side scenery packs in with detail.

Damage done to the cars are both cosmetic and mechanical, which various damage options including a hardcore one that aims to imitate real life and players are able to switch between those options according to player’s preferences.

Build-A-Car

Taking the spotlight for EA Sports WRC is definitely the Builder mode. One of the first choice to be made by the players will be picking which class they’d be competing in. Players will then be tasked with building a car to each class’ regulations so that it can be fair and be competitively balanced with the real-world car counterparts.

Upon deciding on the class, players will move on to the car’s engine layout, which will affect its weight balance and driving characteristics.

Next comes to the various mechanical components, each part with its own traits and features; with some being of higher quality, some allowing for custom tuning but of course players will need to take budget into consideration to reduce the overall cost of the car.

For players who love making unique creations, there’s an in-depth livery editor which allows players to make their cars really stand out and have them express their creativity.

Regularity Rally

A rally is all about time, where cars run across each stage individually, and the winner is crowned to whichever driver and co-driver complete the route in the shortest time. However, there’s an additional game mode which mixes up that approach called Regularity Rally.

With this mode, players will need to arrive at specific points of a stage at a set time, arriving early or late will net you penalty points. A format like this is often used for events using classic rally cars in the real world.

Career Mode

The Career mode is a core pillar to the WRC experience where players aim to lead their team to victory against the world’s best rally drivers, cars, and teams. The first choice being deciding where on the WRC ladder to start their first season.

In terms of the main backbone for EA Sports WRC, the game’s Career mode makes maximum use of the WRC license, meaning that players are able to play all three car classes that compete in the real world, namely Rally1, 2, and 3.

Players who look to build a legacy across multiple classes can start their journey with Junior WRC, as the Rally3 cars are a great entry point for new players. Alternatively, players can start in WRC 2 or even jump straight in at the deep end with the Rally1 cars.

Throughout the journey, teams will work alongside the Benefactor who provides funding and sets goals and objectives to be met across each season. Driving well will result in bigger budgets for future rallies, as well as the ability to hire a teammate, recruit more engineers, acquire new cars, and more.

Moments

Another mode that EA Sports WRC features a mode called Moments, which players would be invited to recreate memorable events from famous historical rallies.

Each Moment comes with introduction videos and real-life WRC footage, and drops players in a specific car at a memorable point in rally history, daring them to complete goals and hit targets. Medals are earned based on performance, with results able to be shared on global leaderboards, allowing players to compare with friends or take on the world’s best players.

These Moments can be re-played at any time, allowing players to go back and take on any that have been missed out, with new Moments being added to the game throughout the year.

Rally School

Players who find themselves struggling with the game can find solace with the rally school, which take players through the sport’s complex techniques.

There’s 10 lessons for each surface type on top of a timed challenge at the end of each segment.

Verdict

EA Sports WRC is looking to be an exciting title that rally enthusiasts can enjoy. However testing out the preview build, we did experience random crashes and some graphical issues on drivable areas and walls during races, and we hope that these issues can be fixed during the game’s full release.

EA Sports WRC will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on 3rd November, 2023.