![]() Creating a compelling career mode in a racing game is a tough ask, with only TOCA Race Driver really achieving anything of note, so we’ll forgive the fact that it asks you to be the team owner and top driver without really complaining. However, without these aspects the career mode would be a rather pointless slog. It’s perhaps a tad unrealistic - both there and in WRC 9 - to expect a driver to also run the team, look after the car, determine research and go out and win the rallies. ![]() Anyone who’s played any of Codemasters’ more recent F1 titles will recognise the tech tree that you can find in the R&D section. The career mode of WRC 9 is not that much different from last year’s outing. There are some classic cars too, just not enough for our liking It’s intoxicating to the point where we found ourselves not paying enough attention to our team and its development in order to race in our next rally. Your braking distances are much longer when compared to a full asphalt rally such as Germany where tyres squeal for mercy as you handbrake turn around another hairpin all the while dodging either vineyards or hinkelsteines with all the grip in the world teasing you to push that little bit more. As you bob and weave through the twisty turns you hear and feel the popping gravel and the ruts on the surface that if you catch the wrong way can really put a dent in your stage as well as your car. The loose gravel at rallies such as Mexico requires a deft touch and you really feel the heft of the more powerful WRC cars at rallies such as this. Learning how they handle different surfaces is key to quick times and it’s no mean feat that this is translated so well, even on a pad. With great power comes greater responsiveness but also heavier cars. This unfortunately affected our review rig - a Thrustmaster TX and an Xbox Series X - but thankfully WRC 9 plays astonishingly well on a gamepad. However, it’s a shame to report that, at the time of writing there’s an issue with steering wheels being recognised by the game on next generation systems. There are noticeable improvements, namely the frame-rates and load times when playing on a Series X, but Kylotonn have also managed to improve their already impressive handling model. So it seems that whilst last year’s efforts were a giant leap, WRC 9 is more a modest step forward than anything else. It was much more focussed and walked the line between pleasing simulation players and arcade racers rather well thanks to a host of options to tweak the gameplay. ![]() Whilst it had its faults, it was a compelling competitor to Codemasters’ DiRT Rally 2.0 and in our opinion it had the best force-feedback model for wheel users. After taking a two-year hiatus it returned with the rather wonderful WRC 8 last year. Its first three entries in the series - WRC 5, WRC 6 and WRC 7 respectively - were competent if unremarkable rally games that leaned more towards being a simcade racer than anything else. Since picking up the WRC license in 2015, developer Kylotonn has taken its time to really make its mark.
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