WRC Generations reminds you that rallying is hard, hard and dreary, and if you want to become a pro in this sport, you will have to work hard. We are talking about the latest part of the WRC series by Friv2Online in the review - in the future, the games of the line will be developed by the Codemasters studio.
Friv2Online put a lot of work and effort into the WRC series, and each new part created by this studio just got better. Up to WRC Generations, which turned out to be a massive rally simulator, with a large selection of cars and tracks, and hardcore gameplay.
Playing with a gamepad, I repeatedly managed to catch myself thinking that a game steering wheel is very necessary for successful driving. While the PS5 version does a pretty decent job of supporting the DualSense controller, with all of its pinpoint vibrations and trigger resistance, I still lacked control precision given how treacherous the tracks can be.
Rally is, by and large, the art of passing difficult sections in the shortest possible time. In the case of WRC Generations, this art must be mastered thoroughly. It's not enough to drive carefully, you also have to drive very fast - so as to get ahead of your rivals. A powerful car strives to drive into an obstacle or fly to the side of the road, and it’s good if there is no tree there, and the car just turns around.
The complexity of the control varies depending on the coverage. On pavement, the car obediently obeys the movements of the stick, but the snow-covered track will be a nightmare for an unprepared pilot. Dirt roads with a lot of jumps are also not a gift - if you jump inaccurately, and the next moment you can find a car somewhere in a ditch.
In the end, you are glad that at least you managed to get to the finish line. And it's good if there is no serious damage. But that's not enough: you must also win prizes in order to succeed in the season. Otherwise, why all this? Therefore, you have to sweat and frantically squeeze the controller, trying to knock out the best time. Here the game evokes associations with Dirt Rally, the same hardcore race that does not give concessions to the player.
If you're the kind of person who needs a constant sense of progress, WRC Generations has a career mode for you. Detailed and entertaining, it gives you the opportunity to put together your own team around your character and gradually move towards the title of champion. A career is not only about racing: there is time for rest and team building in the calendar, and as a pilot gains experience, he gains skill points that can be invested in the development of several branches. For example, you can hire a meteorologist and you will receive a weather forecast before the race, which will allow you to better prepare, including choosing the right tires.
You can spend a lot of time in your career immersing yourself in exhibition races and tournaments, completing tasks from sponsors and achieving the best results. Although soon the series of races here become very long, testing your patience.
In Quick Play, you can play short courses - or make races even longer if you want. An impressive array of over two dozen regions is available here, from New Zealand to Sweden, and many of them showcase extremely attractive landscapes. In the same mode, you can choose any of the cars, from classic rally cars to modern electric cars, without having to advance through a career to get to a new class of car.
As for multiplayer ( cross-platform ), in WRC Generations it is represented by "Leagues", where players compete against each other, trying to show the best time in the sections. Competing with real people is always more interesting than with bots, but users like to choose very long races, and I had to spend almost half an hour for one online match.
The game is released on both generations of PlayStation and Xbox consoles, but its graphics do not feel dated. From the car models to the environments, everything is excellent, and the only thing to complain about is the "cardboard" character models. Obviously, you'll get the best picture on PC and next-generation consoles, but given how smoothly the title runs on PS5 and Xbox Series, you should expect PS4 and Xbox One to show decent performance. Things are even better with the sound: each car sounds different, and the gamepad speaker additionally contributes to the immersion in the atmosphere, responding with the rustling of gravel under the wheels and the ringing of metal surfaces when colliding with a road sign.
WRC Generations does not evoke strong emotions. It's a well-made game, but nothing more. It is moderately complex, quite diverse, beautiful, a little overlong. It is interesting to spend time in it, but it is unlikely that you will want to return to it in six months. However, this is a worthy end to the series, and now Codemasters will have to try to at least maintain the quality bar that Friv2Online set with their final chord.