Publisher: BAM! Entertainment
Developer: Evolution Studios
USE YOUR HANDBRAKE
By Kevin Ma
Get ready for some wicked action.
With the increasing coverage from Speed Channel, as well as the successful road car WRX from Subaru, rallying is definitely gaining popularity in the United States.
Ford Focus in action.
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Rallying also attracts Gen-X and Gen-Y viewers where the sport is starting to take shares in the video game industry. Each game console has at least one exceptional rally game floating in the market, such as Colin McRae 2.0 for PC, Rally Sports Challenge for X-Box, and now, the official World Rally Championship for Playstation 2.
Despite being brought to you by a relatively new game publisher 'BAM! Entertainment', it is an official licensed product so it can't really go wrong. The manual even features David Richards' introduction, so I quickly put the disc into my PS2 and it turned out to be one of my better investment for my 1 ½-year old PS2.
The game starts with a relatively long introduction movie, which is almost 2 ½ minutes long. I can tell you the movie is a pleasant surprise as it truly captures the sports - mud slide, snow plowing, rolling cars, Richard Burns yelling, grid girls, crazy fans, you name it, they've got it. The music is very upbeat, in comparison of some crazy rock music as heard in Acclaim's CART Fury.
Check out those headlights for night driving.
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PRESENTATION
The WRC website is renowned as one of the best official racing sites on the internet (as well as live radio coverage at www.wrc.com), and the WRC for PS2 has the similar feel - from loading graphics (flash on the website) to the general layout, the interface on PS2 is easy to navigate, while the background features TV footages as a nice touch. Then there is the TV factor. The grid map which shows the location of the rally is the exact digital graphics as seen on official WRC TV Coverage. In words, the presentation for WRC is bar-none.
GRAPHICS
The overall graphics are surprisingly impressive, from rain to snow, from Greece to Finland, BAM! depicts the track condition perfectly during the race as well as the post-race replay. The realism also adds up as the developer captures every single move from the driver - turning wheels, shifting gears... no more static characters in a racing game anymore!
When race at a gravel venue such as Cyprus, the dust builds up on the car as the race progresses. Damage model is quite good if you can damage the car. The fact that it is not as impressive as Colin McRae Rally as the car does not break apart bit-by-bit. There are also concerns about the car models in which they don't seem in proportion, but authentic car interiors (such as Peugeot's dashboard with two LCDs for both driver and navigator) are nice touch to the game.
Kudos to the full sector replays as you can choose different angles with a very smooth framerate. Not to mention the scenic of each rally is just pure impressive as you can sense the wide-open space such as Kenya. Watching the replay just like watching TV.
Colin McRae and Nicky Grist.
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GAME PLAY
The WRC for PS2 is by far the most challenging rally game I have ever tried. It is far more realistic than Rally Sports Challenge and Colin McRae Rally 2.0. However, it is not always ideal to play a rally game with your joystick, so steering wheel is (somewhat) recommended. Unfortunately the less expensive wheels won't last long playing the rally games and the feel is just not there, so you need to stick with the joystick unless you can spend $1000 for a professional game steering wheel.
Unlike Colin McRae Rally, you really need to use your handbrake in WRC when you encounter hairpins, that makes the action 100% more exciting.
The steering is tight when you use the joystick, so make sure your hands are ready to go when you start a rally.
The WRC for PS2 provides 5 sections for each race (14 races in total), and they are all challenging in some sense. Intermediate is almost too easy even you drop your car down the cliff once or twice [See FLAWS]. However, it is still the best rally game in the market.
No, this is the real race footage from introduction movie.
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SOUND
Good but not great. The high pitch turbo sound and anti-lock 'clicking' are missing in the game. The navigator also talks like a robot so it is quite hard to pick up what he says. Don't expect to hear Nicky Grist sitting next to you with his British accent. However, once you get used to it you'll be ok, and after that you can turn off the map and turn indicator, and race just like pro with your wide open eyes.
FLAWS
I am picky so I will list some of the flaws from the game.
Car does not damage even you roll down the cliff 15 feet under. You will be able to continue after a 3-second penalty. The car is also hard to damage unless you hit straight on a rock or something.
The car repairs automatically in between each sector, which is extremely unrealistic. Colin McRae Rally 2.0 let you fix certain parts within the 1-hour break after two sectors, which should be imply in this game. Having a clean car after each sector is a disappointment.
The game does not take full advantage of the Dual Shock technology on the PS2 joystick. I could hardly feel the vibration when I drove on the tarmac surface.
Slight clipping problems at the background, which is quite awkward at times.
No Colin McRae due to licensing problem. The former champion's name becomes Ford Driver, which is ok at first. However, the in-game scoreboard got 'Ford Driver' and François Delecour mixed up. Nothing serious, but you don't want to have two Michael Waltrips (Winston Cup and Busch cars ) in a same race whe you play NASCAR Thunder 2002, right?
Not enough fans standing around. Forget about Catalunya, and the famous bridge hairpin is missing also.
Lack of tuning options.
OVERALL
The game is awesome despite some obviously flaws. The rally experience surpasses even Gran Turismo 3 rally mode. If you are not picky the game is 4.5-out-of-5, but in my case I will give it 4/5. The loading time is extremely slow too, so you will need a cup of tea while watching the WRC logo.
If you are a race fan, this is definitely a title you gotta have for your racing game library.
By the way, the game features the 2001 lineup, so you won't see Richard Burns in a Peugeot or Tommi Makinen in a Subaru.
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