WRC Rally Evolved (PS2)

(SEC/Evolution Studios)

Just Keep Evolving from the Primordial Ooze!  What can I say – maybe I really am missing the point, but I find myself talking more enthusiastically in a reminiscent tone about, well Zelda or for that matter that Intellivision games can be bought single handedly on one disc, than I do about half the games I take a look at now days.

It does not make me wonder for long when just as recently as today I read a headline saying “Piracy, Why Bother” – the point being for how long will people hand over good hard earned cash on the promise of concocted cut scenes and some paid-for-reviewer-plugs carefully sprinkled in the peer universe just to be smacked in the face with mediocrity!

Anyways rant aside, this version of the WRC Rally series was the first I have played, other than witnessed demo sequences of cut scenes on the horizon when Gran Turismo was making things interesting in this category. 
So for years it has been on the agenda and I am seriously disappointed if this is where it is at, now that I finally ‘checked it out’.

I fully admit that I am a lazy player and reviewer for that matter, and tend not to dabble too far into the nuances of tinkering with car set ups and rally with the fine selection of historic cars on offer for the sheer orgiastic dalliance because it is there. I fully appreciate the effort to
round out the game none the less – but for this player make it fun on ‘easy’, please me visually and stop making poor interpretations of real life events (shall we recount backfires in this case that sound like car crashes), those special nuances actually realistic or forget it and devote
your energies elsewhere. I feel often that someone has bought the (I imagine) very expensive WRC stamp of approval with carte blanc rights to smash it senselessly like the cars I were showing the rounds of Switzerland
none to carefully.

Anyways getting to the point – yes I had some fun and truly was engaged with the co-driver whom it is imperative to listen to as per real life to make it through any stage of the rally with good times and car in tact. However
aside from this, what has ‘evolved’ that really sets this aside and adds value to the car game equation and for that matter the WRC. To wit I say very little!

The replays look boxy and awkward with none of the finesse of camera angles that say GT series pays special attention to. Whilst I really appreciate the greater humanistic detail shown in this style of game in the form of on-track spectators (mimicking real life fan craze of becoming targets) and seeing the drivers change gears, with their dummy like stares and inclusion
of actual car damage – it is simply second rate & smacks of lack of innovation. If it can’t be increasing the experience beyond what I see as an obvious attempt to mimic the real world in a second rate style – then drop
it and wait for next-gen consoles and invest in game dynamics such as car physics and track graphics.

I found the cars to look pretty boxy (whilst all faves represented), and tracks, whilst lovely, just eeked of something truly missing in the engine department ie. quality. Sorry ladies and gentlemen game developers but give us more for our money or shove off with your overpriced WRC franchise extension. Oops perhaps I am too old for this genre then – I am sure a 5-8
year old would be ecstatic about racing his pal and miss the whole finesse thing completely in the adrenalin rush that isn’t squashed by actually having to pay for the experience.

So here is the review I started with until I finally thought about it – so please forget all that and start again afresh here if you like; although still tainted :]

At first I was pretty bored with game but I did find after a couple of rounds in the Championship mode under the timely calls of my co-driver to be quite addicted and immersed under the constant barrage of “left 3 100
metres, right 4, left 5 and opening and tightening, careful into loose left 2”, to the admonishment for poor performance at the end of the race as well as the careful encouragements along the way, “your extending the lead if you keep this up” or some such statement. This made the game exciting and carefully delivered on shared driver experience and tension of speed, concentration and dexterity required to win a WRC. However again I refer to
my rant above – it simply fades quite quickly when you really look at the game experience graphically and implied physically.

Even the feedback in the hand controller, if I can remember any was non-existent for mind – the whole game seemed to want to please every facet of the racing experience without delivering fully on any and lessened the whole thing in the end.

In championship mode the game story is fairly similar to car genre gamers by now; pick a car, a “WRC recognised” team driver, race the circuits, accrue points/cash, repair your car with available loot and upgrade car if you can
with cash and finally win country championship stages amalgamating in the final WRC Team and/or Driver prize stakes. Oops don’t forget the geeky thinks you can buy too – lets not forget classic geek culture homage too!
WRC Evolved you are all things and nothing!

To add to the real life as mentioned before there are plenty of spectators on track as well as stuff like livestock, rolling rocks, officials, competitor wrecks and drivers – so watch out – you normally get warned via
in-car banter and can lose points for taking out the wrong people despite your lust for carnage.

Other real life factors that started to irk me include use of fog, snow, sleet and in the case of Australia our cultural inclusion of bushfire and smoke. So whilst these are real life rally concerns I did find them a bit overwhelming at times and made some stages a real leap of faith (at least on jumps tee hee) – so practically was fully reliant on the co-driver to get me through at speed – whilst not questioning for a second how he knew where he
was because he has a clipboard and an air of authority!!

As mentioned before in Championship mode, as you start collecting points it is wise to start adding features and improvements such as ‘lower centre of gravity’, ‘no damage’ and most importantly ‘psychedelic sky’ or ‘co-drive goggle eyes’ – 500 credits buys you a lot of weird stuff now days!

Wrapping up, fave tracks were basically anything with bitumen or packed gravel please (Switzerland, Monaco) and worst feature the asteroid like rolling rocks – please supply bonnet mounted 50mm cannon to take out in next
version since we are under attack in this confused car/gun battle genre that is clearly the evidence of what WRC mean or Evolution Studios mean by ‘Evolved’.

If you like tooling around there are bitumen/dirt hybrid practice tracks complete with jumps for getting air to dally with as you please. Lastly there is the homage to the rally classics – my all time faves being the Audi Sports Quattro S1, Peugeot 205 T16 & Lancia Delta S4 to name a few; 
although having said that I was never able to win one stage or segment of a classic rally race despite how hard I gunned those metal monsters. I could not understand what was on offer there other than pure frustration and a
slap in the face to the memory of those beautiful beasts.

WRC Rally Evolved – see you in PS5 – I shan’t be waiting.

Rating 1/5

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