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WRC: FIA World Rally Championship Reviewed
April 20, 2006 | 7:53 PM PSTby: Matt Kane
Imagine barreling down a soggy dirt road at speeds up to 140 miles per hour and slipping and sliding and your job is to get from point A to B in the shortest amount of time. In the world of rally racing, the elements are part of the races and drivers accommodate their vehicles. WRC: FIA World Rally Championship is the first rally racer for the PSP and without further ado, 3, 2, 1…Let’s race!
Features:
Rally racing action for the PSP.
Official rally drivers and cars including Ford, Subaru, Citroen, Skoda, Peugeot, and Mitsubishi.
4 different tracks across 16 different countries.
Wireless multiplayer and Ad Hoc multiplayer.
Gameplay:
Traditionally, Sony’s gaming platforms have been superior to others in terms of the racing genre, and the PSP is no exception. Racing titles can attribute their success to Sony’s controller layout; specifically the Dual Shock/Dual Shock 2 controllers could be given to a player and the controls would come naturally, and the PSP doesn’t miss a beat. Accelerating your car is done by the “X” button, braking and reversing is the “Square” button, the “Circle” button and the “Right” shoulder button apply the handbrake and the “Triangle” button changes the camera view from outside the car, to behind the front of the car but not inside the car, and a first person view from the front of the car. Steering the cars can either be done by the directional pad, or by the joystick, and there is a difference between the joystick and the directional pad; that being the directional pad has a tighter feel for turning and the joystick seems to be more sensitive.
Gamers can experience rally action in five different game modes: “Quick Rally”, “Time Trial”, “Single Rally”, “Championship” and multiplayer. In “Quick Rally” the gamer will experience a race in a randomly selected car and course for the player to run through. The time trial portion of the game pits the gamer against the clock in a course, car, and driver of the player’s choice. In the “Single Rally” the player will be able to fully customize the race that the player will run from the country the course is in to the different conditions that are available on each course. In “Championship” mode, the player will be able to go through a complete season of a rally action and can choose the difficulty; ranging from Novice through Extreme. After each race is run, the ten drivers competing will receive points and the driver with the most points at the end of the circuit will win. Multiplayer races can be set up in infrastructure or ad hoc mode, and players can compete against each other.
This game is really a Sunday driver simulation, as you can tell
Graphics/Audio:
The racing genre hasn’t had the most exposure on the PSP but a few racing titles have pushed the limits of the PSP, and WRC: FIA World Rally Championship falls under the category of above average. The car models are impressive and the detailed damage is a must for all rally racers and the detail is done exceptionally well. The models do the actual cars justice and are quite recognizable. The courses are detailed with trees, mud, tarmac or concrete, gravel and will reflect damage on the car, for instance a muddy course will make your car dirty and have mud stains. The heads up display has a tachometer, the current gear and the speed in the lower right hand corner; the upper right hand corner will show the time and at what part of the course the driver is on.
When the game loads, the user will be greeted with an intro-movie that shows highlights of rally races and the different cars that are available in the game. The movie, menus and races all have music, however the selection is rather limited, featuring eight, yes that’s right 8 different songs. This is a rather short list of music especially for a PSP title; and the music is everywhere and is nonstop.
Overall:
WRC: FIA World Rally Championship brings all the rally action to the PSP. Rally racing is a simple concept and the game doesn’t expand on some premises of racing that are nice features, such as a special career mode or customizable parts for a car. Rally racing was a nice addition to a bigger game such as the Gran Turismo series, but as a stand alone game, with limited depth, the game falls short.
Features:
Gameplay:
Traditionally, Sony’s gaming platforms have been superior to others in terms of the racing genre, and the PSP is no exception. Racing titles can attribute their success to Sony’s controller layout; specifically the Dual Shock/Dual Shock 2 controllers could be given to a player and the controls would come naturally, and the PSP doesn’t miss a beat. Accelerating your car is done by the “X” button, braking and reversing is the “Square” button, the “Circle” button and the “Right” shoulder button apply the handbrake and the “Triangle” button changes the camera view from outside the car, to behind the front of the car but not inside the car, and a first person view from the front of the car. Steering the cars can either be done by the directional pad, or by the joystick, and there is a difference between the joystick and the directional pad; that being the directional pad has a tighter feel for turning and the joystick seems to be more sensitive.
Gamers can experience rally action in five different game modes: “Quick Rally”, “Time Trial”, “Single Rally”, “Championship” and multiplayer. In “Quick Rally” the gamer will experience a race in a randomly selected car and course for the player to run through. The time trial portion of the game pits the gamer against the clock in a course, car, and driver of the player’s choice. In the “Single Rally” the player will be able to fully customize the race that the player will run from the country the course is in to the different conditions that are available on each course. In “Championship” mode, the player will be able to go through a complete season of a rally action and can choose the difficulty; ranging from Novice through Extreme. After each race is run, the ten drivers competing will receive points and the driver with the most points at the end of the circuit will win. Multiplayer races can be set up in infrastructure or ad hoc mode, and players can compete against each other.
Graphics/Audio:
The racing genre hasn’t had the most exposure on the PSP but a few racing titles have pushed the limits of the PSP, and WRC: FIA World Rally Championship falls under the category of above average. The car models are impressive and the detailed damage is a must for all rally racers and the detail is done exceptionally well. The models do the actual cars justice and are quite recognizable. The courses are detailed with trees, mud, tarmac or concrete, gravel and will reflect damage on the car, for instance a muddy course will make your car dirty and have mud stains. The heads up display has a tachometer, the current gear and the speed in the lower right hand corner; the upper right hand corner will show the time and at what part of the course the driver is on.
When the game loads, the user will be greeted with an intro-movie that shows highlights of rally races and the different cars that are available in the game. The movie, menus and races all have music, however the selection is rather limited, featuring eight, yes that’s right 8 different songs. This is a rather short list of music especially for a PSP title; and the music is everywhere and is nonstop.
Overall:
WRC: FIA World Rally Championship brings all the rally action to the PSP. Rally racing is a simple concept and the game doesn’t expand on some premises of racing that are nice features, such as a special career mode or customizable parts for a car. Rally racing was a nice addition to a bigger game such as the Gran Turismo series, but as a stand alone game, with limited depth, the game falls short.
November 20, 2009
