If anything, the gravel stages are actually harder to drive than the snow ones, weirdly, as gravel seems to be much slippier than snow. You see, there is also a “perma death” mechanic that can be turned on, and if you crash too much going through a stage, the car can be totalled, resulting in you having a DNF on your record. Sometimes a pull of the handbrake is required to drift nicely around a hairpin, but the next hairpin you come to, the same amount of steering will see the car pivot 90 degrees and smash into the side of the road, or, if you are really unlucky, off a cliff, resulting in a crash and lost time at the very least. Well, the cars in WRC 9 don’t do that, sadly. I imagine that the one thing a real-life WRC driver would prize above all else in his choice of steed would be consistency – the sure and certain knowledge that when you use the same brake and steering inputs, the car will behave in the same way predictably and reliably. Unfortuately, it is here where I first began to struggle with the controls of WRC 9, if I’m brutally honest. Seriously, some of the tracks here are vertigo-inducing, especially if you drive in the front bumper view point like I do, and you’re only ever one mistimed brake or handbrake pull away from disaster. Ranging from the snows of Sweden to the grippy tarmac of Germany, and taking in the gravel delights of Finland and Argentina, there is almost 900kms of track reproduced here, and that’s enough for anyone, given that much of it appears to consist of a slim ribbon of road making its way up a mountain. And all the work that has gone into the cars and detail is mirrored in the stages that are faithfully reproduced for your driving pleasure. Real life drivers ranging from the stars at the top of their game like Sebastian Ogier, through to up-and-comers in the Junior WRC like Martins Sesks (no, I’ve not heard of him either!) are present too. These range from the full-blooded WRC cars, and also the less scary vehicles from the WRC 2 championship. So, all the cars are here, all the actual teams and the correct liveries are in place, and the many classes of car are represented too. It may well therefore be better off sticking to the single player. Similarly, there are events that you can take part in that have an online component, comparing you to the best in the world, and these are similarly empty, with one that I took part in having only 17 entrants on the leaderboard. Some of this is undoubtedly down to me initially playing the game early in its release window, but I would have expected a few to pop up online it was not to be. There are a severe lack of lobbies available to find, and those which are created remain stubbornly empty. With the best will in the world, and with multiple attempts, I’ve struggled with multiplayer sessions. Things are less rosy on the multiplayer side of the coin, however. You have to hire (and fire) crew members, read and act on emails, keep your manufacturer happy, manage the team’s morale, schedule events, including enough rest for the team, and only then can you rock up to the start line and put the hammer down. Career mode is so much more than just “rock up to the start line and put the hammer down”, requiring you to almost micro-manage every aspect of the team you put together. Luckily, the tutorial is pretty good at showing you where the ropes are, if not what to do with them all. I’ve spent the majority of my time in the career mode, where there are a host of things to manage and keep on top of. The second point is covered pretty well here, with the usual suspects from every racing game ever created all making an appearance. It looks good and sounds good, so the big question has to be about how WRC 9 plays – that and whether there is a decent amount of content to keep you playing. So, a big tick go to KT Racing in terms of presentation. Sound-wise it’s all great as well, with growling engines, screeching tyres and, if it’s me behind the wheel, crumpling metal and breaking glass sound effects working very well. The car models themselves all look very nice too, and with a gallery to play with, you can admire the vehicles at your leisure. It’s not the same is it? Still, the cars are what they are, and while they may not get my motor running (see what I did there?) the inclusion of Historic Rallies does at least allow for some proper cars to be included. The new rally cars, for me, don’t have the same amount of personality as the classics from years gone by do – compare the thrill of screaming around in a Subaru Impreza or Lancia Delta Integrale with the thought of driving a Toyota Yaris.
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