You've got to be classy and stylish to succeed in the world of racing games. Cars are cool and sexy. People who drive sexy cars are cool. Look at Ryan Gosling in Drive. Even we have trouble keeping our bibs dry when he breezes across our screens like a long-faced deity.
WRC 3 lacks any of the style that would, could, make it a sexy racer. It's a competent enough sim, with a host of tracks and cars across a variety of different game modes. But there's an ugly '90s vibe, dragged into today with an over-abundance of obnoxious dubstep. WRC's style pales in comparison to DiRT's slick, modern presentation.
Outside of career, there are quicker time trial events for shorter attention spans, and more time trials in the serviceable but uninspired multiplayer. With room for up to 16 players, WRC3 has the potential for some fun against-the-clock racing, providing you can get a decent party together. But there's only so long the timing boards will keep you entertained.
Hard to handle
There's simply not enough satisfying driving on offer here to warrant investing time in the overwhelming number of courses, cars and licensed WRC teams. Even hurtling down a mountain path at 90mph as death teases at your rear bumper isn't fun in WRC 3.
Despite the very obvious danger posed by the walls, trees and metal barriers that line almost every course in the game - one wrong flick of the steering wheel and you'll be scraping your fleshy visage off the dashboard - there's absolutely no relationship between car and track, which results in an entirely sterile and feedback-free driving experience.
Without any visible reinvention or revolution, WRC 3 is left looking embarrassingly dated. The WRC license has been recreated with impressive accuracy, and there's a serviceable sim underneath the awkward handling, but the entire package is painfully weak compared to its competition. If this is rally, feel free to count us out.
6 comments so far...
delmariachi on 12 Oct '12 said:
Wow, exceptionally harsher than I thought.. Thought the demo played quite well.. Is it partly because Forza Horizons been in reviewed that its lost points due to how good the other one is... just curious tbh..
"one wrong flick of the steering wheel and you'll be scraping your fleshy visage off the dashboard"
Erm, isn't that how rallying is? I'm assuming from the demo, its a bit more simmy compared to Dirt 3, which incidentally was awesome to be fair...
Ah well a shame really, may have a look when its reduced, in a month or so, was hoping for better things, although proper rally stages that last a bit longer would be nice in any game... Dirt 3 in that respect didn't cut it for me, despite how good it was..
OXM ETboy on 12 Oct '12 said:
They were reviewed by different writers, but yeah - Milestone didn't do themselves any favours by releasing this close to Horizon
forester1769 on 13 Oct '12 said:
I have to say I disagree with almost everything said in this review.
For a start, the visuals in this game are leagues ahead of the visuals in the previous two releases. Admittedly, by today's standards they aren't anything particularly special, but they are perfectly acceptable.
Now, onto the handling. Play RBR, a long established rally sim, and you get a real sense of what a rally car should feel like. This game really isn't far off RBR, in terms of physics and handling. If you're left "unsatisfied" by the driving experience, you're clearly to used to the arcade style presented by the DiRT series or Forza Horizon.
In short, this is the most realistic rally game you can get on a console at this time. It is a sim, and as such is free of the gimmicky game modes you see in the DiRT titles. It gives a lot of rally fans what they want, a chance to experience what a rally car is like, and to climb their way up in the rallying world. But if you are a fan of arcade racers, then this probably isn't for you.
beyondtool on 15 Oct '12 said:
Unfortunately this is exactly the same review bashing that happened to Richard Burns Rally, the pinacle rally simulator that is STILL being updated with cars and tracks by a dedicated following a decade later. WRC 3 is the closest I can remember to this style of game and it is a joy with a steering wheel.
What it lacks in style it makes up in substance. Dirt 3 had a great sense of style, but the loose handling model and drive it flat out physics model was terribly boring, and the small number of short tracks made it even worse. It's feedback on the xbox 360 wheels was broken.
So what would you rather have all style and no substance, or a lack of style and a game with a great amount of substance: a good roster of cars and tracks and a difficulty curve that takes more than an afternoon to master? Can we get someone who at least gets this style of game to review it, it is devastating that racing games of this calibre are shown the door just because they are compared to the likes of Dirt and NFS.
djmillar on 15 Oct '12 said:
Well i'm quite shocked at how far a professional game reviewer can miss the point. You said that this game harks back to the point-to-point racing but for anyone who actual knows anything about rallying that's called 'rallying'.
Comparing the presentation to Dirt is also an insult. Indeed the 'slick presentation' of Dirt might not be something that milestone have achieved but the slick presentation of Dirt is the only thing that is good about it should be noted. Dirt is for people who don't actually like driving games. It's a fun, arcade smash-em-up based on the shiny veneer Ken Block is putting on racing. But just like Block's attempts to look like a real racing driver, falls far short of any actual reality.
If you like the rallying style of racing, point-to-point, precision lines, long technical stages and sim handling then get WRC 3 and ignore this review. A much improved game over WRC 1 and 2 and milestone's first outing that really utilises the wheel.
BorisTheFrog on 17 Oct '12 said:
Excellent user comments (especially concerning Richard Burns' Rally).
I personally find it quite tasteless that a reviewer can even draw reference to Forza and add the comment "next to nothing new" when chastising a game that quite obviously got down-scored because they found it way too difficult to even make an effort into trying to get to grips with.
Lest we forget that in terms of differing content, Forza 4 was painfully guilty in the "next to nothing new" department!
Perhaps this reviewer also needs reminding that WRC3 is neither Forza nor Dirt (Codemasters have turned this franchise into multi-format americanised sunshine and tarmac nonsense) and comparisons should not even be considered when drawing conclusions.
If this is £6 an issue journalism, feel free to count us out.