World Rally Championship 5 – Kt’s New Driver

Driving games have come a long way since Outrun but as Andreas Mikkelsen gets a rare win through the unforced error of others, we take a look at the latest World Rally Championship incarnation from Kt Games and notice quite quickly that even at only mediocre it’s still a lot better than my ability to actually play it.

Those that occasionally take advantage of Norwegian gambling laws to bet on the World Rally Championship at ComeOn! Sportsbook and the like might already be well aware that Andreas Mikkelsen grabbed a neat win in the RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada after championship leader Sebastien Ogier crashed out in the final stage, his domination of the first two days almost donating the win to the Norwegian. Indeed it made winning so easy I thought I’d give it a try.

Mikkelsen Wins In Spain
• WRC 5 from Kt Games
• Is it fun but no cigar?
• Necessary damage control

Now obviously I wasn’t actually about to climb into a rally spec motor vehicle and drive it to the limit around parts of Spain in the World Rally Championship. There were several reasons for this, the most salient being I drive like Mr. Bean, my editor wouldn’t okay the outrageous expenses claim (the insurance alone was just silly) and I’ve never been entirely approving of this whole “outside” thing people keep going on about anyway. Luckily for me an alternative presented itself.

WRC 5: FIA World Rally Championship has just been released onto the gaming shelves so I decided to see if I could emulate the Norwegian’s good fortune in this, the latest installment in the reboot of this classic of the driving game genre. The quick rally feature seemed the obvious choice, and, having chosen both the the correct event from the calendar and the right driver (Mikkelsen himself) I was instantly in the driver’s seat of a Volkswagen Polo on the starting line of the first stage.

Slip & Slide On Tarmac & Gravel In Spain

I was instantly impressed by the overall look of the World Rally Championship game, the lighting conditions particularly noticeable in the dawn-scheduled first stage, and indeed the scenery is functional, if nothing to write home about, and I can speak with some authority on the matter having spent a good bit of the first stage making contact with pieces of it. Unfortunately the details of the game began to ebb away from me as the Polo beneath me quickly gave up and ceased to be an effective mode of transport.

It quickly became apparent that I wasn’t going to be making gambling news headlines as a World Rally Championship driver with this performance, the very accurate damage physics and my right-foot-heavy driving style disintegrated the car with each corner. The gravel and tarmac, rendered quite effectively, often completely failing to provide any grip whatsoever. Some would have valiantly battled on against the learning curve, but I’m on a deadline and just changed the damage settings.

No longer quite so harshly penalized for my lack of ability the game began to be fun, the stages visually interesting (although the spectators are a bit 1990s) and with the ability to ramp up your level of involvement way beyond arcade to simulation it covers all the bases whatever skill level you come into the game with. Being an FIA World Rally Championship approved game it has all the cars and teams, and if the co-driver sometimes leaves his exclamations too late it’s only because he’s keeping up with the notes.

World Rally Championship Lacking Variety?

All in all WRC 5: FIA World Rally Championship is a good addition to the breed, but whilst the physics are top notch the background, beyond a few notable landmarks, leaves something to be desired, and the challenge of adjusting the car to the precise conditions ahead isn’t as detailed as we’ve seen in some other games. Could it be that this reboot of the old classic itself needs a reboot? And what of the real life World Rally Championship, could that do with one?

Certainly those that like to bet on sports in Norway who wager upon the World Rally Championship will be only too painfully aware that the sport has been dominated by people from France called Sebastien for over a decade. First it was Loeb who took eight titles in a row, now Ogier seems set to continue the tradition having just won his third in a row. Andreas Mikkelsen is therefore very often part of the also-ran category which makes for poor betting, however as the season climaxes in Wales in November look out for last minute, last ditch efforts.

I tried to drive the Welsh rally stages. The words wholesale disaster do not even come close to doing justice to how bad I was at it, but my ho-hum performance was a little like the game itself, it showed moments of brilliance but over the long haul lost their shine, probably making this a game that won’t get a lot of repeat play-throughs even in career mode. Fun but not enough to warrant continuing the series, the variety gamers expect just isn’t there in this World Rally Championship title.