WRC Generations finally arrives on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox and Xbox Series worldwide! And with it, a page of history is being turned. Development studio KT Racing, which has been working on the license since 2015 and WRC 5, has announced that it will be putting the license on hold after WRC Generations. The studio won’t be disappearing from our racing radar, however, as they have already announced Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown for 2023.
What we have in our hands, then, is nothing less than the farewell title between a successful studio and a mythical official license. So, is it worth the risk? Let’s find out by testing the PC version of the game.
WRC Generations in brief
We have in our hands a gaming experience that is fun, playful and accessible to beginner players but with mixed technical implementation.
One last one for the road?
Since its creation in 2006, Kylotonn (or KT Racing) has been behind the development of the WRC series, among others. But also Tourist Trophy Isle of Man, V-Rally 4 and soon Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, which will let us race through a life-size (!) Hong Kong.
But this time it’s been announced: WRC G will be the studio’s last. What will become of the license after that, we don’t yet know. But KT Racing would like to reassure us that this is not the end of their love affair with motorsport.
We’re not giving up on rallying, that’s for sure! We will, however, take advantage of this new chapter to focus our next productions on other equally interesting aspects of motorsport. We’ll let you know more soon.
Alain Jarniou, Creative Director, KT Racing
What’s new in WRC Generations
To end the WRC license on a high note, the studio has decided to go all out in terms of content. Quite simply, there have never been so many vehicles, categories, special stages or teams in a WRC before.
The most complete collection of vehicles in the WRC license
The new regulations have introduced us to the joys of Hybrid technology in rallying. The torque of the vehicles is greatly increased, as drivers have to manage almost 30% more power under acceleration.
As a driver, you’ll also have to think about your strategies for managing the power sent by the battery. There are 3 modes to choose from. Specifically, mode 2, which is very balanced, will suit 95% of players. And aliens can juggle between modes to find the optimum performance.
The WRC vehicle list includes :
- Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
- Hyundai I20 N Rally1
- Ford Puma Rally1 (equipped with Fanatec steering wheel HUB)
The WRC 2 category features the :
- Skoda Fabia Rally2
- Citroën C3 Rally2
- Hyundai I20 N Rally2
- Ford Fiesta Rally2
- Volkswagen Polo Rally2
And finally, the Ford Fiesta Rally3 for the WRC3 Junior category, followed by an impressive list of 37 legendary and bonus vehicles.
The Specials
But what would be the point of this abundance of vehicles if we didn’t have emblematic places to abuse them? WRC Generations boasts no fewer than 165 special stages in 22 locations !
That’s over 750Km of unique roads to discover, in a huge variety of settings, atmospheres and layouts. I also appreciate the dynamic weather forecast, which can change during the course of a stage. It’s scripted, of course, but it adds to immersion.
Of course, the 2022 season’s rallies are present, but it’s also a pleasure to rediscover old, emblematic destinations. I’ll let you see for yourself:
- Monte Carlo
- Sweden
- Croatia
- Portugal
- Italy – Sardinia
- Kenya
- Estonia
- Finland
- Belgium
- Greece
- New Zealand
- Spain
- Japan
- Argentina
- Chile
- Germany
- Mexico
- Italy – Sanremo
- France – Corsa
- Turkey
- Wales
I wish we could have created a customized championship to go back to past editions. It would have been so much fun! But we’ll have to make do with launching Special after Special.
Want to challenge the rest of the world in Leagues?
Every week, players are offered daily challenges, grouped by level. A chance to prove to the world that you’re the fastest once and for all?
Cross-play
For the first time, a WRC features Cross-Play. But what’s that? Well, all the results tables are shared between the different game platforms. For example, if you play on a PC, you’ll also be able to compete against console players in the game’s various leagues and clubs. And even share the liveries you’ve created in the Editor. Only online multiplayer lobbies and Co-Driver mode are not available in cross-play.
Getting to grips with the game: configuration takes time.
Now that we’ve had a good look at the game’s content, it’s time to launch the beast. And right from the start, I have a feeling that not everything about this experience is going to be rosy. Starting with the menus, clearly designed for consoles and their controllers. On the PC, it’s all done with the keyboard, and the mouse hasn’t been optimized at all, so we’ll leave it in a corner.
I make my way as best I can to the key configuration menu, and there’s another ordeal awaiting me. It’s long, very long, too long! Just think, to configure a key, here’s what you have to do:
- Select the action to be configured and click on it to enter its menu
- Select the button to configure a key
- Click on the button in question
- Confirm modification
- Exit the action configuration menu and repeat for the next one!
It’s LOOOOONNNNNG! Guys, it’s 2022, and configuring a key should take no more than 2 clicks. So expect to spend ten minutes or so configuring your keys, and then you’re ready to launch career mode!
Career modes for the WRC 2022 season
You can start your racing career in three different ways. Either in WRC3 Junior, which is easy to get to grips with, since you’ll have limited team management and the AIs will all be using the same car as you. A Ford Fiesta Rally3.
The second mode introduces you to WRC2 and more comprehensive team management. There’s more challenge on the stages and in the garage, but it’s still very affordable. Then comes the WRC2 Private mode, where you get to manage your entire team.
My little company…
What you’ll find in the career modes is fairly comprehensive team management. You can recruit staff and develop innovations and bonuses thanks to a more complete technology tree than in previous opuses.
We only have access to this garage between rallies, of course. So it’s a good idea to think about the improvements you’d like to make to your team and your vehicle before hitting the road. Between stages, apart from the usual repairs and tyre changes, you’ll have to make do with what you’ve got.
What does this mean in practice?
Aside from the relatively advanced and interesting management aspects, what does it mean in terms of driving? Because it’s all very well to hire mechanics, but I really want to make them work, even if it means taking a few hazardous trips off the road!
Clearly sim-arcade driving, permissive and fun
In terms of driving, once again it’s clear that the game wasn’t developed for sim racers, but for gamers with a joystick. At the wheel, the degree of rotation can only be adjusted at your own discretion, and the force feedback is very basic.
Basic, but not bad! It doesn’t take long to get the hang of cross-country cornering at 130kph. But it has to be said that grip changes on different surfaces are not reflected in the force feedback. And road effects, even when pushed to the maximum, are very slight.
Steering itself is very permissive. This is clearly a Sim-Arcade that wants you to have a good time without too much stress. Even if it will take a few hours to master the art of driving the game’s racing cars, you’ll be helped by accessible physics that forgive mistakes. Even when they’re crude!
However, once you’re behind the wheel, it’s hard to take your eyes off the game, which has really succeeded in creating an addictive quality that makes you want to keep going. This is perhaps one of WRC’s greatest strengths. The fact that it offers a challenge accessible to the greatest number of people, while at the same time providing a driving experience exhilarating enough to make you want to do special stages all day long!
But sacrificing the simulation aspect for the sake of accessibility doesn’ t mean skimping on graphic quality… And that’s where things get tricky.
Zooming in on the graphics (well, let’s not zoom in too far…)
This is probably the real drawback of this opus. WRC Generations’ graphics are at least 4 years behind what’s currently happening in the world of car racing. Even Dirt Rally 2.0, released in 2019, holds its own in this respect.
While the atmosphere of the Special Races is quite addictive as you race at full speed through the game’s winding roads, aliasing is very present even when graphics settings are pushed to maximum.
But pushing the graphics to the max requires a war machine! What a resource-hungry game! If you don’t have a PC gamer, forget the high graphics settings, FPS fall like pigeons on a hot day… And the worry when you switch from “very high” graphics mode to “high” mode is that you fall back into 2017…
Particularly in the presentation phases of a Special or the replays. There, despicable foreground and background blurs will destroy your retinas and instantly take you out of the hard-won game immersion… I sincerely hope this blur issue will be fixed in an update soon, because I haven’t seen quality like this since the PS2 (and I’m not even exaggerating).
So, you’re going to tell me that the studio wasn’t going to bother developing a new graphics engine knowing that they wouldn’t reuse the license anyway. Sure, but a little optimization of what already exists would have been appreciated.
A soundtrack that lacks life
Let’s move on to the game’s sound orchestration. There’s some good stuff, but once again there’s room for improvement. The co-pilot does his job very well, but his instructions don’t sound too robotic. I’m not going to mention the engine sound effects, which do their job, as I’ve never put my nose inside a rally car myself, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that aspect.
But what I can share with you is the absence of anything else. From a purely sonic point of view, this game lacks life. For example, there’s absolutely no sound generated by the terrain beneath the wheels. Whether it’s dirt, gravel, asphalt or snow, there’s no sound to immerse you in the terrain. No gravel hitting the body, no rattles or squeaks as the chassis twists and turns… We’ll have to make do with a few tire squeaks in the background and puddles.
It’s a pity, as these were easy immersion points for the studio!
More “Simu” alternatives
As I’ve said on several occasions, WRC Generations is aimed primarily at console gamers who drive with a joystick. The arcade-style driving, while great fun, won’t suit simracers looking for realism above all else. If you’re looking for simulation, Dirt Rally 2.0 is the place to go. Not forgetting, of course, the mythical Richard Burns Rally, which despite its age (this game can legally order a beer in a bar) remains a benchmark for many simracers to this day.
Which steering wheel to use on WRC Generations?
I had a very annoying problem with the CSL DD following my WRC tests. If you use the SEN (maximum degree of steering wheel rotation) setting in automatic mode, be careful!
Create an independent profile for WRC Générations and set the SEN manually to the desired degree (540° if you want to do things properly). If you leave it on auto, there is a risk that the automatic rotation level will remain stuck at 540° for all your other games! This is what happened to me, and it seems that the KT Racing studio is not the only one to have this problem since the same problem happened to quite a few players when F1 22 was released.
If this happens to you, here’s how to solve the problem: Simply uninstall and reinstall Fanalab.
If you’re fed up with playing with a joystick and want to get down to business with a simulation steering wheel, here are a few recommendations.
Given the lack of detailed force feedback in this game, you really don’t need a top-of-the-range steering wheel. A Thrustmaster T128 or T248 will do just fine on a tight budget. A handbrake could be a very wise purchase, as it’s almost indispensable in terms of rally immersion.
But if you’re on a slightly larger budget, a Fanatec GT DD Pro 8Nm with WRC wheel, CSL Elite LC pedalset and handbrake will give you the maximum you can get out of WRC Generations.
I wouldn’t recommend Logitech for this title, as the True Force system is poorly integrated into the game, and in any case their ecosystem doesn’t (yet) include a handbrake.
To conclude on WRC Generations
In terms of content, this game is just ultra-rich. A ton of vehicles covering 50 years of rallying, 22 unique emblematic locations, a complete career mode. In that respect, it’s a great, great discovery. The downside is the technical side. Aging graphics engine, bland soundscape, menu ergonomics not at all optimized for the PC..
Despite this, WRC Generations is still very fun and exhilarating in the driving phases. I really enjoyed playing it. It’s a game that demands concentration and dexterity, and I’m looking forward to finishing the season I’ve started in career mode. A very enjoyable driving experience, and after all, for a car game, that’s what counts!
WRC Generations in brief
We have in our hands a gaming experience that is fun, playful and accessible to beginner players but with mixed technical implementation.
