Since acquiring the WRC licence from French developer Kylotonn, hopes have been high for EA and Codemasters’ long-awaited follow-up to 2019’s DiRT Rally 2.0.
The second DiRT Rally game gained a loyal, bobble-hatted fanbase thanks to its convincing recreation of driving sideways on gravel, snow and asphalt stages. Although EA SPORTS WRC isn’t a direct sequel per se, developer Codemasters has retained much of the DNA that made its prior titles so popular; with enjoyable physics, genre-leading sounds and a whole service park full of rally fever.
We’ve sampled an early PC build of EA SPORTS WRC ahead of its November release date, testing out the majority of the game’s content. And the question on everyone’s lips is: can it live up to its predecessor?
WRC has all the authentic bells and whistles one would expect from an officially licenced product. All 13 of the 2023 season’s locations will be represented in-game (the Central Europe Rally will arrive as free post-release DLC) with four bonus locations based on other popular rallies also included from the off.
Naturally, all manufacturers from the WRC, WRC2 and WRC3 classes will also make an appearance, with their respective Rally1 Hybrid, Rally2 and Rally3 cars. Every career mode rally also features intros voiced by WRC reporter Molly Pettit, adding another layer of authenticity to proceedings.
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Source: Autosport