WRC: Generations (PC)

Geoffrey Wright | November 8, 2022 | Review | No Comments

Fully licensed WRC games are a long running series, I still enjoy the Evolution Studios games from the hey day of PS2, with several developers & publishers tasked with delivering on the thrill of rally over the years. The license is reportedly set to change hands again, so this is something of a swansong for the current developer. Going out with a bang? Lets take a look.

With all 49 teams and hundreds of kilometres spread across 22 countries to get through, there’s certainly plenty of content packed into this years edition – especially when factoring in special stages and the addition of classic rally cars this time around. Career mode is the bread and butter of these games as you start low down the pecking order in the JWRC and work your way up to the big leagues with a full WRC calender and the cars that take part. When looking to take a break from the gruelling WRC calender, there’s some challenges to do or you can head online and test yourself against others.

Outside of rallying there’s the expanded livery editor. Not only can you create your own as before, but now share and download those created by other racers. Wanna rally in a Skoda Fabia rocking the 05 McRae paint job? See if someone has done it if you don’t have the time to do it yourself. The developers have also added cross-platform leaderboards and the like. There’s no matchmaking or lobbies with those on other systems, but you can still compete with your friends in other ways.

Having recently played WRC 9 on PC & WRC 10 on PS5, I was left somewhat surprised at the improvements to the presentation here. Don’t get me wrong it’s not some night & day difference, more along the likes of fleshed out & polished. Trackside detail looks a little more dense this time around, with some of the low-key textures in previous games now replaced with ones that don’t look out of place at high resolutions. Car detail and sound is good as you would expect for a licensed game, the new classic cars also fit right in and are well detailed.

Performance isn’t too far off previous games, you should be able to get a similar level as before with some minor tweaks. Then again you may not have to as the game incorporates the likes of DLSS now for a performance boost. My system (R7 3800X/32GB/2080 ti) was able to hit 80-100fps most of the time at high settings with DLSS Quality used at 4K. One oddity though was what looked like the odd bit of judder, which I’ve noticed on older games in the series to be honest on PC. What makes it odd is that GSync doesn’t seem to catch it so must just be something with the engine used as its been there the last few games.

As is usually the case the games handling will depend on how you want to play, with all manner of assist and options to tailor the game to your preferred way of realism or something a little easier. Generations looks to provide an authentic WRC experience, so you won’t find any quirky modes or anything here – just pure rallying from A to B. As you would expect its not quite as simple as that, sure nature will play its part with different biomes, but you’ll have plenty of others to contend with and manage on the track. A decent meteorologist for example is a must, lest you pick hard tyres and it ends up raining which leaves you sliding all the way home. This latest game ups the ante with less sophisticated classic cars, alongside the very latest hybrid WRC cars. These hybrid cars also have something else to manage in its battery, surprisingly full of risk & reward depending on your driving style.

The other side of the game could the management aspect off the track during the career. Here you’ll be juggling all manner of things including staff and reputations with sponsor or manufacturers. As you complete rallies and earn money, you’ll also level up your driver which gives you skill to points to use. These are applied on an RPG skill tree, with various bonuses for your team and further expansions as you level up. If you can’t get onto your team of choice, usually the case with me and Skoda, you can always be independent. This opens up the career mode more and gives you even more responsibility with your own team as you try to impress sponsors and keep the gig going. It’s not always easy, my first season independent left me debt ridden and requiring podium finishes to keep the team afloat.

Generations doesn’t change up the formula in any way over previous games, not that they could really, but it does add a lot of content and additional polish that goes some way to making this the best yet. So many hours can be lost in just the career mode alone, and there’s the new hybrid cars to try, with the bonus of cross-platform goodies added to some aspects of the online side of things. WRC aficionados like me probably already have it, but if you’re starting to tire of other rally games or a petrol head looking to try something different, then this should be on your radar.