Since 2015, Kylotonn has been trying to get the World Rally Championship games on track again after Milestone sent the series out on a forest trip. The two previous years they have not been close to success, and it does not seem as they have learned noteworthy towards this year’s version.
Both me and others who have a passion for rally games have been extremely spoiled in recent years after there was a quiet period on this front. With the Sebastien Loeb Rally Evo, WRC games and not least Dirt Rally and Dirt 4 in the last couple of years, there has been no shortage of entertainment for us who like to drive on narrow roads in a hurry. The quality of the various games, on the other hand, has varied greatly, with Kylotonn’s projects at the bottom of the ladder.
After seeing a small improvement from WRC 5 to WRC 6, expectations were increasing to WRC 7 this year. In addition to learning from their own mistakes, I could only assume that they had looked at the competition and what they have done in recent years. So wrong can you take.
At the start of the game, I am asked if this is the first time I play a rally game or if I am a dreaded forest farmer. As I have played my rally games over the years, I therefore choose to go for the latter option at first try. I will be sent on a stage in Hayden Paddons Hyundai, and left largely to myself. This is, of course, okay, because I said I was experienced and should be able to control the basic controls like gas and brake before. What nevertheless surprised me was that what obviously was the only difference between the two choices was that I did not have to hold the handbreak at start if I’m a beginner. Driving experience and settings apparently do not change beyond that.
Of course, this made me wonder why I got this choice initially, and then try a little further to see if I find any other changes. Usually, I use to go straight to career mode, but here I have to try several things so I’m going to the quick stage to try it out. It does not take long before I find out that there are no big changes that have been made with the car. It slows a bit better than it did on the sample I had earlier, but that’s all. After having a time penalty on time penalty to cut turns with minimal margin (sometimes I could cut several meters without penalty), and hit two invisible walls during the stage, I therefore go out of the menu to see what’s up been made by changes. It turns out here that the only help you can get is startup help (so I do not have to break the handbrake) and ABS brakes.
At this time, I wanted to get rid of the whole game and just find back to Dirt 4 to get back to the belief in rally play. But for you to read this, get the best picture of how this game is, I have to bite it in me and try on. After a little more knots around the menus to see if I find any other settings, which I do not do then, the trip goes on to career mode.
Like most other games, I start in the worst class when I enter career mode. A somewhat dull R2 car in the Junior-WRC class is my work tool in the future, and I know I’m excited about how this should feel versus the car I was driving on the test. Since I’ve played some rally games earlier, I know that the R2 cars are front-wheel drive and will behave differently than one of the more powerful four-wheel drive cars. However, I do not get this information before I’m thrown to the wolves and will run a stage in career mode. To make sure I can advance as quickly as possible from the somewhat boring junior class I choose medium difficulty on my opponents. I would like to spend a lot of time in the “lower divisions” and want to get up to the WRC class first and foremost. After the card reader performs sending me the wrong way in two ways during the first three stages, I am very pleased with that choice. I was so stunned by this that I had to go back to the reprisal to see if I was wrong or if it was actually the cardholder who said wrong. It turned out quite right that it was the mapper who simply said the wrong direction. Beyond this, the career share is exactly the same as we saw in WRC 6, so I will not waste more of the time for you who read this with it.
The many are excited about all car games is how the car behaves on the road. Here too, Kylotonn struggles to get the same feeling as the competitors. Although there is a lot of fun here and there that makes me jump sideways at times, it all feels as flat as before. Graphically, it has become a little clearer if there are bumps in the way or not, but still not on top control. This helps to make the whole experience boring. If you say that the card reader sends you in the wrong direction, and in addition, over time is the time he will have you to brake or pass goals, generally the driving noise is far below par.
Amazingly, Kylotonn has been wrong with WRC 7, but they have also got a few things. First and foremost, I must boast of the sound experience I have with the game. Both the cars and the surroundings sound real and you can also hear the sound of the brakes that occasionally win like a little Chihuahua. It’s possible this is somewhat exaggerated in reality, but I liked the little touch, something it’s clear that the developers also did since this happens all the time.
The other thing they should brag about must be strictly addressed to those in the offices rather than the production room. A full lineup of drivers in both WRC, WRC2 and J-WRC classes is authentic, as are the few stages in the game. This is obviously because they have the license for the World Rally Championship, but I choose to brag for this page, among other things (WRC 5) have used shortcuts by omitting some of the drivers.
The total experience with WRC 7 reminds a lot about WRC 6 with a small update on the audio front. Graphics look better on the car itself, but the surroundings and repercussions have taken a step back from last year. If I drive through a shrub on the outside of the track, this is simply in resolution without completely understanding why. Additionally, if you do not give any help to the inexperienced drivers, most people who end up with WRC 7 as their first rally will have an even worse experience.
If you’re tired of driving alone, you can always take your car in the virtual multiplayer world. This works well in its own way, but there is no kind of ranking or similar to meet on opponents of the same quality. I can not even choose if I only want to drive against those who have driving assistance (in this case, only ABS) or not. In addition, I think it can be difficult to find others to run alongside since most people will most likely choose other options on the rally game.
Should you, however, be able to overcome the mistakes of the game and want to invite a friend’s home to play, you can do it with the split screen option that Kylotonn has been so easy to keep. If you are a bigger friend, you can choose to drive the same stage with the same car up to eight times in succession in Hot Seat mode. Then the times will be compared to the others and the winner will be given a spell.
WRC 7 is a game that simply struggles to deliver on many levels. That it only delivers on audio and license content becomes thin if you look at what the competitors have given us. Direct mistake of card reader, limited number of stages and poor driving physics means that this game will never be anything more than I’ll tell if I’m tired of anything else. Even then it’s probably not worth it.
