The Forecast isn’t Always Clear: WRC 9 Review

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I’ve always been a big fan of racing games no matter what form they come in, from Mario Kart to Rally Car, each providing their own unique way of taking you around a track or even through unknown terrain, and thanks to publisher Nacon for providing me a copy of their latest game WRC 9 for review on my Xbox One X. In World Racing Championship 9, Kylotonn Entertainment does an amazing job yet once again of making you truly feel the challenge of what it is like to experience being a rally car driver by having you drive various point-to-point races. Most people might be familiar with a more arcade-like experience with a game such as the Dirt series, but what WRC 9 provides is a whole other beast and one that truly challenges you to get better and become more familiar with its tracks as well as it’s various degrees of weather situations. The weather in WRC 9 is unlike any other I’ve experienced in any rally game to date. What might seem like a very clear day can very quickly turn into a downpour which will cause you to have to adjust the way in which you are braking and steering your car, however, if you come prepared with a Meteorologist during WRC 9’s rather extensive Career mode, you might not have to worry about what weather might be ahead since you’ll have a weather forecast shown before each race.

WRC 9 will have you facing many forms of weather with some causing you to change your strategy mid-race.

Speaking of the Career mode, it retains the same style as before in WRC 8, where you won’t just be managing your car while driving it, but will also be responsible for an entire racing team. You start off in the Junior WRC and depending on just how well you perform and also what decisions you make when it comes to your crew, you could also move up to WRC 3, WRC 2, and eventually the World Racing Championship series itself. This is what I truly love about WRC 9 compared to other rally games out there is that you are responsible for just how much your team develops over time. Skill points return this year and depending on what team you sign with is what branch of skills you’ll be able to upgrade in your R&D department. This department is also where you will unlock various types of crew members such as a Physical Therapist, Meteorologist, Agent, and a Financial Advisor just to name a few. Each of these crew members is important in their own right and all will help guide you to success that is if you choose to unlock them.

You’ll find yourself managing many different forms of your team and making decisions on who you will sign on your crew in the extensive Career mode.

The gameplay in WRC is one that truly is challenging and will take some time to really master. I was able to play through three different rally’s in the Career mode and all three were quite challenging as well as all being officially licensed. Rally Sweden was the first during my Junior WRC career and it introduced me right away to how weather plays a role in the game. Thankfully my co-driver was able to point out upcoming turns and jumps as well as letting me know their degrees of difficulty. With these audio and visual cues, I am able to be prepared for what’s ahead and this is one thing that WRC has always done very well in helping those that are new to the series be able to learn the courses. If you feel the game is getting too difficult, you are able to turn down the difficulty to as low as 50% and also turn on various other means of help as well. WRC 9 also has very competitive means of multiplayer with an all-new mode added called Clubs in which you can create your own club to add your friends in which you can in turn create your own championship series that will help everyone be able to level up together.

While the game can take some time to master, WRC always does a great job of making sure you have a great co-driver to help you plan your next move.

WRC 9 is a very fun and challenging game that I highly recommend any racing fan experience, as well as those that enjoy a great racing team management sim. Also, WRC 9 is a great game for those looking to make their own rally championship that you can enjoy with your friends as well as even a local split-screen mode so can even enjoy from home together. WRC 9 is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC Steam.

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