WRC 8 has been crowned as one of the best in the franchise and is considered one of the best racing simulators that released this year. Now, Nintendo fans can finally get their hands on this simulator thanks to the special Nintendo Switch version but does it offer the same level of quality? Time to find it!
WRC 8
In case you missed our review of WRC 8 on other consoles, here’s a little snippet from that review:
It all comes down to that simple statement, I just clicked with WRC 8 and enjoyed it. I loved the racing, everything around it and as I mentioned before, I even lost sleep over this game. This is usually only happening for the RPG genre or the best of puzzle games (like Boxboy and Picross), it had never before happened because of a racing game.
As you can read, we were pretty amazed by WRC 8 and scored it with an amazing 90%. WRC 8 proved that the franchise didn’t lose its way and was back on track to become the best racing simulator on the market. Needless to say, I was eager to play the Switch version as there aren’t that many great racing simulators currently on the platform. With the arrival of WRC 8, I thought fans would finally get the simulator they deserved, but in the end, it was a disappointing experience.
Keep it docked
While playing in docked mode the visual setback is something you’ll notice immediately. This isn’t the same gorgeous racing simulator that you can play on your PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, the Switch version looks far less impressive. Now, this is understandable since the Switch simply doesn’t offer the same power as the other consoles but this port looks extremely disappointing. The cars themselves look okay but the environments and tracks look like something that was created a decade ago. It’s clear that performance was a higher priority but we are left with a game that doesn’t look good at all. It’s a shame really since the Switch already demonstrated its true power a couple of times in other games, but this isn’t one of those.
We all know however, that graphics don’t make or break a game, the performance is of more importance. WRC 8 manages to run at a decent 30 frames per second if you play in docked mode. That’s right, docked mode on your hybrid portable system. It’s clear that the team struggled with the technical aspects of this port. It is playable in handheld mode too but we don’t recommend anyone playing it that way. In handheld mode, it’s just one big pixel festival where blurry visuals go hand in hand with ugly models. It’s hard to see where you’re going in handheld mode and drifting is nearly impossible due to those limited visuals. That’s why you’ll have to play it in docked mode if you want to find some fun in this title. Of course, this is something we can’t really tolerate on a portable system, if you only own a Nintendo Switch Lite, you shouldn’t even consider getting this one.
There’s enough content to keep you going
On the positive side; the game offers plenty of modes. The Nintendo Switch version comes packed with a lot of options including career mode, single races, and some online challenges. It offers plenty of content to keep you entertained but it’s not the same as the other versions. The big online eSports mode and split-screen multiplayer mode are both missing in action in this version, which is strange if you see that this version sells at the same price as the other ones. It’s a shame that Nintendo fans clearly get the most underwhelming version of the game as it could have been so much more. Yes, there’s enough content to keep you going for at least a couple of weeks but at this price and in this state, I’m not really sure if the game is even worth your time at all.
Conclusion:
When I first got my hands on the Nintendo Switch version of one of the best racing simulators of the year, I really got excited. Too bad this quickly turned to frustration and disappointment. This version doesn’t offer the same level of quality at all and suffers from missing modes and terrible technical performance in handheld mode. Yes, there’s plenty of content to keep you entertained but it’s not the best racing simulator on the system. Perhaps it’s worth picking up when it’s down to a lower price but at this point, it’s not really worth your time or money.
