WRC Generations is the last game in the franchise developed by Kylotonn, the next installments will be developed by Codemasters. Instead of launching another yearly entry in the long-running franchise, Kylotonn wanted to do something special for the fans. Generations can easily be considered a best-of-entry, bringing back a lot of iconic locations and cars. Needless to say, this is one for car lovers!
A lot of content
The moment you start the game, you’ll be blown away by the amount of content in this game. With stages across 22 countries, adding to a total of 750 drivable kilometers, this is an impressive entry to say the least, but it doesn’t stop there yet. Generations include a total of 49 teams and 37 iconic cars covering the history of WRC. But what about the actual modes? Well, you have a returning career mode where you’ll manage everything that has to do with Rally, from picking your cars and drivers to ensuring everything stays up-to-date and ready to race.
Besides that you have multiple rallies crossing over the borders of many countries and re-introducing fan-favorite locations from the past. The same goes for the available cars which include some legendary cars and new hybrid engines. I personally loved how much time went into the details here, they even remade the Sweden map to make it feel more modern and realistic. Since this still is a deep simulation game, you want that realism to be as high as possible. To top it all off, you can enter certain leagues or create your own league to race for a first place online against cross-platform players. The game also comes with an entirely free ‘battle pass’ which will unlock more stickers and cosmetics to really stand out. Everything is included in the game, no paid passes but maybe some DLC in the future. And yes, it still has a split-screen too!
Time to become the very best
The new League mode is certainly the most impressive addition to the game since it gives you something to come back to over and over again. In this mode, you’ll face other players who will match your level of skills. By beating them, you’ll rise on the virtual ladder and you’ll face more skilled opponents. In order to stay on top of the league, you’ll really need to become good at the game and spend countless hours with it. The fact that you can create your own league and take on various opponents is an amazing addition to the franchise and gives you a reason to come back to the game as much as you like, with every return, there’s a new challenge waiting for you. And don’t worry it’s certainly a challenge!
Since this is a simulator, the snow on let’s say the Sweden map really impacts the way you control your car a lot and it will send it off drifting into the void in no time. Luckily there’s a respawn button that will easily put you back on track. While racing, I do prefer using the new hybrid engine, an engine that impacts your driving style a lot. You can use the battery charge to give you a boost in crucial moments. Before you start the race, you can select one out of three hybrid engine modes. One will give you a short but powerful boost while the other is more balanced and spreads out the power of the battery a bit more so you can use it more with less power. Using the hybrid engine feels good and reminded me of the boosts you find in other racing games, of course without ever forgetting this still is an incredibly deep simulator. The start of the game is extremely hard if you’re not used to this type of realistic simulator but once you get your car under control, the fun can truly begin and you’ll have a blast with all of the modes for sure.
Room for improvement
Although the addition of new modes and legacy cars certainly works in Generation’s favor, there’s still some room for improvement. Just like the previous entries, both cars and tracks look amazing but everything surrounding them could certainly use some extra love. It’s a shame that the weather effects or objects around the tracks aren’t as visually pleasing as the cars themselves since this really takes you out of the immersion. If they could bump up those extras in the graphic department, it would work even better as a true-to-life simulating game. That being said, it’s clear that cars and tracks are the beating heart of the game so they handle exactly as you would expect them to handle, there’s no easy way out, if you want to win a race, you’ll need to understand your car and the roads, even when the weather changes during your race. It’s a more than decent entry for the fans but it’s just a bit of a shame the visuals aren’t as pleasing everywhere you look.
Conclusion:
WRC Generations is the perfect game for fans of realistic simulators but it’s not perfect. It could have used an extra layer of polish, taking things further than just the cars and tracks. That being said, the new modes and cars do add a lot of great gameplay which will keep you entertained for months to come.
