WRC Generations has a rather ambitious goal. Instead of offering a yearly release in the WRC franchise, Generations wants to be a game that will literally last generations. It’s packed with content and I’m sure Rally fans will have a blast discovering it all.
Welcome to WRC Generations
First things first, what I noticed during my hands-on and presentation is the fact that WRC Generations certainly looks its part. The graphics have been improved a lot, with extra attention to lighting in-game and sleek menus to pick your favorite type of race. That being said, it’s nice to have improved graphics but the real showstopper are the modes and options in Generations. As said in the introduction, this one is supposed to be the big celebration for the franchise, a game that is planned to last for years. Needless to say, these ambitious plans come with a lot of gameplay opportunities.
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 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 the 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 the 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 split-screen too!
Simulation
After I was presented with all of the game’s content, I was told the final product will have even more content so there’s something to explore for everyone here. After the presentation, I had some time left to check out the new Sweden map. Since this is a simulator, the snow 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 which will easily put you back on track. I raced with 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.
Early conclusion:
WRC Generations is shaping up to become the ultimate WRC game for the fans of deep simulators. It has an incredible amount of content and the innovations easily make it the best rally game on the market. This is a must-have for the fans of the genre!
