There’s also a new mode this year called Clubs, which allows you to create your own championship or take part in others created by online players. Outside of the extensive Career Mode, there’s the usual game mode alternatives such as: Training, Test Area, Season and Challenges. Some players will be thankful for this, mainly for achieving a level of realism associated with running a World Rally team, but also because it delays your appearance on that dire racetrack. From hiring and firing crew members to investing in Research and Development, there’s a lot to get your head around. When you aren’t navigating the streets of Monte-Carlo, WRC 9 keeps you busy by navigating the extensive management menus. Cars have been designed to be just the right size so as to be safely navigated around the tracks, but not the size that makes it easy to do so. WRC 9 sees you take on all of the official stages from the World Rally, many of which cover tough terrain and narrow stretches. Rally games are rarely designed with the casual racer in mind, but the WRC franchise has really taken it up a gear or two in recent years. The incredibly challenging gameplay mechanics have remained too. There is a real sense of speed and acceleration which wonderfully recreates the feel of being behind the wheel of a rally car.” The same could be said for WRC 9, as thankfully the sense of speed and tactile handling has remained. The handling is by far its greatest asset and makes racing across the many landscapes both engaging and exciting. When I reviewed WRC 8 last year for Switch Player, I stated that: “ WRC 8 is an absolute joy to play. Now play ‘Spot the difference’ with this screenshot and the one before. What was more disconcerting were the differences between 8 and 9, and how for every improvement there is a downgrade that proves difficult to ignore. The differences between the PS5 and Switch versions are as to be expected at this point in the console cycles, however, it serves to highlight what this game should be. With a game that is so reliant upon the environment – time trials ensure that what you’re competing with isn’t really the AI – it’s quite shocking to see the downgrade of this one.įor the purpose of this review, I compared the Switch versions of WRC 8 and 9 alongside the PS5 version of WRC 9 too. The significance of the murky and meagre graphical fidelity is heightened when you consider that the draw distance has been largely reduced for the latest release. Take a moment to look at this screenshot from WRC 8. And, most significantly, the games visuals rival that of those from WRC. Framerate dips occur at the worst possible times, making for a racer that is neither fluid nor fun. For example, texture pop-in is a persistent issue, regardless of track or conditions. Poor performance plagues this title at every turn, even in light of apparent tweaks to scale back the demand on the Switch. New game modes, new rallies and new racers all pointed to WRC 8 relinquishing its crown in favour of its new and improved counterpart. This would have been very much the case after the release of WRC 8 as, whilst it wasn’t an exceptional title, it was a very solid rally simulator and was the best the Switch had to offer. Arguably, if the formula is right, there’s little need to. With a new release every 18 months or so, it can often be challenging for development houses to make wholesale changes. This is what I meant by pre-Nintendo Switch. Because, for all that Kylotonn and Nacon got right in their last outing, this iteration sees them stagnate and, in some cases, regress back to a state in gaming dated pre-Nintendo Switch. However, anyone who has played WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship may hesitate ever so slightly when answering that one. We wouldn’t begrudge anyone of that, would we? Would we? With the next generation of consoles upon us, it was inevitable that there would be some blowback for owners of the Nintendo Switch.
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