WRC 10 Review – Definitely Don’t Cut (PS5)

Another autumn is upon us, and thus another WRC game has been unleashed. Last year’s WRC 9 was a solid release, but has developer Kylotonn managed to squeeze in enough new and exciting features to warrant a purchase? Find out in our WRC 10 PS5 review.

WRC 10 PS5 Review – Speed Change

As usual, the PS5’s SSD allows WRC 10 to load in much quicker than previous generation games. While not the quickest loading racing game, we’re still talking about load times of at or under 10 seconds, so you won’t be waiting long to start driving. The DualSense is used in a multitude of ways to help communicate the onscreen action to the player. Engine misfires, loose gravel, and hitting obstacles are all played out of the controller’s speaker, while the adaptive triggers help to show when tires lose grip. Vibration is still on the conservative side of things compared to say, Dirt 5, which cranked all that feedback to 11. WRC is a decidedly more muted affair in this department, but then the series as a whole tends to be.

Graphically, WRC 10 doesn’t seem markedly different compared to last year’s entry. Playing on the PS5 offers a couple of graphics modes: one which prioritizes resolution while running at 30 frames-per-second, and a “balanced” mode which runs at a dynamic 4K resolution but targets 60 fps. A special 120 fps mode is also available, though naturally you have to connect the console to a compatible display. This mode scales things all the way back to 1080p resolution in order to hit that frame rate. Replays look nice, but I wouldn’t say this is a showcase for your fancy new 4K or 8K television. It kind of feels like Kylotonn is waiting for the current generation of consoles to be in more homes before focusing much attention on those platforms’ strengths, which makes sense from a business standpoint but results in unexciting upgrades.

The career mode follows the same layout as the WRC series has done for the previous two entries. You can start out in a more junior league if you’d like, but you can also test into the full WRC league if you can qualify by driving through a stage within a certain amount of time, and within three tries. You can pick some real-world sponsorships, and manage a team by hiring and firing mechanics, engineers, meteorologists, and other professionals that go hand-in-hand with a driver’s success. Winning a championship may come down to posting the fastest time, but all drivers have a team of people supporting them along the way.

WRC 10 Review – I Feel So Alive

Speaking of support, the co-drivers have been improved this year. Co-drivers call out the pace notes on every course, which describe what turns are coming up, and any terrain issues to be aware about. A callout of “right 6 into left 3 don’t cut” for instance would indicate a slight right curve followed by a sharper (but not too sharp) left turn that you should not try to take the inside curve of, because a boulder or other obstacle lies in wait on such a driving line, which may result in you crashing into said obstacle. Whereas before these co-drivers stuck to the script, now they shriek or say “ouch” if you slam into something. They also make exclamations when you’re leading a stage, as the green split timer comes on the screen to show how big or small of a lead you have achieved. These smaller changes result in a more lively feeling to the co-drivers. The multiplayer co-driver mode has also made a return in WRC 10, which many players will no doubt get a kick out of as they get a taste of just how challenging such a job can be.

Other returning features include the always-appreciated split screen, and online modes with promised “live” content from Kylotonn. As usual, your enjoyment out of these modes depends upon how much you like these things to begin with, and if your internet connection is up to snuff. Realtime races can lag a bit, but considering the nature of rally racing, this is much less of an issue than in more traditional racers such as Gran Turismo. Since you’re really only racing the clock, there’s not much fear of getting bumped off the road by anything other than your own incompetent driving.

Indeed, WRC 10 maintains its status as a hardcore simulator. Even dialing the difficulty down to 50% and turning on all assists will still result in a game that can challenge novice rally drivers. This sport is just hard to get the hang of, because there are no real gamified assists as you’d see in other racing games. No braking indicators, for instance, means that you have to guess when the best time to apply the brakes for that upcoming squared corner is, and if you misjudge it horribly your best bet is to slam on the e-brake, turn, and pray for a non-disqualifying crash. Times like these really call for a rewind button, something that is almost a standard across the racing genre of games. If Kylotonn wants to appeal to more gamers, including this one piece of functionality on easier difficulties would help immensely.

WRC 10 PS5 Review – What’s New Anyway?

If you’re a current WRC player and wondering what’s new this time around, this is your paragraph! First up, Shakedown stages have made an appearance. These are short runs whereby drivers can test out their configuration on a shorter section of a stage before the race proper. WRC 10 grants the player extra tires if they choose to run through these events. There are four new rallies, which might not sound like much, but when you consider these are courses which must be accurately re-created and are often around 10 KM/6 miles in length, that’s a lot of work for something that will be run through in tens of minutes. A new History mode tasks players with besting the times of some iconic WRC races from the past. These are naturally very challenging, and casual players will probably have a tough time attempting to get a good time in.

Legendary cars from the past are also included, for those of you who want to know how older cars felt to drive those historic courses. Outside of these pre-built cars, you can now finally make a custom livery for your own vehicles. These liveries can’t be shared, however, so for now if you want to share some work of art you’re particularly proud of, you’ll need to share an old-fashioned screenshot or video on your favorite social media platform.

WRC 10 is a safe entry, celebrating the long, rich history of the World Rally Championship, while taking care to not break anything that was already working well. If you missed out on WRC 9, you may be content with picking that up for a bargain (assuming you have a disc-based console). If you want the latest and most up-to-date rally racing simulator, though, then WRC 10 is more than competent at providing a ton of fun for rally fans everywhere.

WRC 10 PS5 review code provided by the publisher. Version 1.002.000 reviewed on a PS5. For more information, please read our Review Policy.