My Review Of EA WRC - Does It Live Up To The Hype?

[@TheTongo11]

Setting the "car reflection" to ultra low seems to give a huge improvement with little downside

[@ossharkuenmeursault5609]

for me, upscaling was causing pretty bad stuff - starting a rally would get me half a second of stop also i hear nvidia is more likely to have issues... rx6800 is doing quite fine for me

[@jacobmanitowabie-cooke6141]

I set the reflection stuff to low as well, and I set most of the details to low-medium since there wasn't any visual difference honestly, I set to balanced DLSS and I went into NVIDIA control panel and went Ultra latency mode for my graphics card. And then I turned on CPU unparking app, and the game ran Sweden at like 130fps the entire rally. Idk if the game is just suddenly understanding what to render now but it feels really nice and smooth now. Oh and this was for a RTX 2060 Super with i5 9600k

[@DouglasThompson]

If you drive in cockpit mode it's hugely annoying to see pixilated reflections on the windshield.

[@jacobmanitowabie-cooke6141]

@@DouglasThompson Yooo facts, I've just been tuning it out.

[@talal26]

Turning down the Dynamic Objects and Crowds helps massively as well

[@Jimmy_Broadbent]

Also worth noting that, at the time of recording there is no proper triple screen support. (Also ye I know noise gate sucks, sorry) Would love to hear your opinions/experiences of the game so far.

[@baronnecas2880]

Still playing DR2.0 until VR is added.

[@Voltikz95]

What do you mean by that Jimmy? Not trying like a "gotcha" but Cookies and Cars has a video up, her triples are working... also if you haven't checked her out yet, I'd highly recommend, that girl is absolutely RAPID!

[@oldmatttv]

Honestly, apart from the AI and some performance issues and a few bugs, I think this game is by far the best rally game in ages. The stages are honestly just amazing, so much fun and such a huge jump up from DR2, and there's a good variety to them. I can understand people being turned off by the performance and such, and hopefully those will be fixed soon enough, but I still think even as it is now it's well worth playing (and even supporting). The AI is the only thing that bugs me proper. It's possible they weren't given quite enough time, but I also think people forget there were plenty of similar issues with the previous DR games too, especially at launch. One thing I really wish they'd add more than anything is a hot seat mode so I could play full rallies and championships on one system with friends/family. Rally allows that, it's rare in the racing realm for that, so it would be great to have. Your review is fair and fairly accurate imo. Perhaps even a tad bit critical, but I can understand that.

[@ShadowWolfe]

Stutter-y af on Windows, even after their first update that supposedly removed it (it didn't, it was still there). Refunded after that, tired of the "Release first, QA test later" method. I don't get how they release the game without a day one patch when they KNEW what the issue was, and yet chose not to fix it.

[@LeviewFPV]

@@baronnecas2880 it's so weird to play with triple or single screens after you've played rally in DR2.0 in VR. I don't enjoy this game mostly because of that. I need VR support to come asap.

[@Hero_Of_Old]

I was initially dissapointed by the game, as the graphics seemed like a stepdown compared to Dirt 2 but when you get into it, some of the stages are incredible. Ascending the mountains of Monte Carlo as the weather changes and snow starts to form is truly awesome. Car sounds are incredible and lots of vehicles to choose from. Overall its better. And the dust trails. My god. AMAZING.

[@sandordomonkos8351]

Yeah, becasue Way bigger tracks

[@jocke90s.lindell10]

No you are wrong. All the stages on wrc 2023 is better graphics than dirt 2.0 stages. Maybe you have problems with your eyes 😂

[@Hero_Of_Old]

​@@jocke90s.lindell10 well, I agree now. Dirt 2 has a better art style, but WRC 2023 overall is higher fidelity.

[@tungabunga4107]

@@jocke90s.lindell10he said graphics not stage design

[@ajrichar0]

I prefer the visuals in DR2.0. I get that this is a subjective thing for people. The longer stages in EA WRC are terrific, and I agree that the transition in Monte Carlo from dry to snow and ice while climbing and descending is magnificent, but visually I feel the new game lacks the atmospherics of DR2.0.

[@victorrychkov2839]

What I really like about this game is the ability to set different conditions for given track, DR2 didn't have that option. Also, stages themselves are fun to drive. I hated Greece rally, here I thoroughly enjoy it. And the length of the 20+ km stages is fantastic, reminds me of the old British Rally Championship with that insane 40km stage.

[@Sindarul]

Mobil1 Rally, right? Man I loved that game! As you said, insane long stages, all sort of conditions, I feel like that game still is one of the best in terms of rally simulation.

[@SireMalado]

@@Sindarul Yeah they are so many stages compared to DR 2.0. I love it! They are quite challenging too

[@CutieSocks]

Noise gate on your mic was a little aggressive this video, cutting off syllables at random, might wanna lower that just a touch for the next one. Other than that, a good video! Well rounded review that I can't fault, thanks Jimmer!

[@armandoalvarado5840]

Noticed it while he was talking about the game sound, coulda sworn he was taking the piss

[@alxti]

now I cant unhear it, thanks

[@JoshuaC923]

It's probably a plugin

[@MrGreenAKAguci00]

​@@JoshuaC923yes and it's called noise gate

[@novai6554]

Threshold knob turned too high

[@somethingcellular1981]

My theory about the ai is, they aren't properly simulated. The marker that shows where you are vs the ai I've noticed, they seem to be so much faster through the parts where the player needs to slow down. But then you can overtake them on the fast bits and straights. So it seems like the ai is only going in a straight line towards the finish, traveling the calculated average km/h for the stage.

[@FlipdoFilms]

You're right about that, it's been that way since Dirt Rally 1 - you're 100% correct, as back in early access for DR 1 it would bug out sometimes and do silly things, which is how people "discovered" it.

[@GrinXpedia]

that's exactly how it works, it's showing an average speed and not the actual speed in every segment, it's pretty intuitive when it clicks

[@somethingcellular1981]

@@GrinXpedia I don't know, it feels more unsettling like I'm not seeing an accurate representation of a stage time... And I feel like they weren't doing that in DR2.0, right? I might be remembering wrong but the match-up felt much more realistic throughout a stage.

[@homersimpsonIRL]

Just do what I do mate and disable all the splits and stage progression. Makes the game that bit more enjoyable

[@idontwantahandle852]

So lazy!

[@alistairwhite2906]

It's definitely a lot more fun once you learn how to correctly setup the suspension on a lot of the cars. Makes their handling a lot more predictable.

[@Patrick-zr8tv]

any tips for a noob or is it a "fuck around and find out" type deal?

[@ripetsu1]

Yeah, i have started changing aligment and differentials settings a little. But damping and springs are still a bit curveball to me. Any good guides to recommend? I have tried some, but they were not good imo.

[@alistairwhite2906]

@@ripetsu1 Haven't found any good guides as yet. Myself, I back off the bound a couple of points, and increase the rebound by the same amount. Haven't tried playing with the m/s option as yet. I prefer running a slightly softer spring rate with a small increase in roll bar stiffness for gravel and snow.

[@sawspitfire422]

Yeah tbh I took a bit of a hiatus on playing this game until some good easy to understand tuning tutorials come out. It's one thing explaining what all the settings do in a big list, it's another thing entirely to understand what needs changing first when you encounter certain handling characteristics. Like, pretty much everything either makes the car understeer more or oversteer more, so which do I change first? How do I know I've changed that one enough before changing something else? How much change should I expect from tuning and how much is just mega skill issues? lol

[@alistairwhite2906]

@@sawspitfire422 Have a look at the videos by SkyRex, he's got some of the better tuning videos out there that I can find. I'm lucky in that I've got an automotive background so it all makes sense to me just by looking at the screens.....

[@michealmurphy5120]

You hit the nail on the head about AI timings where its either easy or impossible to beat the AI, They should also bring back the feature of where you could catch and overtake cars in the middle of the stage

[@MuntyScruntFundle]

I'd totally agree, the snap point is instant, there's no play area. As for the stutters, I got rid of them all be deleting the crowds. The only thing I really miss is the practice area so you can used to the new car you want to drive before you go diving off a cliff.

[@Dakkie442]

I think this game shines at making you FEEL like a GOOD rally car driver, and that's why it's so fun and re-playable. It's hard enough to keep you on your toes, but not so hard that you need the same skill as a pro driver to be fast. So yeah, deff not a simulation, but extremely fun despite that.

[@jacobmanitowabie-cooke6141]

Yeahhh I'm pretty good at Richard Burns and I'm like one of the fastest touge drivers on assetto, and the game literally makes me feel like I'm Bunta with his eyes open and I'm already good LOL. Gonna need that 150 difficulty soon. Like some of the minimum speeds I'm achieving in like double kinks with no space to slow down is kinda silly. I have to hold myself back in that game sometimes. But besides that its pretty good, the AI for some reason gets a lot worse if you don't do the whole rally in one go. That's worth noting. Like in richard burns I'm like a decent rally driver, I can hang and set record times. But thats with like 100% effort. I'm demolishing the AI and settings top 20 times on the Time attack with no course knowledge. It should really punish me for trying to abuse the physics, but it just lets me walk all over it.

[@jacobmanitowabie-cooke6141]

But obviously its fun to use my superior skills from RBR and assetto touge. But I just wish the game would really shit on me for not knowing where I was going.

[@jacobmanitowabie-cooke6141]

Like for me the main thing I want from AI in sim racing is to lose. I want to actually just get shit on by the AI.

[@jacobmanitowabie-cooke6141]

I'm not saying I'm a pro or anything but the game was immediately not that difficult for me. The physics and driving all feels pretty good and the difficulty is fairly good to actually drive, but if you know what youre doing the AI is just extremely slow, like winning a rally by over a minute is fine if nothing happened to me the entire rally. But I'm winning everytime even when I drive awful. To me, its only worth doing 90 minute rally event if I'm gonna lose or struggle to get top 10.

[@jacobmanitowabie-cooke6141]

And this is on 100 difficulty, like sometimes they run pretty fast, but as soon as their tyres are at like medium or a bit less than where they want, its like they start tyre managing like old senile men.

[@dylangallen6718]

The rwd cars need the handling adjusted ASAP I loved sliding them around the stages whereas in this they feel wayy to twitchy and nervous they aren't enjoyable but the fwd and awd cars are an absolute blast to drive once the rwd handling and graphics are sorted it will be the best rally experience you can have

[@ripetsu1]

Is it just me, or were RWD cars nicer to drive DR2? Its a long time tho, when i last played DR2.

[@mr.pritchard67]

Completely agree

[@rubbertoe.]

they feel so strange in this game, DR2.0 included. I'm used to driving RWD cars in assetto, AMS2, iRacing etc but in WRC it's just.. wrong

[@jacobmanitowabie-cooke6141]

Yeahh I am not sure, for me what improved the handling a bunch on the escort is to lower the REAR arb a bunch and have the front end much stiffer so that at least when it does rotate it will do it forward not to the side, and I also increased the braking pressure to like 4750 so I can actually lock up the fronts and get them to skid as I turn in. For some reason the damper settings really ruin the foot work settings so I would adjust them so you don't end up throwing the weight side to side all the time. The setups that are baseline feel like one of those hillclimb monsters with crazy stiff suspension and rear end dropped aha.

[@jacobmanitowabie-cooke6141]

@@ripetsu1 I think they were using different tyres in DR2, ngl I'm actually a top tier touge driver on assetto, so I am pretty confident on the tyre physics feel when turning into stuff since I know they got it right. In DR2 they seem to have the front end grip around the right area but the rear end would grip up way too abruptly, it would always be like 20% or 100% bite, nothing in between. In the new WRC it feels as though the front end has no grip so you blast the rear end out with an aggressive mid corner blip, but then it doesn't really maintain an understeer at all once you have the track position you want into the corner. So you end up countering like 4 different rebounds in a straight line. If you loosen the rear suspension the behavior gets a lot better but whoever is tuning these setups has to get off the uphill.

[@copperandgold4674]

WRC generations has a much better driving feel, especially in asphalt.

[@JoshTT2]

I played it for quite a few hours but I've shelved it for a little while. I know everyone's experience will be different but I've had numerous game crashes, one of which resulted in a full loss if profile/save data which just killed off my enthusiasm. It also looks quite pretty in your footage but playing it myself between the stutters and graphics it didn't feel great at all. I love the collection of cars and the actual driving experience so I will be back on it eventually and hopefully the game feels more polished then.

[@purwantiallan5089]

Yep. Especially the cars that are returned from PS2 rally games like V-RALLY 3 and even rally games from PlayStation 1 like Toyota Corolla 1998 and Seat Cordoba Repsol from NFS V RALLY 2 that are returned in EA SPORTS WRC.

[@crustiertea6579]

Jimmy. Ur car is spinning out under low speed because your rear off throttle diff or preload are to low. Or it could be ride hight to high or suspension to soft in the back. Try offsetting your differential levels meaning make the the off throttle value for the rear the same value for your on throttle in the front so if it's 3828 on bottle off throttle in the front then make the rear 2838. Lmk what you think of you try out that method., works for me 🤷‍♂️ oh last thing it could be, make sure your rear dampening compresses more than extends. That way when the weight and body roll shift, the spring and damp cam catch it instead of sliding 👍

[@blackness010]

Most annoying thing about EA WRC is rbr fan boys.

[@FordHoard]

Have you heard about RBR?!

[@kunklemanchevrolet5966]

I'm sorry for being an RBR fan and too based it's not my fault.

[@seebarry4068]

It must hurt to have spent £50 on an EA game, when its main rival has VR, is free, was made 20 years ago, has no season pass, gets regular updates and will for probably ever. I’d be hurt. Sure its rival doesn’t look as fancy, got quite a few more miles on the clock. It will run in triples or VR, or a resolution of your choice, on a very modest machine from 10 years ago.

[@eratoz5096]

@@seebarry4068 comparing a game where the standarts of quality is equal everywhere and the experience is always atleast good to game where thousands of people work on single car or map project with varying quality and way easier to work on (ask someone to make a car that looks and sounds even as good as the worst wrc cars its impossible)

[@mrhatty0514]

How dare you have fun.

[@HenriqueLeal92]

Yes this is Dirt Rally 3 with WRC license, perfection!

[@owenroberts2942]

i found pumping the brake and jabbing the throttle in slow-speed corners helped a lot, as the turbo lag is quite high, jabbing the throttle gives me confidence on how the car will accelerate.

[@tHebUm18]

2:13 Least in the couple classic RWD events I've done, I was able to mostly get rid of the really bad snaps by just making the setup super understeer-y thereby making it much, much more drivable. It's a shame the default setup is so bad (and doesn't even change gravel vs tarmac vs snow) since most folks don't want to or know how to mess with the setup to fix issues.

[@willdarling1]

450 degree max rotation, and Linearity +3 (in game) finally helped me tame the RWDs

[@Randomii666]

A lot of rear toe in helps massively to this, and i haven't felt really any negative effects from it. Running -1 to -2 front and 3 in the back lets you really throw the cars into the corners without having to fear of randomly spinning out

[@tHebUm18]

@@Randomii666 Yup, think I changed some other stuff too but tons of rear toe in was definitely the biggest thing.

[@EazyDuz18]

thats cheesing it, I run authentic wheel rotation like the real cars have else its cheating@@willdarling1

[@delaray7]

Great job and brilliant review. You know every inch of your tyres and what they can do, yet to go offroad and drive on gravel and sand, you are a brave soul. Very well done.

[@1InVader1]

The AI doesn't slow down, it just crashes. All the previous DR games had this where the fastest AI driver sometimes crashes and messes up his car so bad he never recovers on future stages, so an average the 2nd fastest AI driver becomes the fastest, which is indeed a good 10-20s behind, sometimes more (if it also has a minor crash or something). EDIT: They're also slower on hillclimb but stupidly fast on downhill sections.

[@EazyDuz18]

not true else it would mention damage in the notes at the end of the stage (i always check), rarely if ever the AI cars get any damage at all

[@TrykusMykus]

All the previous DR games (much worse in DR2) had shitty AI that sometimes (in some classes, some stages, some sectors) was unbeatable and sometimes was dog easy. I dont have much experience with WRC AI, but it's probably patched together quickly and unbalanced as was AI in DR2.

[@1InVader1]

@@EazyDuz18In DR1 at least it does say that. I often see the previously fastest driver with a damaged suspension or something. Just remember the name and scroll down to the bottom if you have an unusually easy stage.

[@nikosfotidas8543]

@@TrykusMykus If you think DR 2.0 had shitty AI look at Kiloton's WRC games... the AI was so bad that the fastest AI was literally the fastest AI in every single stage... sooooo realistic, right? AI needs to have variability and random events... otherwise the game would feel stiff... you'd have to beat a time table and not real opponents... real opponents have incidents, they fall back, sometimes they have bad times, mistakes etc... In that aspect the AI of Codemasters is really good... but you're too stubborn to see it...

[@EazyDuz18]

The RWD snap oversteer is just because the default tune is the opposite of what you want. It's very easy to tune out!

[@Huipie81]

How?

[@JohlBrown]

something i feel i noticed in dr2 was that dirt and gravel stages have varying grip levels across the width of the surface. I'm living on a 10km gravel road that goes out to the highway and you can have a good bit of fun, but the grip changes massively driving on top of existing tracks vs on the loose stuff either side. also one thing i haven't seen in any rally games is the corrugations... (also jimmer take on my spain wr)

[@schmid1.079]

In my opinion DR2 felt slightly more consistant and finished, but the new cars, awesome stages and improved tarmac totally make up for that. I don't get why so many people hate the game. There are a couple of annoying bugs and the performance issues should have absolutely been addressed before launch, but all the important stuff (cars, stages, codriver...) works great and is just plain fun.

[@MrXsMisery]

MY favorite rally game since Dirt 2, I think it's great

[@neth3r]

great video, finally someone doing justice to this release instead of just bashing it like a very muscled content creator

[@trickyjw]

Agreed

[@e2rqey]

The tarmac handling still feels weird like Dirt Rally 2.0 because the game still doesn't really simulate how tires actually function. The whole car just pivots around a central point in the car when you turn. This is why it always feels so floaty and weird on tarmac. It's like you are driving a hovercraft, not an actual car. There is a small channel called "mrelwood games" which has a really good video explaining the issues with the handling in EA WRC and Dirt Rally 2.0 as well as how they could fix it. The video is called EA WRC physics analysis. *He actually has multiple videos covering the game as well as explaining the issues with the handling model and controls. Like the large input delay and smoothing that exists when using a wheel.

[@Voltikz95]

Y'know, I actually really enjoy WRC, yea it has a few little problems, my main issue is the stuttering, but im having a blast. Im also glad im not alone with the RWD cars just snapping at you, i thought i was just crap lol (tbf i am probably a huge part of the problem still)

[@ash6248]

The AI bug is the whole reason ive stopped driving. 100 ai having a big error and putting myself 2 minutes off the back of the field almost 3 from the lead. Next stage minute in front. It completely killed my desire to play it.

[@jeremychurch5683]

Great review, spot on with pretty much everything. I'm also having a lot of fun with it but it's just a bummer about the stuttering issue, I'm on PS5. that's the last thing you need when trying to make split-second reactions, seems like something that can get ironed out through updates though. I think this one has a promising future!

[@purwantiallan5089]

Is EA SPORTS WRC supported split screen offline multiplayer?

[@DevilsxArms]

I definitely love the game. I do wish they had the Free Roam from Dirt 1 and 2. Along with the time trials from WRC. It was fun to just run laps around a basic course to see how fast i could do it. It was also an easy way for me to test my settings. If they could implement that, and the generator from Dirt 4, that could be really fun.

[@TrykusMykus]

I do not understand why rally school was not made in the free roam mode that they added to DR2. Probably lack of time.

[@DevilsxArms]

@@TrykusMykuscould be time. Or licensing with DirtFish. Since DirtFish is more more associated with ARA and not WRC.

[@bigglyguy8429]

Wait wait... so you cannot just do your own time trails? That's a total dealbreaker for me.

[@DevilsxArms]

@@bigglyguy8429you can do time trials for stages. But the previous wrc games also had these little challenges where you can get medals for completing them in a certain amount of time. Theyre like small circuits.

[@donsteppedinside]

@@bigglyguy8429Have you confirmed this to be true? It’s also a huge deal breaker for me

[@jsade]

What ruins it a bit for me is seeing how much more grip there is in direct comparison to DR2. I tested the same car in both games, and in DR2 I could drive it exactly the way I wanted to, induce oversteer and stay in a slide predictably whereas in WRC the car will always just regain grip immediately. EA WRC is like Dirt Rally 2 Lite in that aspect, and although I've been having a lot of fun with the game, I hate that this is the direction they chose to go in.

[@joeogle7729]

The thing with this game is it just seems to reflect how you feel about it going in. If you went in wanting to love it, you'll love it! If you go in feeling mixed you'll feel mixed. And if you're going in shouting "GLORY TO THE HOLINESS OF RBR!" then yes, you will absolutely hate it. Personally i like the game. It's great fun to drive (a thing i really don't understand about sim racing hardliners is their opposition to "fun"), I like how the career mode has been rethought and fleshed out compared to DR2, and the stages are great. But it's let down by a lot of jankyness. The paint editor, the lag, decals not loading correctly, stages not loading fully and the lack of Wales or similar makes me very sad. Oh and there's the lag... it's so close to being one of the best racing games we've had in years for me but it's let down by a load of hopefully patchable little details.

[@Sammusg]

Hardcore sim racers don’t want a game that’s designed to be fun. They want to have fun in game designed with realism being the sole motivation for design choices. It is a small but important difference.

[@TrykusMykus]

I went into the game wanting to love it and then the menu had 2 fps, the game had 3 fps, then I changed to settings that were supposed to work but the rendering range was so small that I didn't see where I was driving. So I refunded and I'm gonna wait to love it in a year when they patch the game to be playable and maybe improve some things.

[@DerGeraet205]

Remember a German article reviewing the game had the headline "EA Sports WRC makes you really hungry...for the sequel" Tho the performance has been improved a lot since launch, a lot of kinda obvious features and bugs still persist, as you mentioned in single player and in clubs. In clubs, there is also a bug where the AI takes over after the flying finish of the stage and crashes, causing terminal damage and making you retire from the rally. Just let everyone drive to the stop control manually like in DR2, don't makr people DNF for something they never had any control over

[@tdurb0]

The draw distance makes a massive difference, you don’t feel like you’re just driving along a narrow corridor of scenery. To me that makes a massive difference. You see a road miles in front of you and knowing you’ll probably end up there helps the immersion tenfold. Maybe it’s just me

[@V8chump]

The way he says “scheduling” makes me think he calls school “shool”

[@quill901]

use to watch the SHIT out of jimmy, but after i started wanting to get into competitive sim racing, i slowly stoped watching him, how ever I ALWAYS come back for the reveiws to see whats good, love ya jimmy, keep up the good work!!

[@fast_mattw8059]

Just popping in to say that Jimmy looks like a whole ass man now compared to a couple years ago lol as soon as he started driving IRL, he mentioned he was having to lift and eat better and it really shows. You look healthy as ever mate!

[@mr.nobodyx]

when the car "snaps" out all you have to do is release the brakes for a second and VERY slightly give it some throttle. it is turning because the front tires have more grip than the back tires. by relesing the breaks, the car re-balances. I actually find that to be the funnest part in dirt rally 2.0, but i haven't tried WRC yet, might be different there?

[@Schub69]

A really Great Review and comparison to other sims!! And I could agree with a lot you say. But for the Physics I Feel the nearly the opposite. WRC 23 has especially with the RWD cars way more weight feeling than any other simulation, it has an brilliant feeling in terms of weight transfers. Never could do Scandinavian Flicks with such an precision like in WRC 23!! Every RWD car is so different to drive. And important: Some tends to snap as you said, these ones are the middle engine RWDs (I like the most)!! An tiny bit throttle input that is too much in an slow but sharp tight corner on gravel and you will spin out. You show this ,snapping behavior’ in the Renault 5 turbo. One of my greatest loved cars, it has 900kg weight with an 270 hp middle engine and certainly RWD - this car spin like hell in real life, one of the most difficult to drive Rallye car (in real life and in Simulation!!) which has on top one of the shortest distances from front to heck wheels… So it rotates like hell… It is simulated brilliant in WRC 23. At least I go 20hours alone with that car, it never snaps without an mistake from me, but it is so easy to make mistakes with it. The car I mostly drive is the Lancia 037, at least for 40 hours, yes it also have middle engine and RWD, and yes it likes to snap also, but I am faster with that car on gravel than with every other car. I have a lot of P1 on Leaderboards with that car, a few ones while driving the stage first time with the 037… The behavior of that RWD car is difficult to master, but it is also predictable if you are really deep in the physics of the car that comes over the hours you go with it… First time the breaking distances are on point, cause of the brilliant FFB (light years better than in DR 2.0 when setted perfect!!) you feel instantly ever change of griplevel. Could talk about the gravel physics hours more… And only a few one talks about the new gravel physics???!!! You say they are a 8 of ten when I hear it right - no they are - at least the RWD ones are a 10 from 10!! The tarmac physics get an completely change, and for sure they are a bit better than in DR 2.0, they come from glitchy creamy unrealistic ones to super grippy rail like physics in WRC 23 and you give them a 5,5-6 from ten and I agree with that! And I also agree that it is fun to drive on tarmac now, that wasn’t the case in DR 2.0…. But the gravel physics are so far better than in DR 2.0. , perhaps you couldn’t feel this in the first seconds but with two-five hours of going deep in them and at least at the real limits you could recognize them a lot!! But where WRC 23 really shines are the physics of the RWD cars on gravel. They are perfect, brilliant and absolutely on point. Best I could ever experience on an Rallye sim for over 20years and I test them all. Over 500hours in RBR over 500hours in DR2.0 and nearly 400hours in WRC Generations for excample… DR 2.0 was an great experience, love it, but it has no chance to beat WRC 23 on gravel, at least not with the RWD cars I drove for 90% in DR 2.0 and for 95% of my 100hours of my driving time in WRC 23. I know that I will have far over 1000hours fun with the deepest immersion I have ever had in an Rallye sim with WRC 23. Also the stages are the best in any Rallye simulation, and the longness is only one tiny aspect of that… But all this thoughts are by using fine Fanatec Sim Equipment in an stabil sturdy rig. But Moza isn’t Bader I know… But don’t know how the comprehension is like when it comes to controller gameplay…

[@macedhx]

I loved it since day 1, worth every penny and i am glad they are fixing it, the stuttering was bad... And yes, DR2 looked better but the sheer amount of content in Ea WRC it more than makes up for it!

[@dereklatshaw3017]

I struggle with losing the backend quickly and unexpectedly in the RWD cars as well, and I know I'm not alone because I tend to rank as high or higher on the leaderboards with RWD vs the other layouts. I should play with setup more than I do though too.

[@fastica]

I don't like how there's no vibrations or any kind of feedback in the cockpit view. It looks detached from the outside world. Even when you crashed the cockpit and the camera didn't move.

[@LudwigAxborn]

Can't wait for the promised VR implementation!! Won't get it until VR is released tbh! Great review!

[@Jardier]

I was very looking forward for the new rally game and I played like 30 hours in first week already :D And now I bought almost 1000€ new shifter and handbrake just to have "more" immersive gameplay :D

[@ophatjb]

We need more WRC content from you as well :)

[@projectgg6730]

don't these cars have straight cut gears in their gearbox? so you don't need to use the clutch right? Thats why the gearbox is so squeaky. I always thought the clutch was used more for take offs and to control power going from the engine to the wheels unlike a normal manual car.

[@fullsendsimracing]

Now we just need a version with legit physics, with tires that don't glue to each and every surface, and without engine braking that's stronger than the force of the almighty gods

[@fetB]

yea, graphics are nice and so are the stages, but the physics are a bit of a joke in terms of realism

[@barelylucid]

I was pleasantly surprised to see an ad at the ps store citing Jimmy about wrc 😊, got the game on discount and so far I'm mostly enjoying the length of the stages

[@jesse.vr6]

It's nice to see EA putting some effort into making a good game. Hope they keep it up.

[@CrowCZ]

That ALT-F4 multiplayer exploit being in the game is pretty funny because that was big issue in Dirt Rally 1 as well and they actually fixed it in Dirt Rally 2.

[@YaaSalty...0_o]

Jimmy you're absolutely right though one of the most important part about a racing game is car sounds

[@Mysterion157]

Nobody hates rally games as much as rally game players

[@joeogle7729]

part of it seems to be a strong opposition to the concept of "fun"...

[@RadicalStump]

I love that you can drive this game with gamepad and it's fun and challenging. It really is like you said, I was kinda afraid that I may be wasting money buying it early but I got hooked up, it really is fun game. But AI must be fixed, I hope it's only some kind of bug, because it makes career meaningless. It's so great to push on right difficulty and matching or beating opponents. It evaporates when in next stage they almost stop in the middle of stage, so that you can crash, get 30s penalty for car reset and then they are still behind you...

[@KlushOfficial]

Could the low speed handling issue have anything to do with the cars kind of pivoting around the center rather than letting the rear wheels trail properly?

[@mrsatchie]

A good honest review! Thanks:) Only thing I would say is that the 2017 rally cars like the Polo etc. feel absolutely fantastic on tarmac.. Super fast and grippy .. The others are all pretty crap as you highlighted.. Especially on the winter stages with ice. The transition from no ice to icy is ridiculous haha

[@iNTERS22]

The biggest problem is AI difficulty, which I hope they will fix soon!

[@buffping]

I've decided to save this game for when the AI is fixed so I can have a great time in the career, I really hope they do sort it out at some point because it would be such a shame to have this game and not be able to enjoy what I would consider the main mode.

[@ScarnonCunce]

Luckily for me I am not good enough at rally for this to matter!

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@buffpingEA SPORTS WRC looks like 2015's DiRT RALLY 1 with PS5 graphical touches.

[@worstenbroodje6832]

@@buffping Considering it's EA a change like that might happen tomorrow, or it might never happen at all because they are already working on the next game or whatever. I hope they are going to improve it because I feel the same way but don't get your hopes up on it actually changing.

[@brandonchappell1535]

Waaay too easy, an moments arent even hard..

[@jetstream01]

I wish other game makers would literally just copy and paste the sound engine from this series. There is no other game that even comes close. If you watch a replay from the outside, youll hear what I mean.

[@ueberlicht_]

RBR has also some fine FMOD sounds

[@JuniorJohan]

00:28 actually there's an easter egg for this, some of the car's license plate for this game ends with "DR3"

[@TorAndreBrresen]

The snap oversteer in RWD especially fast corners is super annoying

[@McVerne]

I´m so happy that they kept the pencil on the Lancia Fulvias dashboard😃

[@mrbackstab]

oops. i forgot one thing. to congratulate you for 900k subs. that is a big number. keep going, you should hit a million in the next couple of years.

[@khawajadotd]

Jimmy, your description of the driving dynamics was awesome and did a perfect job of explaining what I should expect. Thank you!

[@DjFIL007]

Been having fun with it so far. One of the things I'm very happy with is the "long" event setting (for season/career modes). I've only completed first 3-4 events (mix of invitational and WRC Junior) and they're 100km+ events split over 9 stages (about 55-60+ minutes to complete) and that makes taking care of your vehicle very important (as there's decent gaps between repair locations, and some repair is very short so you must target only the important repairs). But yes the AI inconsistency hopefully will get further addressed in time, and hopefully we get decent long term support (not just another "WRC 24" next year with 90% same content rehashed)... I'd be more than happy to pay for another season to get more content.

[@Haulinbassracing]

It looks terrible with snowy stages at night with the most reflective snow that has ever existed

[@SMOKEY-Junior]

Jimmeh in pithouse use damper @30 friction @20 wheel rotation 1080 (use soft lock In game) the pithouse EQ mostly at 110% Ingame: Self Torque 60 W Friction 15 T friction 85 Susp 100 T-slip 55 works well for me. Ps. I'm running 4090 with everything on ultra BUT run reflections at ultra low. Your get more GPU usage. More FPS. 😊

[@KaijuAlert]

I love this game but the "instant massive oversteer" that causes spins never seems far away and like you said in the video, I always felt like I never really knew what I had done wrong. The cars sometimes seem to grip and then just completely let go without warning and the game doesn't really help you understand what (if anything) you did wrong. Still an absolute must-play game for anyone that enjoys rally though.

[@crisnmaryfam7344]

That consistency thing with Tarmac.. I hadnt realized that it wasnt just me. I stopped playing the original when I had to do the tarmac rally cross stuff due to this same issue. You would get ever so slightly rubbed by an NPC driver and your car would spin out to the moon. Meanwhile I can run the snowy woods stages at flat out on the hardest difficulty and beat the stage times by 20+ seconds easy. Throw tarmac into the mix and somehow its worse than ice.

[@e2rqey]

its because there is basically no actual tire model or interaction between the tires and the road. the whole cars handling is basically just the car rotating around a central point. which is why it feels floaty and why you get stuck into a wall when you try to turn. the car isnt actually turning, its literally rotating. so lets say you are about to run into the right guardrail, so you turn left. but since the car isnt actually turning with the wheels and is instead rotating, the back right side of the car is going to end up hitting the guard rail.

[@neonpop80]

Looks like you think it's slipping for no reason but in the video I can see it's due to elevation changes. Let go of the gas for a sec then apply again once both wheels are on the same slope

[@DrIvanC3]

I just noticed that your setup mimics a left side steering column setup. Cool.

[@stefchemacrae5540]

For those really struggling with rwd snap overseer, open up the rear diff a few clicks and also add a bunch of rear toe in (.4ish). This is definitely a hack fix, but I found it made sliding much more predictable and progressive, and let me actually enjoy rwd cars again

[@Myrvold]

Same as in DR2.0. RWD cars could feel totally undrivabe until you changed the diff a bit.

[@wynarator]

What is "an H-pattern handbrake" and how does it work? 2:40

[@doubbleUinC]

he meant an H patter AND a handbrake H pattern is just a regular gear box thingy. There are also push and pull gearbox thingys

[@mhN1nja2un366]

Totally agree. I’m having loads of fun on this on PS5 had no stuttering. AI on championship mode is all over the place and some issues with it not remembering my hybrid use position. Like you say lots of little things, surely it can be patched? Did not know that about clubs mode… Still, loads of fun.

[@Randomii666]

I think the inconsistant AI times have something to do with how they are calculated. What i suspect is that there is a reference time, and the AI times get randomized based on their "skill level" and possible mechanical faults, but instead of calculating every sector individually, they use average speed to calculate the time. So if there's a really slow sector where your average speed would be 60-70kmh, you're falling behind, but if there's a really fast one with average speed of 140kmh, you're pulling away when the AI seems to do the stage average speed 100% of the stage. I remember DR 2.0 having a very similar thing going on

[@MrNiceKnife]

Wrc9 was great in my book, how does this compare? I really like the feel of wrc9

[@Shredder884]

I do like th game quite a lot. only thing that is strange about the driving physics are these moments when the car does these totally random oversteers as if your co-driver is yanking rhe Handbrake or something.

[@raakanassu]

The handling of rwd cars is really annoying. The rear end just snaps randomly in situation you least expect it. For me the sudden rotations in high speed are the worst. It should be harder to get the rear out the faster you go. Now it only takes a little blip of throttle to lose the rear in high gear. For now I'm sticking with the awd cars. Great game overall, I think. Just needs to get those rwd physics sorted.

[@bbp315]

My only complaint: There isn't a 5.1 or multi audio channel setup, or even a direct setting for LFE. I really enjoy the games that provide immersive surround sound.

[@ikt32]

This review came out *just* after I bought it. Zero regrets buying it, it finally feels like proper game WITH pretty good handling! That's all I've ever wanted. RBR doesn't do it for me, DiRT Rally 1 can't cope with my mishmash of random peripherals and DiRT Rally 2 just feels off... This, was a hesitant buy with the first stage a benchmark for "should I return this?" and it passed with flying colours. Easy to jump in, fun to drive, cars behave like they should and the immersion was there. The cherry on top was native compatibility with the Fanatec wheel, and extremely easy to set up third party shifter and Chinese handbrake. I've never been able to navigate through games without a keyboard on my lap, and this game just supports wheel controls natively.

[@brickbrack_]

Oh wow, mentioning the rally school section of PS1 Collin McRae brought back a load of memories...

[@Rugras.]

I've come straight from DR2, I'm loving the game. But I'm only interested in the Time Trial section.

[@mikel6989]

One of my only gripes about this game is the time penalty when resetting or going off course. Sometimes its 5 or 6 seconds, other times its 30 and it seems that there is no rhyme or reason behind it, its almost like a random penalty. Still a very fun game.

[@jdagd]

It’s really weird how each separate element of the game is shitty, but somehow they magically combine to a very enjoyable experience

[@bit_ronic]

that's unironically the kind of stuff that makes a game memorable lol

[@enginerdicon2233]

There’s a massive multiplayer bug where several minutes will be added to random player’s event times at the end of any given stage, which absolutely breaks the online experience for me. Kind of important to get stage and event times correct in a motorsport that entirely relies on time for scoring…

[@tHebUm18]

8:11 It's so true--I learned in the original Dirt Rally to turn off timings during the stage entirely. Race my own race as rapid as I can without binning it, the end-of-stage times are usually reasonable (except there's a bug where sometimes the AI go unreasonably fast the first X stages then super slow the last one).

[@yowanowich]

OMG Jimmy Broadbent, if you have not been paid to make comments like this about this absolute shite of a game you are funny!

[@sebo2627]

i love RBR from when it came out, (yes, I'm that old!) and this WRC is the most fun I'we ever have why driving rally cars... since it's not designed to compete aganst a havy modded RBR, trying to compare them is useles! the major minus for me is the snowing and havy rain, it was better they didn't implemented it visually! ..I'm thankfully one of those without any stutters, maybe becouse i drive on 60fps?

[@roverboy1687]

I can’t understand (unless EA hate Ian Bell that much) why they didn’t consider using madness engine It runs well inc VR Can look great with right settings Solid weather system Solid dirt physics Better tarmac physics than codemasters ever had Only thing might let I’d down is maybe stage length capability but PC 2 had Nords 🤔 I really enjoyed Rally cross and taking a rally cross cars round Nords in snow in pc2

[@kurohuechan]

Yeah, I was also expecting madness engine to DR2 sequel. Bad choice going UE.

[@JallyTee]

Apparently the madness engine cannot handle long stages so they went to unreal, but I also think it was a mistake. The constant stutters and crashes need to be addressed

[@Myrvold]

Madness has it limits as well. Remember that quite a lot of the tech there is originally based on ISI-tech (so, rFactor, RACE-Series, GTR, rFactor2 etc.). SMS kept the basic suspension tech as it was from ISI without much changes. Madness is more than just a graphic engine.

[@e2rqey]

using UE never made sense even for the reason that they claimed, as it would 100% have been possible to add in basic environmental/world streaming tech into the EGO engine if they really wanted to add longer stages into the game while still using the engine the other Dirt Rally games were based on. Also, if that was the only reason were going to do that, you would have thought they would at least do the necessary programming and implement proper shader compilation to remove the shader compilation and traversal stutters which still plague the game. The stuttering isn't a guaranteed issue with unreal engine. It's the result of them implementing larger environments in UE4 in the most low effort way possible. The real reason they likely went with UE engine is that most developers already know how to use it, it would be easier to on-board new staff, and it would make it much easier/cheaper to turn the EA WRC game into videogame that they can release a new version of every single year. While not having to spend anywhere near the same money and time on doing the engine upgrades in the future. Since those would be handled by Epic Games and the tools/engine upgrades for the EGO engine are probably all focused on the F1 games. Meaning the would have to do a whole separate branch of the EGO engine for the Dirt Rally games. Which at that point ends up being about as much work as just treating it like a brand new project under EA, porting what they can from Dirt Rally 2.0 and building a platform which they can develop from more sustainably in the long-run. With the EGO engine they would need to maintain a whole other branch of the EGO engine specifically for Rally games that has different tools and everything to the one for the F1 games. And they would basically be stuck with it from them on. Because they would never have the time to switch engines between yearly releases. While with Unreal Engine, all the implementation of major graphical upgrades and new engine tech is handled by Epic Games, and they could fairly easily make a sequel to this game that looks much better, and adds new graphical features by just upgrading to Unreal Engine 5 and implementing some of the graphical features which UE5 has already added on an engine level. I'm willing to be it had far more to do with the fact that Unreal Engine would make it a lot easier to do yearly releases of the WRC game, while also probably making those yearly releases much cheaper to develop. Than it had to do that it was somehow the only way they could have implemented longer stages.

[@shrek2onvhs849]

RBR Mentioned - I love the DiRT series and have had a lot of fun with the WRC games, but the rally sim fans version of richard burns rally is head and shoulders above anything I've played. If you've ever been curious about it Jimmy has a great video on how to get started playing richard burns rally in current year

[@kylespencer8338]

Jesus you RBR fans are exhausting

[@shrek2onvhs849]

yes

[@GameDude41]

7:10 I have the AI set to 90/100 and I can still gap the field by minutes sometimes. It's certainly better than WRC Generations but I don't think I'd place it above DR2.0 Some of the missing game modes are frustrating, like Moments just being a weaker version of DR2's dailies/weeklies/monthlies, or ranked online straight up missing from WRC Generations.

[@trickyjw]

I’m really enjoying the game. Yes the little issues like AI and damage fixing itself in clubs is there but I know it will be fixed. Stages are fantastic and better than DR 2.0 I feel. A lot of potential and look forward to the next update to fix some things.

[@ZmbiBglz]

as this is a video game and not real life i would love for them to add a head to head race. where you race a stage at the same time with someone. i know it is a little arcade for this kind of game but no one else is doing anything like that with a more realistic kind of platform like this. but id hate for it to turn this series of games into another horizon.

[@KJAY2THOUSAND]

My complaints so far are the Ripple/tear in the screen when on rallies.. I thought it was a game feature showing the ecu of the car crashing after damage but it was a bug in the graphics.. 2 is that the graphics just don’t look great for ps5 and a 4k TV.. I was a bit disappointed when I saw the intro video. My final complain is that the 98 subaru has the wrong shade of blue on it and it drives me nuts.

[@johnsutherland3405]

I’m loving it playing on my gaming laptop into a tv on g29 / dirt rally playseat no stuttering or bugs from launch but now have one crash in carrier mode I’m sure will be fixed in next patch having played every McRae game except phone one the games brilliant and well worth buying can’t wait for some dlc hopefully a classic rac scotland Wales and England stages

[@TheDarrenJones]

I was an amateur rally driver, but took it seriously and did Wales Rally GB four times. Dirt Rally has always disappointed driving wise as the car seems to pivot around the centre of the car, and no car does this, particularly when you're on the edge. I'd *love* to be able to recreate the feeling of driving a rally car in a sim (and I'd probably have a big setup if I got into it, as it would still be cheap compared to the real thing), but nothing I've tried gets close. I wasn't a great driver, but I was OK, and Dirt Rally frustrates me as I'm definitely worse on it than I was in the real world. It still behaves like Colin McRae Rally on the PS1, and I can't understand why.

[@bohdanbodnar3621]

I can't appreciate the fact that so many people praise RBR...it has terrible graphics, many cars I tried don't have any good camera cockpit view, the menu is frustrating, settings for my wheel do not work, I can't setup my handbrake as well. I tried several times to play it, but it was not good every time. And now, when WRC came out everything is great there and works out of the box. Only thing bothering me atm are freezes on my 3080...But I believe it will be fixed soon.

[@Streetw1s3r]

I enjoy the game but I find that the road surface is a step down from the DiRT Rally games. In DiRT Rally the surface would change gradually, and you'd also feel the car aquaplane on puddles or ice, however in WRC the change from tarmac to ice and the grip change is instant, it doesn't build up to it and gradually worsen, it's just on or off. So there's a lot of improvement to be made there. I feel like a lot of the steps backwards are definitely due to them moving to Unreal Engine, so stuff has to be redeveloped for Unreal.

[@brianmcintyre14]

My one biggest criticism is the co-drivers calls being far too late on occasions in high speed sections leading into sharp corners and hairpins and there is no option in the menu to change the timing of pace note calls, which is a shame.

[@tattoodude8946]

Well, I just jumped into the world of sim racing with a Moza R5 bundle and I will pick up WRC in time. But Steam just ran a sale for Black Friday and DR2 was only $5 (or $10 for the GOTY edition). You can't go wrong with that and I'm sure it will keep me plenty busy for quite a while. In the meantime, EA can work out the kinks and bugs in WRC and I will grab it down the road - maybe in the Summer Sale. Guess I jumped into the hobby at a good time, especially with the news of Assetto 2 rolling out in spring!

[@sarim5030]

I knew you were gonna reference the Reno5, It's driving me nuts with the oversteer. I knew it was a hard car to control but damn, even in tarmac

[@dredd2235]

I thought it was disappointing. The content is a big improvement on Dirt Rally 2 but the graphics are an obvious step down and performance is poor. Also a proper view calibration option would have been much better than having to keybind seat adjustments. I don't mind it being not as hardcore because DR2 does feel like the racing version of bomb disposal sometimes. But yeah, I thought it was a let down.

[@gillespie2482]

RWD-cars are my thing and I think driving those feel much better in DR2 than in this game.