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Game Information​

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Game Title: EA Sports WRC

Platforms:

• PlayStation 5 (Nov 3, 2023)
• Xbox Series X/S (Nov 3, 2023)
• PC (Nov 3, 2023)

Trailers:

• EA SPORTS WRC - Official Launch Trailer
• EA SPORTS WRC • First Look at Gameplay
• EA SPORTS WRC - Official Reveal Trailer

Developer: Codemasters

Publisher: Electronic Arts

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Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 83 average - 100% recommended - 10 reviews

MetaCritic - 84/100 - PC Version - 11 Reviews

Critic Reviews​

CGMagazine - Andrew Farrell - 8.5 / 10

WRC offers exactly what I wanted from a Codemaster rally game and it doesn’t disappoint thanks to a good offering of content, engaging racing, and lots of tricky routes.

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Eurogamer.pt - Adolfo Soares - Portuguese - 4 / 5

EA Sports WRC has established itself as the benchmark in the world of rally games, providing a solid experience that makes full use of the FIA World Rally Championship license. With a wide selection of cars, wide variety of rallies, and various game modes, this is a presentation that does justice to this iconic sport. Whether you're a long-time enthusiast or a rookie eager to get up to speed for the first time, this is the perfect time to immerse yourself in the unique world of rallying and enjoy this thrilling experience.

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Everyeye.it - Alessandro Petruio - Italian - 8.8 / 10

When it comes to rallying, Codemasters is a guarantee. This new EA simulation is at the starting line with an offer that boasts an excellent balance between quantity and quality of content and that puts the driving experience at the center, as usual.

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Evilgamerz - Jeroen Janssen - Dutch - 8 / 10

It is nice that EA is also venturing into unknown territory for once, because the WRC is not something the company has ventured into so far. With Codemasters that step has finally been taken and that is to be commended. For a first game, we certainly cannot complain in terms of content and gameplay. The racing takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, the game plays well. However, the game doesn't really excel in anything. In terms of audio and visuals, nothing is really special and in terms of game modes, nothing is really convincing or addictive. The game plays just fine and scores more than adequately everywhere. The first introduction to this racing genre is not yet completely convincing, but it is more than sufficient. It seems to be the prelude to more games, although it remains to be seen how successful this first game will be with the public.

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GAMES.CH - Olaf Bleich - German - 80%

Codemasters delivers on the track and features some of the most intense and nerve-wrecking rallye-action of the past years. Considering this is the first outing under the new license and with the Unreal-Engine, EA Sports WRC is a more than solid start, but also has its flaws in career-mode and overall balancing and presentation.

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GameGrin - Steven John Dawson - 9.5 / 10

The best modern rally game to date, packed to the brim with big stages and plenty of cars. With updates like the Central European course coming later, as well as VR support down the line. If you're a fan of rallying in general, you owe it to yourself to have this one in your library.

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Saving Content - Scott Ellison II - 4 / 5

For the first time in many years, I don’t have to keep DiRT Rally 2.0 and the annual WRC game installed simultaneously. Additionally, the DiRT series doesn’t have to live a life of dual identity anymore. Despite some minor quibbles with some modes being hollow, or some concerns of performance, this freshman offering is simply great – and what smooths a lot of this over is its moderate pricing. WRC puts World Rally Championship on full display, and this next-generation rally renaissance is not to be missed.

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Shacknews - Jan Ole Peek - 8 / 10

EA Sports WRC lets you experience the rush of racing through the world's rally tracks one crest, hairpin, and sheer drop-off at a time.

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The Games Machine - Alessandro Alosi - Italian - 8.5 / 10

EA Sports WRC manages to bring the sensations and essence of rallying to our screens, revealing itself to be an engaging, at times overwhelming, racing game. Some details are less refined than others and there is various room for improvement, however if a good day starts in the morning I would say that, as regards the future of the series, fans can celebrate.

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TheSixthAxis - Dominic Leighton - 7 / 10

If you're looking for a fully featured and great handling rally game, EA Sports WRC is the undisputed champion this year, though PC players need to be aware that some technical bugs still need to be ironed out.

 

[Jibran#one]

How is this an 83
I don't know about ps5 and pc but on series X the game runs like complete ass
Horrible xbox360 lvl graphics with screen tearing stutters and frame drops in all stages

 

[Elysium44]

Pro reviewers glossing over glaring shortcomings just like they did with Forza Motorsport.

The 6/10 it's currently getting from Steam users is probably more where the score deserves to be imo.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Pro reviewers glossing over glaring shortcomings just like they did with Forza Motorsport.

The 6/10 it's currently getting from Steam users is probably more where the score deserves to be imo.

Naw, its likely to become one of the GOAT in rally racing after a few minors fixes

Screaming online and review bombing at every little fucking hitches is not more representative. If it is then everyone fucking put the blinders on for Elden Ring.

 

[Beer Baelly]

Yeah, it needs some quick patching. Performance is tacky

 

[Senua]

Naw, its likely to become one of the GOAT in rally racing after a few minors fixes

Screaming online and review bombing at every little fucking hitches is not more representative. If it is then everyone fucking put the blinders on for Elden Ring.

There needs to be a middle ground, bad performance should be taken more into account in professional reviews but people also need to stop being little bitches and 1/10ing games with stuttering

 

[Delt31]

does it handle like rallisport challenge? I hope so.....best rally ever!

 

[amigastar]

does it handle like rallisport challenge? I hope so.....best rally ever!

If Rallisport Challenge had sim like gameplay, then yes. Otherwise no.

 

[Buggy Loop]

does it handle like rallisport challenge? I hope so.....best rally ever!

No. This is Dirt Rally team, not super sim but the most sim rally game there is at this moment in time. It's very difficult but so rewarding. Rallisport challenge was arcade comparatively. Dirt rally has often been said to be Dark Souls on wheels.

 

[Elysium44]

Naw, its likely to become one of the GOAT in rally racing after a few minors fixes

Screaming online and review bombing at every little fucking hitches is not more representative. If it is then everyone fucking put the blinders on for Elden Ring.

Frame rate and pacing is much more important for racing games, especially rally, than games of Elden Ring's genre. DR 1 and 2 were flawless in that regard; WRC is a shambles. I do hope they will fix it.

 

[touchfuzzy]

does it handle like rallisport challenge? I hope so.....best rally ever!

I set it to "Beginner" handling difficulty and it's a blast, handles like an arcade game.

 

[Elysium44]

There needs to be a middle ground, bad performance should be taken more into account in professional reviews but people also need to stop being little bitches and 1/10ing games with stuttering

Nobody's saying it's 1/10. Steam reviews allow no nuance, it's either recommend or not. Having played the game on Series S it performs worse than PC which is saying something. Frame rate and pacing are all over the place, 0.5-1 second freezes at times, and tearing due to no vsync. There is more wrong with it than just lack of shader precomp because IIRC consoles don't need that due to the fixed hardware.

 

[Senua]

Nobody's saying it's 1/10. Steam reviews allow no nuance, it's either recommend or not. Having played the game on Series S it performs worse than PC which is saying something. Frame rate and pacing are all over the place, 0.5-1 second freezes at times, and tearing due to no vsync. There is more wrong with it than just lack of shader precomp because IIRC consoles don't need that due to the fixed hardware.

I know, just referring to user scores in general. Review bombing doesn't help and is just childish but at the same token glossing over performance issues which so many "professional" reviewers do also doesn't help

 

[Buggy Loop]

DR 1 and 2 were flawless in that regard;

Not the Dirt Rally I remember at launch. On PC at least. Far from flawless.

 

[M.W.]

Great game.

 

[amigastar]

No. This is Dirt Rally team, not super sim but the most sim rally game there is at this moment in time. It's very difficult but so rewarding. Rallisport challenge was arcade comparatively. Dirt rally has often been said to be Dark Souls on wheels.

That's a pretty spot on depiction. It is really hard even if it's not a full on hardcore sim.
I just hope they can fix the performance issues pretty fast so we get the game we deserve.

 

[MadchesterManc]

It's honestly not even been that bad for me. A half second stutter or two in a 10 minute stage is nothing compared to the constant frame pacing issue I had with WRC Generations (which was weird as WRC10 had no issue like that).

 

[drotahorror]

Not the Dirt Rally I remember at launch. On PC at least. Far from flawless.

And not sure how it affects WRC 23 but crowd quality in DR2.0 is a framerate murderer. Go from 90+ fps to 30fps in one turn with crowd on Ultra. I don't even care so I turned it on lowest and did so as well on WRC 23. The only way I would care was if it had people scrambling to get out of the road ala RBR sometimes.

That said, WRC 23 is better than DR2.0 is almost every way, minus graphics and some performance issues. There is some hitching for me, but nothing like some other main offenders like Callisto, TLOU P1, etc (at launch).

 

[Skifi28]

They had their own engine that looked and performed great, but no, they had to move to Unreal.

 

[amigastar]

They had their own engine that looked and performed great, but no, they had to move to Unreal.

Don't quote me on that but it had something to do with the long stages that are in game.

 

[Monserrat]

There needs to be a middle ground, bad performance should be taken more into account in professional reviews but people also need to stop being little bitches and 1/10ing games with stuttering

Because it is unfair or something?.

 

[Skifi28]

Don't quote me on that but it had something to do with the long stages that are in game.

Consider yourself quoted! That's certainly an interesting bit of info.

 

[Monserrat]

Don't quote me on that but it had something to do with the long stages that are in game.

You could drive for like an hour in Test Drive unlimited before reaching the starting point on the Xbox 360, UE is deeply flawed.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Consider yourself quoted! That's certainly an interesting bit of info.

Yeah, not sure if they could have powered their way into modding their engine to support these new stages but whatever, it’s the best rally stages so far in gaming . Immense. Change in vegetations as it changes altitude / region. Feels to scale. Had some ~35km races, insanely fun. Stages are the real star of the show, on top of what I think is a good improvement on tarmac and weight shifting physics.

 

[Jibran#one]

There are literally stages on series X where it constantly runs at like 40 50 FPS
Yes the stages are good
But if a rally game is stuttering , tearing and consistently dropping frames in almost every stage no game should be reviewed this high.
I hope they patch this shit but till then I don't think I've played a racing game that performs this bad and looks like a xbox360 game

 

[Elysium44]

IGN reviewed it on Series X and gave it 6/10.

 

[amigastar]

IGN reviewed it on Series X and gave it 6/10.

I assume the 6/10 is coming from bugs and whatnot rather than the quality of the game/driving physics?

 

[Elysium44]

I assume the 6/10 is coming from bugs and whatnot rather than the quality of the game/driving physics?

Verdict is from 11:10. They are heavily critical of the performance but also think the career mode is underwhelming.

 

[amigastar]

Patch 1.3 is out, some changelog:
Key Fixes

• Added support for Unreal PSO Caching (shader pre-compiling) to address and reduce the amount of shader stuttering experienced on PC.
• Made several improvements to framerate in key areas of gameplay on all platforms.
• Made a number of graphical fixes and improvements across the game on all platforms.
• Resolved multiple issues that would cause the game to crash or soft lock during gameplay on all platforms.
• EA SPORTS™ WRC can now be launched on Steam Deck

 

[amigastar]

It angers me a quite a bit these problems are still there so much weeks after the launch, i hope they sort it out.

 

[Markio128]

How is the game on PS5 now after the recent patch? I fancy a decent rally game, but not if the framerate is all over the shop.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Not sure how they can improve these reflection performances. It doesn't make any sense, it's not a limit of the engine obviously, as Assetto Corsa Competizione uses UE4 too.

 

[amigastar]

Not sure how they can improve these reflection performances. It doesn't make any sense, it's not a limit of the engine obviously, as Assetto Corsa Competizione uses UE4 too.

Good video, so the culprit are the car reflections after all.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Good video, so the culprit are the car reflections after all.

Which is so strange as they don't look particularly that well even at max settings. They must have screwed up something.

 

[Jibran#one]

So how's the performance now on series X it's on sale and was seriously thinking of buying it but at launch the performance was so bad I instantly deleted it after my trial

 

[whitestar127]

So how's the performance now on series X it's on sale and was seriously thinking of buying it but at launch the performance was so bad I instantly deleted it after my trial

On the equivalent GTPlanet forum (https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/ea-sports-wrc-general-discussion.419496) most Series X owners seem to report pretty much a stutter free experience now (after one of the patches), though some screen tearing. A bit anecdotal of course, but sounds positive at least.
On my PC I still have some big stutters when doing sharp turns. Doesn't stop me from playing but it sure is annoying and immersion breaking.

 

[Beer Baelly]

Gonna try it out again

 

[systemr123]

Naw, its likely to become one of the GOAT in rally racing after a few minors fixes

Screaming online and review bombing at every little fucking hitches is not more representative. If it is then everyone fucking put the blinders on for Elden Ring.

Maybe just finish the game before releasing it, and make sure to have some good QA should be the way to go. Publishers shouldn’t get a pass to release everything broken and/or with the idea that some of it might be (strong focus on might be here) fixed at a later stage.

It’s exactly what’s wrong with game development nowadays and it has to stop. Probably we’ll get some old fashioned game crash like before because people just stop trusting publishers to deliver a good finished product and stop buying games.

Except for some people that just accept everything they get shoved in their arses.

 

[MagnetoWasRight]

Wait for the career mode patch coming any day now before starting a new career. PS5 is a total tearfest. No stage plays smoothly.

 

[Skifi28]

Wait for the career mode patch coming any day now before starting a new career. PS5 is a total tearfest. No stage plays smoothly.

No wonder it was discounted so much and so quickly. Glad I didn't pull the trigger.

 

[Mephisto40]

So is this unplayable on PS5?

Just noticed it's only £25 in the store so was thinking of pulling the trigger as I love rally games but haven't played one for a while

 

[whitestar127]

So is this unplayable on PS5?

Just noticed it's only £25 in the store so was thinking of pulling the trigger as I love rally games but haven't played one for a while

Yes, the feedback from PS5 players on the GTPlanet forum at least is very negative.

 

[amigastar]

Thats so unacceptable they haven't fixed it since launch. I mean wtf?
If i could return it i would do.

 

[Cattlyst]

I usually adore Rally titles but so far I still haven’t purchased this. Even with the deep discounts on several store fronts. The general consensus I’m seeing - still weeks after playing the woeful demo version - is that the bugs that existed at launch haven’t been fixed, and where some bugs have been patched, others have appeared in their place. And the screen tearing on all platforms is still enough to make the game unplayable. I think I’ll probably wait until next year’s game at this point.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Maybe just finish the game before releasing it, and make sure to have some good QA should be the way to go. Publishers shouldn’t get a pass to release everything broken and/or with the idea that some of it might be (strong focus on might be here) fixed at a later stage.

It’s exactly what’s wrong with game development nowadays and it has to stop. Probably we’ll get some old fashioned game crash like before because people just stop trusting publishers to deliver a good finished product and stop buying games.

Except for some people that just accept everything they get shoved in their arses.

I’m not even sure they play their own games seriously, at least not with a steering wheel, because they would instantly realize that the UI at the bottom is atrocious with a wheel. Every serious sim game has realized this. Except the fucking stupid UI designer at code master.

 

[MagnetoWasRight]

So is this unplayable on PS5?

Just noticed it's only £25 in the store so was thinking of pulling the trigger as I love rally games but haven't played one for a while

The driving physics are so good and smooth but the tearing is just maddening. If they added an option to run at 480p with no tearing, I'd prefer that over this.

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

The driving physics are so good and smooth but the tearing is just maddening. If they added an option to run at 480p with no tearing, I'd prefer that over this.

That is SO inexcusable! Esp considering the graphics in this are not exactly pushing next gen visuals. I actually think the game can look good in certain levels but overall nothing special.

This developer should be ashamed of themselves!

 

[Feel Like I'm On 42]

Maybe just finish the game before releasing it, and make sure to have some good QA should be the way to go. Publishers shouldn’t get a pass to release everything broken and/or with the idea that some of it might be (strong focus on might be here) fixed at a later stage.

It’s exactly what’s wrong with game development nowadays and it has to stop. Probably we’ll get some old fashioned game crash like before because people just stop trusting publishers to deliver a good finished product and stop buying games.

Except for some people that just accept everything they get shoved in their arses.

Preach brother! The shit some companies are pulling today ..I swear ..

People- DONT BUY THIS POS. Whenever I read reviews/opinions its the same. "Screen tearing" and "devs havnt fixed important stuff" as well ad "I think devs have already abandoned the game". Btw those all came from the Xbox store so the game's equally as bad on Xbox and PS5.

The irony is the exact same complaints, sans the screen tearing, were levied against wrc generations (which I bought) and they were all true. I know it's different devs but man, what is it about the WRC franchise that makes the devs give their customers such shitty disgusting treatment?

 

[Cattlyst]

Preach brother! The shit some companies are pulling today ..I swear ..

People- DONT BUY THIS POS. Whenever I read reviews/opinions its the same. "Screen tearing" and "devs havnt fixed important stuff" as well ad "I think devs have already abandoned the game". Btw those all came from the Xbox store so the game's equally as bad on Xbox and PS5.

The irony is the exact same complaints, sans the screen tearing, were levied against wrc generations (which I bought) and they were all true. I know it's different devs but man, what is it about the WRC franchise that makes the devs give their customers such shitty disgusting treatment?

I think with the Kylotonn WRC titles the main problem wasn’t so much performance but that they regurgitated the same career mode so many times across their releases. Granted in their final game it was little changed since like WRC 7 or 8. BUT by the time Generations came out they’d actually nailed the gameplay and visuals. Sure it took them like 4 or 5 attempts, but they got there eventually. To go from WRC Generations to EA Sports WRC - with actual Codemasters in the mix - is such a step back and a slap in the face for rally/WRC fans. With hindsight I would have preferred Kylotonn had kept the licence and overhauled the career mode, maybe tweaked the visuals or engine further in all honesty. But that’s just me. I’m sure after such a backlash there are folks at Codemasters already looking at how they either enhance the Dirt 2.0 engine for the next game or they look at UE5. Maybe. Just my random thoughts I guess.

 

[Beer Baelly]

Did a few quickplays on SX. It runs alomst flawless now. Noticed maybe 1 or 2 minor stutters per race, a real improvement. Whats up with the weird ghosting around the car with chase cam tho.