WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship Reviews
A fantastic rally sim for newcomers and veterans alike, WRC 9 has only gotten better in its transition to the PlayStation 5. The next-gen console brings with it obvious visual and performance enhancements - pushing gameplay anywhere between 60 & 120 fps - but the real star here is haptic feedback. WRC 9 use of the DualSense controller is outstanding, utilizing sensations and vibrations to add another layer of immersion to racing. Players will feel the road underneath them, the weight of their brakes, and the subtlest shifts in terrain. A mix of addictive arcade gameplay and deeply immersive feedback, WRC 9 exceeds expectations.
WRC 9 is the fully realized game that KT Racing has been building towards all these years. And it being so good sets up both the already announced WRC 10 and WRC 11 with incredible foundations to work from and build upon. It has some persistent and pesky bugs, but they should be ironed out. Future updates will include new cars and multiplayer where you can be the co-driver giving pacenotes, all for free. This is a richer and fuller experience over WRC 8 in every way. WRC 9 is not only the best WRC game to-date, but one of the best rally simulations to exist.
WRC 9 is a challenging rally game that celebrates the FIA World Rally Championship’s past and present. The driving mechanics themselves are very well implemented and there’s plenty of modes that’ll keep you busy – but there’s more than a few rough edges that prevent it from being a real champion.
Not a lot has been added in WRC 9 when compared to its predecessor, but what’s new in here is still very welcome. Its online interface is a bit better than before, its graphics have been improved by a significant degree, its framerate is more stable, and its controls, while still punitive towards newcomers, feature some new assists to make the adaptation process a little bit less traumatizing to the uninitiated.
WRC 9 is a solid, highly-polished rally racer with more than enough content to keep you busy for a long time. Career mode has depth, and not just for the sake of it. Single-players will get their kicks throwing motors around famous tracks from the world over, with visits to New Zealand, Kenya, and Wales for some of the best racing out there today.
WRC 9 does not come to revolutionize the genre or the saga, nor does it need to, but to polish a well-known formula to become an essential that offers us a wide individual experience with its new career mode, but also putting the focus on eSports , its more traditional multiplayer and the option to enjoy legendary cars. Better with a steering wheel, we hope that in future installments the option of VR will be added to complete the simulation experience that immerses us in an experience that is as close to actually driving one of these vehicles.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Balance is the keyword here because WRC 9 is not so far out in the simulation side of racing genre that it becomes a chore to play and it also is not like an arcade-y title that gives you the feeling that the game is playing itself, everything just feels like how it should be and that factor makes this a good choice for both veteran racing game fans and the newcomers.
Review in Persian | Read full review
WRC 9 pushes forward KT Racing's series with a deeper and satisfying managerial aspect, a great car feeling and top-notch audio. It only gets dragged down by not too satisfying graphics and lack of meaningful visual damage, aspects we hope will be improved in the future.
Review in Italian | Read full review
WRC 9 is a feature-packed game, filled with options that every player can enjoy, regardless of their profile. However, compared to previous titles, the evolution is quite small and its worst flaws are still present, although they have been outlined a bit. A great franchise which perhaps lags behind other references of the genre that have known how to evolve more constantly.
WRC9 offers an enormous amount of hours of fun despite the continuity at the game formula and the sometimes surreal behavior of physics after impacts.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
WRC 9 presents to us driving at it’s purest. There is no one else on the course – just you. So at its core, is Man, Machine vs. the Elements, which is what rally car racing truly is.
This year WRC show its greatest strengths with one of the best sim-racers of the moment.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
WRC 9 is not as innovative as its predecessor, but it maintains the same excellence. Whether you are a veteran of the franchise or a novice who wants to venture into speed in a new way, here you will find a title with a very complete experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Those who are now joining the series will have something remarkable in their hands, those returning, not so much. Especially when basic mistakes like the unnatural difficulty are not improved, something has probably gone really wrong.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Repetition can be both a crux and a boon. If done right, video games — and practically any form of media — can feel unique in their execution, regardless of how much repetition is featured. WRC 9 ticks all the correct boxes and then some. While the game largely feels exactly like WRC 8, it is clear Kylotonn Racing’s tweaks and changes were precise and immaculate. The changes may have been small, but their impact is significant in the grand scheme. Furthermore, KT Racing’s valuable additions to multiplayer serve as adequate methods to improve upon previous misgivings - particularly that of WRC 8. It is not a perfect game in any stretch and falls just short of what Dirt Rally 2.0 manages to do right. Even so, it is a part of the upper echelon of simulators and stands above many others in the rally genre. At the end of the day, WRC 9 serves as an excellent addition to any rally fan’s video game library; thanks to its attention to detail, excellent sound production and incredible new physics.
WRC 9 is a fun game, for both casual gamers and serious rally fans. It’s a good rally game for anybody interested in WRC and racing, however owners of WRC 8 will not be missing out on a lot. The changes aren’t as big as last year - the visuals, audio and handling have been improved and there’s more content, but it still feels like an update or DLC, rather than an entirely new game.
WRC 9 does not make many changes from the previous WRC. Nevertheless, it is a good game in its genre, perhaps one of the best. The game is fun and fans will see a good driving model and a sufficient number of cars and tracks. WRC9 offers three new rally locations and more classic cars. This WRC is ideal for new players.
Review in Czech | Read full review
WRC 9 brings the fun home,it keeps building on the previous entries it relaxes a bit on the simulation aspects, but this works fine here, kudos to the copilot AI is stellar, while the fraphics could and should use some work.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Of all of the PS4 games that have had PS5 upgrades, WRC 9 shows the most improvement. Sharper visuals in 4K running at a consistent 60 FPS transform an average looking game into a gorgeous one. Combined with an unchanged driving system that needed no tweaking and excellent DualSense implementation that elevates it, this takes 1st place as the best racing game on PS5 so far.
More than anything else, WRC 9 is a tantalising demonstration of the DualSense controller’s potential to elevate well-crafted experiences into truly exceptional ones.