WRC 8 is the eighth installment in a series of racing games dedicated to car rallies. The production was developed by Kylotonn Studio (which has titles like V-Rally 4 or FlatOut 4: Total Insanity in its portfolio, in addition to the three previous installments in the series) and published by Bigben Interactive. In WRC 8 we drive on over a hundred special stages in fourteen countries, including hot Turkey. The game features fifty teams that will take part in the real battles of the FIA World Rally Championship in the 2019 season, the list of which includes brands such as Citroën, Toyota, Hyundai and Ford. Famous drivers also went into production – in addition to the legendary Sébastien Loeb, we are fighting for victory with Sébastien Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala, Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen, among others. In addition to the WRC class, the title allows us to take part in the WRC 2 and Junior WRC competitions, as well as to be behind the wheel of several historic cars.
Compared to WRC 7 from 2017, this article comes up with some innovations. The most important of these are changing weather conditions (like rain, snow or hail), which not only add a random factor to rallies, but also increase the realism as they affect the driving of the car. Possibilities of customizing the car to individual preferences and conditions on individual tracks have also been expanded (we do best if we listen to our team's instructions when introducing modifications). In addition, the authors improved the driving model and also made sure that the information provided by the pilot was smoother. The basic game mode in WRC 8 is a career in which we fight for the World Rally Championship. Between consecutive rallies we conduct research and modify the car and manage the staff (including mechanics, engineers or even a medical and meteorological team). In addition, we can devote ourselves to multiplayer competition (in addition to regular rallies, weekly challenges and eSports WRC Esports competitions are waiting to be tested) or improve our skills on individual operating systems.
OS: Windows® 7 64bits.
CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 or AMD FX-4350.
RAM: 6 GB RAM.
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 2GB or ATI Radeon HD 5870 2GB.
DirectX: Version 11.
HDD: 19 GB available space.
WRC 8, of course, can also point out some disadvantages, but in fact - just like in the work of Codemasters Software - they do not take away the fun of the game. On the contrary: with time, we will turn a blind eye to them and enjoy a really successful driving model. But it is not him, paradoxically, who plays the first fiddle in the reviewed production, because this year the most important thing is what happens between each competition. Why? It's easy. The authors from the Kylotonn studio finally made a real career mode available to players.
When starting your adventure with WRC 8, you need to create a user profile, and then drive one episode so that the game, based on the achieved result, indicates the recommended difficulty level. Of course, nothing prevents you from changing it later, as well as a number of other settings, thanks to which we will adjust the degree of challenge to our own preferences. We will enable or disable ABS and TCS, choose a manual or semi-automatic gearbox, and decide whether any damage to the car will affect its driving behavior. It is even possible to turn on the permacrash option, the name of which speaks for itself.
WRC 8 In the first season, we can join one of the Junior WRC teams, but if we are willing and we have the appropriate skills (we have three chances to complete an uncomplicated stage in a given time period), we will become members of the team from WRC 2, and then be promoted to the WRC . Of course, there will be those who do not intend to climb the career ladder, which is why a quick race has been prepared for them, where all rallies and categories are available from the very beginning. Speaking of additional fun options, it is worth mentioning that WRC 8 also allows you to polish your skills during training and special test arenas. Daredevils also have the option to pass the season (all attractions related to the management of your team, which you will read about in a moment, are turned off), as well as competing against other players on a split screen or via the Internet.
