WRC 9 Coming in September 2020, Will Hit PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X Later
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cjr3559
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I prefer cockpit in all games, and as much as comfortably possible in WRC games. Some cockpits in WRC are perfect with no adjustments, others are terrible no matter what I try. When worse comes to worse I use the dash cam.
Even at the extreme end of the settings, some cockpit cams are too far back and too low for my setup. I was always a proponent of the interior dash cam, but now I think it’s too close to the windscreen.
And cockpit is definitely not the fastest for me, as I prefer immersion over setting records. Probably the exterior bonnet would be the fastest if I really wanted to be competitive.
Even at the extreme end of the settings, some cockpit cams are too far back and too low for my setup. I was always a proponent of the interior dash cam, but now I think it’s too close to the windscreen.
And cockpit is definitely not the fastest for me, as I prefer immersion over setting records. Probably the exterior bonnet would be the fastest if I really wanted to be competitive.
- 1,790
- Mtl
I feel the same exactly.
I really like the hood view too, mostly in wrc7, but i also use a pad in 7, feels real more in 7, and looks nice, good view, and easiest. The wheel especially in cockpit view feels laggy, although in hood view its pretty good too.
Ill even use 3rd person with a pad, it fits, and feels less twitchy.
But with a wheel, now in wrc8, it just fits for me in cockpit, more real with a wheel, immersive, and feels good.
I think if you used a wheel you might like cockpit more now that it works better from 8 on up. But still feels like a game made 1st for pads to me.
I prefer the wheel feel in dr2 still i think. Edit: i mean the steering control/response feels more believable. But the ffb is smoother in wrc8.
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- BIGGCAROLINA
cjr3559
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More observations since playing again tonight:
‘Perks’ may have been removed from Career mode, unless they’re not available in the entry JWRC level. Can’t recall from WRC8.
The Audi is really nice. I wasn’t expecting much since the Codies version is tough to live up to. The KT version handles well and the sound is better than I would have presumed, but I will give the trophy to CM for the better rendition overall. Though where KT excels is similar to the authenticity of their stages, when I was tearing the Audi around the dirt roads of Portugal it made me travel back in time to the classic videos I’ve seen of this beast in action, and (don’t laugh) the crowds in the game suddenly seem like they’re actually excited, not just going through the motions of cheering.
So KT has that going for it over the dry transplanted feel of the Audi in DiRT.
And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss the codriver from 8 compared to the new guy. The old guy was easier to hear and understand. This new guy is a little too relaxed, and not snappy enough. It could also be an issue with audio mix, he just doesn’t cut through very well. At the end of the day, the codriver is the Achilles heel of this franchise. They’re so close, but it just misses the mark with each version,
‘Perks’ may have been removed from Career mode, unless they’re not available in the entry JWRC level. Can’t recall from WRC8.
The Audi is really nice. I wasn’t expecting much since the Codies version is tough to live up to. The KT version handles well and the sound is better than I would have presumed, but I will give the trophy to CM for the better rendition overall. Though where KT excels is similar to the authenticity of their stages, when I was tearing the Audi around the dirt roads of Portugal it made me travel back in time to the classic videos I’ve seen of this beast in action, and (don’t laugh) the crowds in the game suddenly seem like they’re actually excited, not just going through the motions of cheering.
So KT has that going for it over the dry transplanted feel of the Audi in DiRT.And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss the codriver from 8 compared to the new guy. The old guy was easier to hear and understand. This new guy is a little too relaxed, and not snappy enough. It could also be an issue with audio mix, he just doesn’t cut through very well. At the end of the day, the codriver is the Achilles heel of this franchise. They’re so close, but it just misses the mark with each version,
- 1,658
- Bristol
- MrCrynox
- Mr Crynox
If my memory serves me right I think the perks were unavailable for JWRC in WRC8 as well, they start at WRC2 level.
I agree about your co driver comments although I'm sure we will all get used to this one & he will become the best one yet. And for once it's heading toward an authentic co driver sound as to me he sounds Irish, if so there are plenty of real life Irish co drivers in Rallying. It's an area that CM has always got so right, using real life, well loved co drivers is the way to go, (and Mr Coleman of course). Also being that this is the official game, you would think that KT world find it relatively easy to get some official co drivers onboard...
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MagpieRacer
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Physics.
To me DR2.0 is the clear overall winner. WRC 9 has a scratch on the tarmac feeling.
Graphics.
DR2.0 all the way. 60 fps is clearly nice than 30 fps. I notice this especially on in dark and rainy conditions. Also I think WRC 9 graphics on the ps4 look washed out. It sometimes reminded me or DR1 graphics on my slow laptop where I had to tune down many graphics options.
Sound
DR2.0 wins here. It's more defined and the copilot is better mixed with the engine noise.
Car roster
DR2.0 I love vintage cars so clearly a win for DR2.0. If you must have WRC cars, then wrc9 is the way to go. I found it awkward that the FWD cars are only Fiesta's. Is that the official WRC selection?
Carreer
WRC9 wins here. The few hours I spend here were really enjoyable.
Weather
WRC9's dynamic weather is really nice. Win for 9
Controller set up
In DR2.0 you can set it up so the game forces you to use either sequential or H shifter. In WRC9 you can use both all the time, just as in PC2. I thing that is strange and I like the way AC and DR2.0 handle this better.
Also the way you can setup different parameters for left and right turning in WRC9 is just awkward. I consider that a design mistake. Someone should have said "Hey, the left and right action is on one axis and should be treated that way.".
edit: all on ps4 pro
Physics.
To me DR2.0 is the clear overall winner. WRC 9 has a scratch on the tarmac feeling.
Graphics.
DR2.0 all the way. 60 fps is clearly nice than 30 fps. I notice this especially on in dark and rainy conditions. Also I think WRC 9 graphics on the ps4 look washed out. It sometimes reminded me or DR1 graphics on my slow laptop where I had to tune down many graphics options.
Sound
DR2.0 wins here. It's more defined and the copilot is better mixed with the engine noise.
Car roster
DR2.0 I love vintage cars so clearly a win for DR2.0. If you must have WRC cars, then wrc9 is the way to go. I found it awkward that the FWD cars are only Fiesta's. Is that the official WRC selection?
Carreer
WRC9 wins here. The few hours I spend here were really enjoyable.
Weather
WRC9's dynamic weather is really nice. Win for 9
Controller set up
In DR2.0 you can set it up so the game forces you to use either sequential or H shifter. In WRC9 you can use both all the time, just as in PC2. I thing that is strange and I like the way AC and DR2.0 handle this better.
Also the way you can setup different parameters for left and right turning in WRC9 is just awkward. I consider that a design mistake. Someone should have said "Hey, the left and right action is on one axis and should be treated that way.".
edit: all on ps4 pro
MagpieRacer
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- Seagull_Racer
MagpieRacer
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First few hours of the game, here are my first impressions. My natural point of comparison is Dirt Rally 2.0 having put a few hundred hours into that. I didn't play WRC8 that much at all but where relevant I will compare.
Xbox One X, game pad.
Physics
WRC9 is definitely pitched to the realistic driving physics side of things. Much more so than previous installments have imo. The cars have a much more nuanced, weighty feel to them and are (eventually, more on why later) a joy to drive. They're very exhilarating to drive fast as well. I think it definitely edges DR2 out in almost all areas of the driving model, especially (and I cannot stress this enough) the tarmac driving. Its so good on the grey stuff. Rally cars are racing cars and when you strap some tarmac rubber on to a racecar and send it down a fast tarmac road, it should feel like a racecar racing down a tarmac road. And it does, planted, grippy and balanced, you can really push the car and it feels fantastic. DR2 feels too floaty and suffers from the age old rally game problem of tarmac just feeling like slightly grippier gravel, with too much lateral movement and not enough grip.
DR2, to me, feels like it does the R2 cars slightly better, and has far superior collision detection and crash physics. But for now from a realism stand point. WRC9 takes the point.
Visuals
KT have upped their game again here, it can still look rough around the edges and the car models look a little bit lifeless compared to DR2. But the stages, design and visually, are stunning for the most part (some countries are in desperate need of updating. Finland and Portugal are coming but Sweden, come on). The weather effects are absolutely excellent and far above DR2, dynamic weather is a great thing and feels like it has been improved on from WRC8. The elephant in the room of course is the 30fps running vs DR2 at 60fps. However I have to commend KT and their engine as I did have to double check if the X was running at 60 or not because it keeps such an absolutely rock solid 30fps, it makes it feel much smoother. Clearly if they targeted higher on console it would drop too much so I'm happy for the solid 30 in this scenario. Instill notice an occasional drop and have seen a bit of screen tearing but overall its very nice. I put them on a par with each other here as I do feel DR2 is just a bit more polished around the edges and has superior car models and particle effects.
Sound
I'll get it straight out, DR2 it's still the king of sound. The car sounds, co-driver, ambiance, its superior in every way. However, KT have closed the gap. The co-driver has much improved, sounds more natural and delivers the notes more convincingly. Some of the cars have been improved, namely the WRC machines themselves, they sound raw and the exhaust notes have real deepness to them. Everything else sounds a bit tame.
Controls
As a pad user its important to me that the game plays well with a pad. At first, I feared the worst. The horrible pendulum effect is still present and the default settings, to me, are trash. The game doesn't self centre fast enough which makes countersteering a game of chance. However, after a few hours tweaking the deadzone, saturation and sensitivty, I have found a relative sweet spot. The pendulum effect is still there but is dulled by increasing the deadzone. Its definitely better than WRC8 was and is good to play, but a long way from great. A speed sensitivity or quicker centering would really help it. This point therefore for now, goes to DR2 as Codemasters continue to reign supreme with pad handling.
These are my first impressions and will update over time as I get used to the game and start to sink more time in and understand it more.
Xbox One X, game pad.
Physics
WRC9 is definitely pitched to the realistic driving physics side of things. Much more so than previous installments have imo. The cars have a much more nuanced, weighty feel to them and are (eventually, more on why later) a joy to drive. They're very exhilarating to drive fast as well. I think it definitely edges DR2 out in almost all areas of the driving model, especially (and I cannot stress this enough) the tarmac driving. Its so good on the grey stuff. Rally cars are racing cars and when you strap some tarmac rubber on to a racecar and send it down a fast tarmac road, it should feel like a racecar racing down a tarmac road. And it does, planted, grippy and balanced, you can really push the car and it feels fantastic. DR2 feels too floaty and suffers from the age old rally game problem of tarmac just feeling like slightly grippier gravel, with too much lateral movement and not enough grip.
DR2, to me, feels like it does the R2 cars slightly better, and has far superior collision detection and crash physics. But for now from a realism stand point. WRC9 takes the point.
Visuals
KT have upped their game again here, it can still look rough around the edges and the car models look a little bit lifeless compared to DR2. But the stages, design and visually, are stunning for the most part (some countries are in desperate need of updating. Finland and Portugal are coming but Sweden, come on). The weather effects are absolutely excellent and far above DR2, dynamic weather is a great thing and feels like it has been improved on from WRC8. The elephant in the room of course is the 30fps running vs DR2 at 60fps. However I have to commend KT and their engine as I did have to double check if the X was running at 60 or not because it keeps such an absolutely rock solid 30fps, it makes it feel much smoother. Clearly if they targeted higher on console it would drop too much so I'm happy for the solid 30 in this scenario. Instill notice an occasional drop and have seen a bit of screen tearing but overall its very nice. I put them on a par with each other here as I do feel DR2 is just a bit more polished around the edges and has superior car models and particle effects.
Sound
I'll get it straight out, DR2 it's still the king of sound. The car sounds, co-driver, ambiance, its superior in every way. However, KT have closed the gap. The co-driver has much improved, sounds more natural and delivers the notes more convincingly. Some of the cars have been improved, namely the WRC machines themselves, they sound raw and the exhaust notes have real deepness to them. Everything else sounds a bit tame.
Controls
As a pad user its important to me that the game plays well with a pad. At first, I feared the worst. The horrible pendulum effect is still present and the default settings, to me, are trash. The game doesn't self centre fast enough which makes countersteering a game of chance. However, after a few hours tweaking the deadzone, saturation and sensitivty, I have found a relative sweet spot. The pendulum effect is still there but is dulled by increasing the deadzone. Its definitely better than WRC8 was and is good to play, but a long way from great. A speed sensitivity or quicker centering would really help it. This point therefore for now, goes to DR2 as Codemasters continue to reign supreme with pad handling.
These are my first impressions and will update over time as I get used to the game and start to sink more time in and understand it more.
![Tak[TEC]](/forum/data/avatars/m/145/145882.jpg?1433492469){kind=avatar}
- 406
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- TakFR
One thing a lot of people don't seem to be mentioning is the MASSIVE discrepancy between stages with the AI's difficulty, with Historic Rallies you will lose around 10 seconds in the first split no matter how fast you go and there is a very high chance you will be at least 20-25 seconds down by the end and finish last.
Most first stages you will lose massive chunks of time then seem to claw it back over time through the stages, but some rallies you will win comfortably by 45 seconds with the same difficulty setting, I don't recall WRC8 being this bad with AI difficulty but maybe that was just my experience.
Most first stages you will lose massive chunks of time then seem to claw it back over time through the stages, but some rallies you will win comfortably by 45 seconds with the same difficulty setting, I don't recall WRC8 being this bad with AI difficulty but maybe that was just my experience.
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- SPhilli
- SPhilli911
Been playing this a good amount on PS4 and I definitely like the improvements in driving physics over WRC 8 and overall I think it's a better game. I am a little surprised to see the game has pretty much the same menu design as WRC 8 and identical career mode. Not that it really needed an overhaul or anything, just shockingly similar aside from color changes. 
I do wish there was a better garage space in career so you can see your car up close.
I noticed right away when playing the car sounds were really quiet compared to all other sounds, so I had to fiddle with the settings, but I think there may be some audio glitches here and there, still. Twice now, during a race the sound got "stuck" on one sound despite the race continuing and shortly after the game crashed.
I have also noticed the difficulty discrepancy during historic races. I can't seem to place well in historic races despite having a lower AI difficulty setting.
Otherwise, I love the game. It certainly stole my time away from Dirt Rally 2.0 for now. 👍
I do wish there was a better garage space in career so you can see your car up close.I noticed right away when playing the car sounds were really quiet compared to all other sounds, so I had to fiddle with the settings, but I think there may be some audio glitches here and there, still. Twice now, during a race the sound got "stuck" on one sound despite the race continuing and shortly after the game crashed.
I have also noticed the difficulty discrepancy during historic races. I can't seem to place well in historic races despite having a lower AI difficulty setting.
Otherwise, I love the game. It certainly stole my time away from Dirt Rally 2.0 for now. 👍
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MagpieRacer
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- Seagull_Racer
Been playing this a good amount on PS4 and I definitely like the improvements in driving physics over WRC 8 and overall I think it's a better game. I am a little surprised to see the game has pretty much the same menu design as WRC 8 and identical career mode. Not that it really needed an overhaul or anything, just shockingly similar aside from color changes.
I noticed right away when playing the car sounds were really quiet compared to all other sounds, so I had to fiddle with the settings, but I think there may be some audio glitches here and there, still. Twice now, during a race the sound got "stuck" on one sound despite the race continuing and shortly after the game crashed.
I have also noticed the difficulty discrepancy during historic races. I can't seem to place well in historic races despite having a lower AI difficulty setting.
Otherwise, I love the game. I certainly stole my time away from Dirt Rally 2.0 for now. 👍
Yeah I found in the audio settings the engine volume was about 30-40% lower than everything else.
- 65
- United States
Played this game for quite a few hours over the weekend. Although it still needs some work, I'm happy the steering system is much improved as well as the weight transfer characteristics. The one big problem I have though is that when driving in cockpit view, in certain conditions/locations, the contrast/brightness/saturation (not sure which) is so skewed that I cannot even see the road at all, it is ridiculous. It seemed to be worst in the new locations like New Zealand and Safari Rally. I really hope they patch this up. I managed to improve it by changing the weather conditions to cloudy or threatening, but in certain locations, it is virtually unplayable. Pretty happy with the game so far apart from that. Its definitely better that 8 IMO. The crash and off-track model has been greatly improved as well. In all the previous versions, when you go off, even slightly, the car is immediately thrown into some unrecoverable and very unrealistic tumble.
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- 1,790
- Mtl
MagpieRacer
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One small thing I'd like to see changed in the future is the name. As an official sport title it would make much more sense if they went by season year than number. WRC 2020 and so on likenthe F1 and Moto GP games.
cjr3559
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I forgot how punishing career mode can be when you’re starting out and haven’t gained much XP for R&D...
You basically get weak and non-competitive cars, and unless you know the tracks really well and don’t make any mistakes you’re going to be finishing middle of the pack or worse. And naturally R&D Engineers and Financial Planners become more scarce the better you get no matter how slight, ultimately pushing your head under water continually.
(Why do I play this mode...
it’s really designed to keep you down, that’s for sure)
While the new music tracks are generally a good change, some are downright depressing when you’re managing your team in the garage - for example I’m assuming the sad twisted music plays when you’ve had a bad Rally, but come on now..
I do get a kick out of the slot machine ringing sound whenever my team morale gets adjusted though, makes me feel like I’m in Vegas again..
You basically get weak and non-competitive cars, and unless you know the tracks really well and don’t make any mistakes you’re going to be finishing middle of the pack or worse. And naturally R&D Engineers and Financial Planners become more scarce the better you get no matter how slight, ultimately pushing your head under water continually.
(Why do I play this mode...
it’s really designed to keep you down, that’s for sure)While the new music tracks are generally a good change, some are downright depressing when you’re managing your team in the garage - for example I’m assuming the sad twisted music plays when you’ve had a bad Rally, but come on now..
I do get a kick out of the slot machine ringing sound whenever my team morale gets adjusted though, makes me feel like I’m in Vegas again..
- 1,658
- Bristol
- MrCrynox
- Mr Crynox
I forgot how punishing career mode can be when you’re starting out and haven’t gained much XP for R&D...
You basically get weak and non-competitive cars, and unless you know the tracks really well and don’t make any mistakes you’re going to be finishing middle of the pack or worse. And naturally R&D Engineers and Financial Planners become more scarce the better you get no matter how slight, ultimately pushing your head under water continually.
(Why do I play this mode...
While the new music tracks are generally a good change, some are downright depressing when you’re managing your team in the garage - for example I’m assuming the sad twisted music plays when you’ve had a bad Rally, but come on now..
I do get a kick out of the slot machine ringing sound whenever my team morale gets adjusted though, makes me feel like I’m in Vegas again..
I'm quite intrigued to hear this depressing music..
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