WRC 4: The Official Game of the FIA World Rally Championship (also known as WRC 4 and WRC 2004) is a racing video game developed by Evolution Studios for the PlayStation 2. It is the fourth rallying game to be officially licensed by the FIA World Rally Championship and is based on the 2004 WRC season.
| WRC 4 | |
|---|---|
 PAL cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Evolution Studios |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Series | World Rally Championship |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay
editIn a quick race, the player will play a randomly selected stage with a randomly selected car and driver. During the race, the player will have to beat a time trial (although this is not needed to advance in the game). The time target will be based on the 1st place time ranking. If beaten, the best time will be the new target time to beat. The Championship mode lets the player play through the 2004 WRC season. The player must play through this mode based on the real life calendar, following the schedule for the 2004 WRC season. Championship mode ends when all 16 rallies are played, but the player can stop playing after any stage, because the game saves after each stage is finished. The player can play all six stages in a rally, but normally the player will have to buy the stage to play it in other modes.
The Pro Driver Challenge is a career mode where the player takes the role of a rookie who has to start from the weak Super 1600 class and must complete a series of tasks to enter the WRC class. In Super Special Challenge, the player will play against an AI generated opponent in all SSS course in the country's alphabetical order instead of the season's chronology. In a single rally, the player will play all six stages in a selected rally. The test track mode lets the player practice their driving skills or take part in rally tests akin to the license tests of the Gran Turismo series.
Reception
edit| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 77/100[1] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Computer and Video Games | 7/10[2] |
| Eurogamer | 8/10[3] |
| Famitsu | 32/40[4] |
| GamesMaster | 88%[5] |
| PlayStation Official Magazine – UK | 9/10[6] |
| PALGN | 7.5/10[7] |
| Play | 83%[8] |
| PSM3 | 87%[9] |
The game received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[1] In Japan, where the game was localized and published by Spike on 7 April 2005, Famitsu gave it a score of all four eights for a total of 32 out of 40.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b "WRC 4: The Official Game of the FIA World Rally Championship (ps2: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
- ^ PSW staff (December 2004). "PS2 Review: WRC 4". Computer and Video Games (PlayStation World). Archived from the original on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Reed, Kristan (20 October 2004). "World Rally Championship 4". Eurogamer. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
- ^ a b "World Rally Championship 4". Famitsu. Vol. 852. 15 April 2005.
- ^ "WRC 4". GamesMaster. December 2004.
- ^ "WRC 4". Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine (53). December 2004.
- ^ van Leuveren, Luke (29 October 2004). "WRC 4 Review". PALGN. Archived from the original on 23 March 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
- ^ "WRC 4". Play. December 2004.
- ^ "Review: WRC 4". PSM2. December 2004.