Is EA Sports WRC any good with a steering wheel?

Sponsored

Dirt Rally 2.0 was lacking in force-feedback when it was released. Is it the same story for EA Sports WRC with a steering wheel?

If this year’s F1 has put you to sleep, fear not. There is always rally and, even better, an official WRC game from EA and Codemasters. The cunningly titled EA Sports WRC is the spiritual successor to Dirt Rally 2.0 – the Dirt Rally 3.0 many people wanted but was never in development.

While I can happily confirm that EA Sports WRC is largely more fun than a fun thing when using a controller, what about a steering wheel? In this instance, the popular Fanatec CSL DD in its weaker 5Nm version.

So I decided to try multiple tough rallies. Chilly, snowy Sweden; chilly, snowy Scandia; hilly and tarmaccy Monte Carlo and dusty and hot Kenya. All stages I have not only never driven, but also I was battling with the dreaded man-flu. And a terrible beard.

Apologies for the random letters and numbers on screen. This is a preview version Codemasters let me try, having already played an even earlier build back in February 2023. Hence why I shall now be known as C3986E1DF1BAE493131.

Side note: All gameplay is from the PC Steam version with an RTX 4090 from Zotac (review here) and an AMD 5950X CPU providing graphical and processing grunt. Full PC specs here.

Please note: This is the script from my YouTube video, click play above to watch or go here.

EA Sporst WRC with a steering wheel: Rally Sweden

Addressing a criticism some players have noticed, there does appear to be a lot of grip. Especially in frosty Sweden. But if you watch some stages of real WRC, things seem pretty accurate. And boy do you get a workout as you man-handle those hybrid WRC monsters.

With the default 100 per cent everything force-feedback settings, there is a meaty, heaviness to the steering but not so much it feels unwieldy. Especially as the terrain beneath provides a great deal of vibration and feel. Surfaces feel more realistic and varied than in Dirt Rally 2.0.

Trying to rotate the car for each corner without smacking into snowbanks really is satisfying while rapid reactionary counter-steer keeps you from spinning out. Never have I felt so connected to a digital car, nor as daunted when it comes to going flat-out. Rally Sweden could be one of my favourite countries in EA Sports WRC.

Rally Scandia

Rally Scandia, meanwhile, offers less feedback from the tyres in the form of vibration but that appears to go hand in hand with the icier and more compact snow. You need to be more delicate with the throttle yet steer with greater enthusiasm to keep oversteer at bay.

Claustrophobic sections are especially intense, as I try to push the horsepower-endowed Group B Lancia Delta S4 to its limits. There is barely any margin for error and so delicate and precise inputs go a long way.

EA Sports WRC really does a great job of intuitive handling because, almost always, you can feel the limit of grip and complacency combined with a lack of skill typically means smacking into the scenery.

Rally Kenya

Moving to Rally Kenya, a place lacking in wildlife beyond birds unlike the WRC Generations interpretation, we see EA Sports WRC providing a gruelling drive. Potholes, divots and undulations are felt through the steering, making it sometimes a challenge just to keep the car straight.

Honestly, gravel and dirt is where EA Sports WRC with a steering wheel flows best. Yet it is also easy to make one mistake and lose a lot of time. It is also nice to see my poor driving rewarded by a loose bonnet that obscures your view at speed until it falls off.

As locations go, Kenya is the one where you can see the most improvement in your driving. Early runs see you over-compensating with the steering just to survive. Later runs see you feathering the throttle more for car rotation and less steering effort, resulting in reduced speed loss.

I should say that the way Codemasters has designed each stage, with busy, detailed and expansive environments, really brings each country to life. The lack of worrying about the PS4 or Xbox One versions shines through as well as some wonderfully satisfying stage design and largely solid pace notes.

Unfortunately, we do see some terrain pop-in for more open areas, undoing some of that lovely immersion. Plus some frame-rate drops in town areas. Here’s hoping further optimisation is done, especially as PC VR is coming at a later date.

Tarmac Tribulations

So where does EA Sports WRC go wrong? So far, in not many areas. There are, however, already complaints of tarmac in other YouTuber preview videos. Specifically, the sheer level of grip.

Though I have not driven a WRC rally car, onboard footage and stage-side videos show these machines can grip hard, which is reflected in EA Sports WRC. With a controller, unless you turn the steering sensitivity down that twitchiness can be frustrating in rear-weighted cars. Annoyingly so.

With a steering wheel, however, the ability to be more precise with steering inputs means oversteer oopsies are less of a problem. Especially as cars do not feel as floaty as in Dirt Rally 2.0 – an issue admitted to by Codemasters.

Yes, there is less vibration and feedback going on but then tarmac is smoother and the edge of grip is communicated fairly well. Cars do not break grip as progressively as in WRC Generations, which results in a more snappy ‘arcadey’ feel at corner exit, but it is not necessarily too unrealistic.

What I found somewhat unnatural on this particular stage is the seemingly thin line between feeling like you are too slow for a corner and overdoing it. Though I think it is partly to do with the ever-present incline and the loss of speed it creates when you lift off the accelerator or brake.

To simulate or not to simulate?

Is this a sign of the Codemasters Ego physics engine showing a level of limitation, a level of man-flu driver error or simply reduced force-feedback? It is hard to say without playing the finished game, but there is definitely less satisfaction and being competitive with the AI is much harder work.

It is, however, still pretty awesome to play EA Sports WRC with a steering wheel and, if you keep cars front or mid-engined when using a controller, one hell of a ride too.

Ultimately, very few of us can actually verify if EA Sports WRC is the simulation experience Codemasters claims. But as someone who drives cars for a living, I can at least attest to Codemasters doing a mostly good job in the steering department. Dirt Rally 2.0’s mistake was the misguided assumption that difficulty equals realism. Here that is less of a thing.

What EA Sports WRC does well is that, while it is accessible and fun if you take it steady, pushing to the limit takes serious practice and experience to get right. As with the real thing. On controller I was able to beat the AI comfortably at 70 to 80 difficulty out of 100.

With a steering wheel? It can be done too though by the end you have the arms of the Hulk and are a sweaty, broken mess. And I love that. The gap in handling characteristics between WRC Generations and EA Sports WRC is much narrower, but the latter feels more involving.

Based on this allegedly unfinished preview build, fans of Kylotonn and Codemasters rally games will likely find EA Sports WRC is entertaining, challenging, thorough and, most important of all, fun. I know I did.

And here ends this video. I have other EA Sports WRC content on the way, including a look at all game modes and features plus some in-depth comparisons with WRC Generations. Half a million of you enjoyed my last video, which is frankly madness.

So be sure to like, subscribe and maybe even donate to the cause. Until next time. Take care, bye.