WRC 10 vs WRC 9: New features explained

In this WRC 10 vs WRC 9 video, I take a look at what’s new for the latest annual instalment of the official World Rally Championship series.

WRC 10: If you can recall my WRC 9 review, you will know the series took a noticeable step forward. Co-driver co-op shenanigans, new rally countries and stages, more cars, career improvements and more.

WRC 10, coming to PC, PlayStation and Xbox in September 2021 and later on Nintendo Switch, builds on that with an anniversary edition of sorts. Partly because of 10 games, but mainly because of the looming 50^th birthday of the World Rally Championship in FIA form.

Yes, WRC as we know it started in 1973 – the year F1 driver Giancarlo Fishichella was born. Bit of unrelated F1 trivia there. The inauguration season was comprised 13 races from around the world.

Alpine-Renault emerged victorious. From 1973 to 1978, it was only the manufacturer that could win the event and not the driver. Although kudos was owed to Jean-Claude Andruet, Jean-Pierre Nicolas and Jean-Luc Thérier, the three drivers who steered the Alpine A110 to victory in six countries. Hopefully, my French accent was supportable (probably not).

WRC 10: The basics

Trivia lesson over. To give you a basic summary before I delve into specifics WRC 10 includes 4 new rallies, 22 legendary bonus cars, 50-plus official 2021 teams, custom crew management, WRC History mode, livery editor, new driver card and various physics and tech improvements.

Housekeeping time. All gameplay in this video is filmed using the WRC 10 Steam Festival preview, which is a demo and not the full game. You can check out my PC specs in the description, but the snapshot is 32GB of 3,200MHz RAM, AMD 3900X CPU and an ASUS RTX 3080 TUF Gaming graphics card. All gameplay is recorded and outputted at 4K 60 frames per second.

Let’s start with the rally stuff. WRC 10 has 120-plus stages, 40 of which are new. This includes the new ‘shakedown’ stages added to the career mode, which are used for preparation of your car and are something you have in real life.

13 countries from the 2021 WRC calendar make the cut, but not the Arctic Rally in Finland. In 2021 calendar order, you have Monte-Carlo, Sweden, Croatia, Portugal, Estonia, Spain, Italy, Safari Kenya, Finland, Belgium, Chile, Japan, Wales and Greece.

Estonia is gravel-based, very fast, not so fun when it rains. Croatia is tarmac that in places has seen better days. Lots of concentration for surface changes and speed required. Spain has been remade from scratch and is a full tarmac rally. Narrow too.

The Belgium Ypres rally is on tarmac and pretty flat. Not at all flat, meanwhile, is Greece. Here you drive through the mountains around the Acropolis. It has a Turkey rally vibe, albeit with more granular gravel. Belgium and Greece will be available post-launch for free.

Also new in WRC 10 is the ‘Anniversary’ mode comprised 12 historical rallies, 7 of which are available at launch. Greece, Italy Sanremo, New Zealand, Argentina, Germany and Mexico are the remaining 5 coming as part of a free DLC.

FYI, Greece and Italy were rebuilt. In game. The former was actually in the 1973 WRC calendar. Italy Sanremo includes the 1981, 1997 and 1998 rally versions, which will be pleasing for those who like driving on winding mountain roads.

WRC 10 ‘History’ mode

Another new game mode in WRC 10 is ‘History’. Here you have 20-plus challenges to complete from the First Years, Group B, Group A, WRC and modern WRC. One challenge recreates the dense fog of the 1980 Portugal rally. You get to see if you can match Walter Rohrl when it comes to low-visibility driving.

Another involves Frenchman Sebastien Loeb’s victory in the 2004 Swedish rally, which made him the first non-Scandinavian driver to win. A feat that only took 54 years.

As a nod to the safety (in inverted commas) of older rallies, the crowd in History mode gets much closer to the road. So cutting corners will be more deadly. I can already see the Mustang jokes in the comments.

What about the historic cars?

Building on the legendary cars seen in WRC 9, WRC 10’s 22 cars are comprised the 1997 Subaru Impreza WRC, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V, 1981 Audi Quattro A1, Toyota Celica Turbo GT4, 2017 Ford Fiesta WRC, 2011 Citroen DS3 WRC, 1980 Fiat 131 Abarth, Peugeot 205 T16 Evo 1 & Evo 2, 1987 Delta Integrale 4WD and 2017 Toyota Yaris WRC.

Cars added in from WRC 9 are the 1984 Audi Quattro A2, 1999 Toyota Corolla, 2005 Citroen Xsara WRC, Lancia Stratos, Fulvia, Delta Integrale Evo and 037, Alpine A110, Ford Escort MK II, Porsche 911 GT3 RGT and Proton Iriz R5.

The developers tried to add all WRC championship-winning cars from 1973 to present and as you can see most made it in. Exceptions include the Peugeot 206, Talbot Sunbeam Lotus and Impreza 555.

Any career mode improvements?

What about the WRC 10 career mode, Ben? Well, now you can create your own colours, manage sponsors and generally develop your team. Or use existing teams, which can be unlocked via Historical events in career. 52 teams from WRC, WRC 2, WRC 3 and Junior WRC feature.

There is also improved calendar management, team management (including new positions and affinities), enhanced skill trees, sponsor management, objectives and a new evolving headquarters. Although I doubt that means you can upgrade the cafeteria wallpaper.

Also new in WRC 10 is the livery editor. Like in other games, you can create stickers then add them to the car directly. Or use pre-existing shapes, stickers and brands. Layers allow you to create more complicated designs.

You can use custom liveries in quick play and online, but there is no option to share them as you can in Forza. Bit of a shame, but then it’s an easy win for WRC 11.

Speaking of easy wins, WRC 9’s co-driver mode makes a return and you can even battle it out with friends over split-screen. A bit of a novelty these days in our digital, Internet-connected world. Just don’t forge the beer and crisps.

WRC 10 has also been made even more realistic than WRC 9. It has a reworked suspension model, replicated ground effect aero, plus advanced chassis and differential management, better electronic management on the engine, and more realistic and precise driving behaviours.

What about WRC 10’s handling?

As the developers told me in the Corona-friendly online preview event, the overall objective of WRC 10 is to be more realistic, more precise and offer more driving control. Yet retain a layer of accessibility for new players if the driving assists are on.

In terms of controller and steering wheel support, this carries on from WRC 9. For better and for worse. But Kylotonn Racing mentioned improvements to overall feel. My review will investigate how WRC 9 and WRC 10 handling compares.

There have, however, been improvements made to the haptic feedback of the PS5 controller. An example is the accelerator feel softens when in the air, emphasing the reduced tyre friction in real life. So WRC 10 on PS5 will communicate more of what the car is doing if you lack a steering wheel.

Tech improvements, meanwhile, include new vegetation, improved roads, and, get a load of this, new car sounds for all cars in game. Even the historic ones. Maybe this will mean no more Dirt 2.0 vs WRC YouTube engine sound comment wars. Or create more of them.

Yes, the devs travelled to various countries to record actual audio for all of the actual cars. In real life, whatever that is. So no synthetic trickery. Other sounds such as collisions have also been redone.

WRC 10 adds a superior driver card too. Here you will see more statistics of your rally career, including your results, performances, habits, and offline and online sessions. If the game notices you only play one mode, it will recommend you try other things. Bit pushy.

Free updates scheduled for WRC 10 (dates to be confirmed) includes new stages, new cars, new anniversary events and new features. Expect more news on this as we head towards the September 2021 release date.

Any next-gen improvements?

As for next-gen console optimisation, the game will be smoother on Xbox Series X, Series S and PS5 but that is about it. No specific improvements have been made – at least, none the devs felt were worth mentioning, which says it all.

A WRC 10 demo will be available as part of the Steam Festival from the 16^th of June 2021. The day after this video will be published, but nine days after the press, influencers and me were given access.

And that’s it for this WRC 10 vs WRC 9 rundown. I will be burning rubber in both the demo version and full game using various steering wheels and controller. So subscribe, like and maybe even donate ahead of my forthcoming WRC 10 review. Any questions? Let me know.