Product Description

World Rally Championship is an officially licensed product, featuring all of the cars, teams and drivers from the official 2001 World Rally Championship. You will battle your way through 108 heart-pounding stages in 14 rallies located all over the world. The game features all of the official cars, tracks, pilots and co-pilots of the 2001 World Rally Championship, and 108 tracks set in gigantic picturesque environments populated with fans, cameramen and wildlife. There are extensively detailed 3-D cockpits and drivers, animated by fully inverse kinematics for a true-to-life representation. More than 40 elements of each car have been accurately modelled to determine their individual physics. Cars can pick up dust, mud and snow and receive collision damage, from shattered windows to torn-off bumpers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7881 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2002-07-05
• Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.co.uk Review
Watching the intro to World Rally Championship leaves you in no doubt that this is a quality title--and you won't be disappointed when you arrive at the business end of the game, either. All the courses are modelled extremely well, giving a real feel for the differing types of terrain you must traverse, and the cars are even more stunningly put together. Watch as suspension springs move under the arches while you career around bends--and if you really get the car sideways you'll even be able to see the brake calipers behind those lovely alloys. What's more, each stage is introduced by a glorious full motion video describing the venue and conditions you're likely to face at the event.

Be warned, however--this is one tough cookie of a game, and you'll need to beat the normal difficulty mode before you can try Professional. As the voice over for the full Championship Intro says, "With the World Rally Championship, it's not just a question of winning, but surviving".

With a well executed two-player mode that'll keep both you and your friends entertained until the small hours, and even the option to register online and be in with a chance of winning a real Mitsubishi rally car (for a limited time, of course), could you want any more? We don't think so. --Andi Flower

Manufacturer's Description
Speed, danger and a healthy dose of mud on the paintwork--that's what rally racing is all about, and World Rally Championship is bringing it to you. The only officially licensed game of the World Rally Championship, WRC brings you all the authentic action and excitement of the rally circuit as you race over 100 tracks in some truly massive racing locations. The unique "go anywhere" engine means that the road is no longer the only route to the chequered flag, so you'd better be careful on those mountaintop bends. Rally has never been more realistic or more intense than this.

Customer Reviews

The game to rival Gran Turismo 3!
When people talk about racing games, lately one name always comes up; Gran Turismo 3:A-Spec. Sure, its a great update of GT2, but World Rally Championship does so much more.
Initially more accesible to newcomers, WRC concentrates on providing an easy-to-use game, with lots of hidden depth for those accustomed to this genre. After playing Colin McCrae Rally 2.0, I can safely say that WRC is the best rally game ever...AND I enjoyed it far more than GT3.
The graphics are fantastic. Instead of relying on flashy lighting to grab gamers attention, Evolution Studios have used far more detailed textures to create a deeper, more realistic looking game. The tracks themselves are breathtaking - as well as the actual track, you can see a fully 3D representation of the real-life area surrounding each location. There is a little pop-up, but not as much as in GT3.
To top things off, Evolution have included video sequences using real footage from the real-life World Rally Championship to include a detailed and informative synopsis of each leg of the championship.
Even if you usually shy away from rally games, this is essential for all racing fans. Far more accessible than Colin McRae Rally, and with a slicker, more proffessional appearance than GT3, this is one of the best reasons to own a PlayStation 2 (as if you needed any more!).

The best rally game yet
This new game takes rallying to a whole new level of realism and brilliance. Sure, I am a great fan of the Colin Mcrae series, but this game just quite simply eclipses it in every sense of the word. The graphics are the best you can find anywhere, and the handling of the cars is only paralleled by Gran Turismo 3. However, it is the depth of realism that excites me the most. I would agree that the Colin McRae series is also very realistic, but not to the same extent as World rally championship 2001. Instead of hitting trees, and walls and then bouncing back on the track, the car will fall an imeasurable distance off the side of a cliff, or end up wrapped round a tree. The realism is almost scary, as the attention to detail is quite unimaginable. As you hurtle down a dusty, bumpy track, at a speed that feels close to supersonic, you actually feel as though you are there in the thick of the action. The atmosphere is that intense. The crowd scream at your every turn of the wheel, as you see the driver, and co-driver doing the best that they can to gain the fastest time. This game screams next generation, and never fails to impress. Even those who don't like rallying will struggle not to be hooked. Where in the 20th Century, Colin McRae set the benchmark for rally games. World rally championship surely sets the benchmark for the 21st Century. Believe me, it is that good. John Mason

Not quite the full McRae !
I bought this just three days ago and have probably spent just three hours playing it. The graphics & sound are not be criticised, quite outstanding indeed. The feedback through a dual shock controller ties in impressively with the numerous degrees of bumps & road surface changes you see on screen.

As far as I can see, no ommissions have been made from the usual rally stages & procedures. However, after roughly an hour of playing the game I began to feel something was missing from the gameplay. It just didn't seem exhilerating somehow.

It wasn't long before I realised, once you've mastered the handling in the first ten minutes it's way too easy. For 99% of a stage you don't have to come off the accelerator which gets tedious. Even upon an icy road you can absolutely hammer around hairpins without so much as braking. Sounds like fun? Guess again! On long straights you try to build up enough speed to scare yourself at the next bend, but oddly enough this ends up frustrating you when you realise the car's top speed seems like a milk float & you cost around the corner easily! Now isn't that the best feature in a Gran Turismo 3 when you're against tough competition or a clock, yet you can easily blow the whole level by getting carried away? Bearing this in mind, the realism of the road surface feel becomes rather irrelevant when you know it presents no threat whatsoever.

The 'gameplay' issue is something playstation in my opinion has always been generally numero uno. If the PS2 wants to maintain the loyalty of it's gamers, having currently been dwarfed by the Gamecube & the Xbox regarding system speed & memory, it must continue to lead the field in gameplay. Sadly this game having been written with such attention to detail, has somehow overlooked the most important facets of any game. Playability, longevity, exhileration & progressive difficulty.