We were somewhat surprised to see World Rally Championship 4 displayed at Sony’s booth, as generally, WRC games have gotten the cold shoulder from SCEA. Needless to say, we were happy to see the game fully playable on the floor. Much like its past incarnations, WRC04 delivered a rally experience that very few other rally racers can touch. The physics engine seems to have remained similar to the one found in the third, but since it never needed much of an upgrade that’s a good thing. We were able to select a few tracks from Turkey (if memory serves right) and had the choice to play with a few amount of cars (one of which was the Impreza WRX). We also checked out the online mode was which was very smooth and allowed for up to 4 players in total.
Visually, WRC04 does seem to be showing some age. The depth of field blurring is pretty distracting, even though it’s a way of preventing pop-up. The blur, instead, makes you feel as if you’re driving through one incredibly foggy track. It’s just offsetting to see something that looks like fog on a course where the sky is as blue as can be. The car detail wasn’t as hot as what you’d find in GT4, but it does the job well, regardless