Overall, WRC 9 is one of the most realistic racers that I have had the fortune of playing recently. It is full of great graphics and a level of realism I would want for many of my other games. Be careful as you drive down these back roads and paths as you race against the time of other drivers and have fun with it.

WRC 9 is a step up from its prequels and it does exactly as advertised. The game has tons of content that you can immerse yourself in. There are tens of cars, dozens of tracks, different countries and championships, giving a huge replayability value. While there are ample positives, there are also some major negatives. The main issue is with the control scheme which seems to favour wheel users over gamepad/keyboard. It's not a deal-breaker but it was definitely a frustrating experience for me to master the mechanics using a controller. But once I was comfortable with WRC 9 on a controller, there was no looking back.

WRC 9 is best game in the series and is getting closer the king of the genre: Dirt Rally 2.0.

While it's not exactly a kick in the pants, WRC 9 manages to build on the solid foundation of WRC 8 and simply give players more to do, which is never a bad thing. The WRC license is a big deal and the roadmap for post-release support looks promising with new rallies slated to arrive by year’s end. It certainly won’t win any beauty contests and rough edges abound, but when things come together, it can turn your knuckles white with fear. Isn’t that what we want from a rally experience in the first place? 8/10 hay bale chicanes.

WRC 9 checks nearly all the boxes for a racing game and most importantly excels in the areas of rally racing and fun. For WRC 8 owners, having to pay the full game price for small improvements will probably seem steep. The differences between the two games adds up to the amount of content often found in a DLC. Especially as is often done by other racing sim games. For new players, however, WRC 9 is an easy purchase.

WRC 9 driving model is demanding and devoted to simulation, but unfortunately not free from imperfections, mainly attributable to the physics engine, which makes it artificial at times.

This year’s rally arcade is just too similar to the previous game. A few details have been added, but overall, the content isn’t especially rich - which isn’t helped by the strict connection between the game and the official license.