#DRIVE Rally: A Retro Racing Revival

#Drive Rally is an arcade-inspired rally-driving game that transports players back to the golden era of the 1990s. Developed by Pixel Perfect Dude, this game offers a solid rally experience across diverse terrains and iconic global locations. Whether you’re a seasoned racer or a newcomer, #Drive Rally has something to challenge every racer.

There’s something uniquely thrilling about getting back behind the digital wheel of a rally racing game, and I looked forward to trying out #Drive Rally since it's pending release. I definitely looked forward to the challenging terrain that gave me a run for my coins. The tight steering and braking might feel different compared to other rally games like WRC, but once you get adjusted, it becomes part of the challenge that makes the game more engaging because it's not different in a bad way. The focus shifts to mastering the track and making the most of the car’s capabilities, providing a deeper racing experience.

One of the standout features of #Drive Rally is its accessibility. The game doesn’t demand high-end system specs, making it accessible to a broader audience. Despite its modest requirements, the game delivers a smooth and visually appealing experience. The vibrant color schemes and changing vistas keep players engaged, ensuring that the game looks great even on less powerful systems.

Minimum Specs:

Video Card - Geforce GTX 650 or Equivalent
CPU - Intel Core i3 2.5GHz or Equivalent
RAM - 4GB
OS - Win 10
Free Disk Space - 5GB

Recommended Specs:

Video Card - Geforce GTX 970 or Equivalent
CPU - Intel Core i5 3.0GHz or Equivalent
RAM - 8GB
OS - Win 10
Free Disk Space - 5 GB

#Drive Rally caters to players of all skill levels with its range of difficulty settings. Whether you’re a casual gamer looking for a fun ride or a hardcore racer seeking a challenge, the game has you covered. This inclusivity ensures that everyone can enjoy the thrill of rally racing, regardless of their experience level and you can see how you fair on the leaderboards:

While the soundtrack might not be the game’s strongest point, it doesn’t detract from the overall experience. Whether you’re reliving the glory days of rally racing or experiencing it for the first time, #Drive Rally is a nice simplified racing experience that's perfect for those who simply want to dive in and game on!

 + Sophi 

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EA now has the keys to WRC, will it result in a win or a wreck?

EA Sports WRC    

With EA now behind the WRC franchise, it's natural to feel both curious and concerned about the game's future. On the one hand, we may see exciting new tracks and modes that weren't previously available. However, there's also a risk of the game being overrun by microtransactions that detract from the overall experience. 

If the game becomes too reliant on these transactions, it should be offered as a free-to-play option instead. As long as EA Sports treats the franchise with care, I'm excited to see what they can do with it. However, I don't believe that annual sequels are necessary. A two-year gap between releases would give the game ample time to breathe and offer a chance for seasonal updates in the meantime. It will be interesting to see how the game looks, powered by Unreal Engine and developed by Codemasters, the team behind DiRT Rally.

The game will continue to feature the official WRC teams and manufacturers, with 10 current WRC, WRC2, and Junior WRC vehicles and 68 iconic rally cars from throughout the sport's history. Players will have access to EA Racenet, the company's racing companion app, to help ramp up the competition. Additionally, the game will offer 32-player cross-platform multiplayer action, as well as the ability to create custom multi-surface tournaments and more through the Clubs option. EA Sports WRC will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, Epic Store, and the EA app starting November 3, 2023, with pre-orders receiving 3 days of early access, 5 VIP Passes, and 3 Team Livery & Apparel Packs.

Sophima | Guest Contributor

                          + BLU 

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The Cushion Designed for Gaming!

WRC 10: Blu VS Agnieres-en-Devoluy Reverse

This was one of those runs where it was me vs the track + the lag + what seemed to be a damaged front left tire. I was getting nowhere fast and flipped off a cliff, but... I made the most of it and made it across that finish line. Check it out! 

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WRC 10... Reviewed!

Shout out to Nacon & KT Racing for the copy of WRC 10 for this review, my opinions are my own.

WRC 10 builds on the previous installments with a 50th Anniversary mode, which is great, but... is it burning rubber for all the right reasons? Let's jump in the driver's seat and find out. Skkrrrttttt!!!!!!!!!

Features:

This year the career mode pulls up with a livery editor in the passenger seat, so you can design your own cars and team. You know it's on for the racing game fanatics out there. Multiple fans have purchased the game after we had the opportunity to discuss it, the review wasn't even done yet, so... this mode is sure to put a smile on their faces to finally have the feature available in... WRC.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the championship, WRC 10 is offering the brand-new Anniversary edition which allows you to relive the most intense moments from 1973 to today. WRC 10's History Mode puts your driving talents to the test through 19 historical events that require you to adapt to racing conditions of each time period. So you can expect different experiences because the cars of today aren't built like the ones a decade ago (duh of the day) and... the decade before that... and... you get the idea.

The never before seen content for WRC includes:

• 4 New 2021 rallies: Estonia, Croatia, Belgium, and Spain
• 6 Historical rallies that include Acropolis, San Remo, Germany, and Argentina
• 120 Special stages
• 52 Official teams from the 2021 season: WRC - Junior WRC
• 20 Legendary cars from Alpine, Audio, Lancia, Subaru, Ford, Mitsubishi, Toyota + More!
  
  

The WRC 10 UI is different from WRC 9... which stood out to me immediately. I liked the WRC 9 UI, but... I don't have a problem with the one in WRC 10, it's functional. You're able to go to different categories in order to access the different modes and options.

WRC Mode

Life

• Online Events
• Daily Challenge - Take part in this daily challenge and try to reach the top of the leaderboard. The conditions vary which keeps the challenges fresh, and you can go here to improve your badge level.
• Weekly Challenge - Give your best on the Monte Carlo stages.
• Special Challenge - No special events are available at the time of this review.

• News Feed
• Unavailable at the time of this review.

Solo

• Career: Your career allows you to start in Junior WRC (Unlimited Tryouts) or WRC3 (3 Tryouts). Junior WRC limits you to one car (all participants use the same FWD car), no need to test in order to join the WRC Junior Championship. WRC3 allows you to take part in the WRC3 championship choosing from several 4WD cars, but it's less forgiving and you're taking on the pros. In WRC3 you have to impress recruiters first.
• I haven't taken on the WRC3 yet, but going the Junior WRC route, you can select a contact where you decide to utilize a crew or a team.
• You get 3 save options for your different careers (which can be deleted at any time if you want to start over).

• Quick Play
• 2021 Special Stages: 12 Different locations that allow you to decide on the time of day, weather, car category (Junior WRC - Legends + Bonus cars + New liveries), etc.
• Anniversary: 7 Different locations that allow you to decide on the time of day, weather, car category (Junior WRC - Legends + Bonus cars + New liveries), etc.
• Extras: Unavailable at the time of this review.
  
  
• Season
• The season allows you to enjoy rallies without crew management.
  
  
• Livery Editor
• New livery: Customize a car
  
• Livery collection: Access your custom cars 
  
• Sticker editor: Create stickers 
  
• Sticker collection: Access customer stickers

Multiplayer

• Clubs: Gives you the option to create a club and join up to 3 others.
  
  
• Online Multiplayer: In this mode, you can compete against players from all over the world. Find or create online games by choosing the category, rally, special stage, vehicle, and weather conditions.
  
  
• Leaderboards: You can view the current championship, driver, and manufacturer standings here.
  
  
• Co-Driver
• Co-Driver Quick Game: Join an event as a driver and co-driver crew
• Find Co-Driver Lobby: Join a game to play a special stage as a driver and co-driver crew
• Create Co-Driver Lobby: Create a game where a driver and co-driver crew attempts to win a special stage

• Split Screen: You can play with a friend on the same screen. You are free to choose the rally, stage, cars, and weather conditions.

Skill development

• Challenges: In this mode, you must accept a challenge with a car selected for you.
  
  
• Test area: Drive freely to improve your driving skills and adjust your car's set-up in real-time.
  
  
• Training: Perform training exercises on a closed track.

50th Anniversary Mode: At the time of this review... this mode was unavailable to me.

• Rally Sweden 2004: The Last Nordic Bastion
  
  
• Rally New Zealand 2007: A Boxer Behind the Wheel
  
  
• Rally Sweden 2011: Co-Drivers Can Drive Too
  
  
• Rally Catalunya 2018: The Boss is Back
  
  
• Rally Catalunya 2019: Combo Breaker

Drivercard

The driver card is... freaking extensive. Up top, it shows you your level and the XP needed to reach the next level, along with your SN and all that good stuff. To the upper right, you get to see where your skills are the strongest. Mine is primarily versatility, which may stem from me not allowing myself to remain stuck for too long, or if I'm facing backward I'll floor it in reverse and spin to get back on the right track.

My Coach: This area basically gives you suggestions on how to improve, so I'll show the current suggestions I have from my coach. You're able to click on these suggestions to jump right in.

• Overall: Try the Skoda Fabio Rally2. You can learn a lot from getting out of your comfort zone.
  
  
• Offline: It might be time to try TRAINING A2 in Training mode. The track is ideal for focusing on a specific skill.
  
  
• Online: Looks like you've accepted 16.667% of Weekly Challenge events. Consider doing more Challenge events; they are great practice!

My Rewards Room: This section shows you the rewards for each rally.

My Driving History: This shows all the stats from (you guessed it)... your driving history.

Showroom: Shows off the recent car you selected and gives you the option to take pictures, view the car in different camera filters, go into Livery editor to edit, etc.

Options: Another duh of the day

• Gameplay Settings: In this settings area you can Configure ABS, TCS, Starting assist, change the transmission, switch the damage effects, change the speed units, etc. There is a section for the co-driver too that allows you to turn on color-blind mode, change the driver's voice, gender, timing, and Immersive voice.
• You also have a H.U.D. that allows you to add or remove things like the Speedometer, Timer, Progress bar, etc.
• Controls: This allows you to change the options for the connected peripherals, whether it's your keyboard, controller, and things like a racing wheel.
• Audio: Audio settings
• Video: Graphics settings
• Credits: Who made the game go vroom vroom
• Data: This is where you go to erase all your data (there should be a migrate mode so owners of previous installments can transfer their data).

Quit: Third duh of the day.

Visuals:

Visually, hmmm... I think WRC 10 looks damn good... but it's also safe to say it hasn't gained much ground over WRC 9 in the looks department. You can compare the visuals in the Safari Kenya rally to see some of the biggest visual enhancements, but I still can't say it's major-major. It's all good though, visually... a big leap isn't going to happen all the time, and that's why there need to be other areas where you can truly see ground gained (in terms of features).

WRC 10 PC Requirements:

Video Card
Minimum: Nvidia GeForce GTX 650, 1 Go | AMD Radeon HD 7770, 1 Go
Pixel Shader 5.0
Vertex Shader 5.0
Dedicated Video RAM 1024 MB

CPU
Minimum: Intel Core i3-2100 | AMD FX-4350

RAM: 
Minimum: 4GB

OS
Minimum: Windows 10

Gameplay:

Why talk about the gameplay when you can check it out for yourself? Press play!

The gameplay feels great as always, and for newcomers... the more you play, the more you will get a feel of the tracks and begin to adapt your racing style to get from start to finish. Driving on the different tracks you will get adjusted to the different terrain. Like everyone else, my goal is to get from start to finish in record-breaking time, but... I try to keep a steady pace without losing control of my vehicle.

I still have a lot of ground to cover before I get on the level of an eSports competitor, but... I'm pretty sure I can do it if I put in the time and got nice and comfortable with a racing wheel. Speaking of eSports, this is a video from the (WRC 10) Live WRC eSports Final 2021:

Before I jump into the pricing, I definitely have a standing suggestion that I would like to see in WRC. I want to see some fantasy tracks. Say what you will, but I wouldn't mind a fantasy track or something for a change of scenery sometimes. I hope to see it one of these days.

Price: Price-wise... WRC 10 rolls in at $49.99 on the PS5, $39.99 for PS4 & Xbox One, $49.99 on PC, and eventually the game will be released on the Nintendo Switch. They should consider offering up a racing wheel bundle one of these days or a discount if you purchase both the game and the official peripheral.

Career Mode 4

Visuals 5

Gameplay 5

Price 5

4.75 out of 5 Cool Points

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