Picking up this game the title really excited me. Extreme had me to my bedside tissues and wiping myself clean. Was I going to see a Rally game with rocket boosters and cannons. Landmines strewn across a remote rallying destination? This, sadly, isn’t what the game is all about but, as with the original, this is one heck of a fine rallying game.

This is without a shadow of a doubt the single biggest rival to the Rally game and playing it I get a real sense of why. It’s addictive, sleek, fun, competitive and accessible. But does it serve up any aces on the originality front to pip CMR to the post?

You can definitely not aim the criticism that this is just your average rallying game. With a plethora of gaming options from the WRC to WRC challenge and modes you will be engaged for hours. Being the official game of the World Rally Championship you get to race as all of the current top Rally drivers, with one notable exception, across all the complete stages of the actual World Rally Championship and there are over 100 different tracks. Combine this with commentary from the real commentators and you’ve got a very precise little game. The Challenge mode is also a welcome addition with the ability to set time records and practice all of the tracks against a ghost car. The multiplayer stops you from becoming a total recluse as you can get your friends over to make them eat your dirt. You do end up giving a bit of the graphical finesse in playing on a split screen but it doesn’t seriously affect the game play. The best, and most important thing, which tips the balance in favour of WRC over CMR, is the addition of a custom championship mode. You have the ability to choose who races and on what tracks. You could create a whole championship on racing through Great Britain! It is a very enjoyable extra but I fear with the addictiveness of the “real thing” you might never get round to utilising it to it’s full capacity.

The graphics are then a bit of a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying they are bad but for a genre as competitive as Rally games you have to set the benchmarks incredibly high. The cars are impressive to look at but you never get the same intensity of snow piling onto the windscreen like CMR 3 does when you are in the ‘in car’ camera mode. The replay options are quite fun to watch but there seems to be a heavy compromise to be made when playing in split screen mode and with a game like this the discrepancy needs to be minimal. The cars seem to take little to no damage also even though you can flip and spin the car so easily. The ability to roll the car is really enjoyable and looks so realistic its scary, but occasional glitches where you can get the car stuck against a wall with just the bumper on the floor can sometimes get a tad annoying. The draw distance is also noticeable at times with the ‘pop-up’ of certain scenery.

The sound is pleasant enough and for die-hard fans of the real thing it contains all the in its original form. The in-game car noises are also much less imposing than in CMR3 and I didn’t find myself turning the sound off or straining to hear what my co-driver had to tell me. A battle won for the WRC camp.

The handling of the cars and the impressive overall look of the game were a big plus factor for me as a novice could quite easily pick this game up and get involved without the die-hards starting a riot complaining that the difficulty settings were too easy.

In this tense battle, unfortunately, only one contender can come out alive. The are really hotting-up now and no-one can really be sure who will win, CMR3 or WRC 2 Extreme. On playing and thoroughly enjoying both, the only thing that comes out clearly is that nothing is clear-cut between the two. On the one hand you have CMR3 which has incredible visuals combined with a very addictive experience for the true fan, and on the other you have WRC 2 Extreme which is accessible and technically more accurate if not a little flawed in the visual department. I really do think that the jury is out on this one. For my final opinion get back to me after Christmas when I’ll have played both a little longer, and if you can’t wait that long then get both and decide for yourself.

89%

By Chris Monk

Comments

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  1. Finbar Unregistered 7 years ago

    Draw distance - CMR actually hides its small draw distance very well - it's all in the track design, but on WRC you can see for miles, as it's based on the real tracks. There is popup though.

  2. Rancor Unregistered 6 years ago

    I Have a question about WRC 2 Extreme. can you play 4 players at same time on splitscreen?

  3. Don Unregistered 6 years ago

    Will WRC Extreme work on my PS2 here in the United States? I ordered it from GB and hope to play it here.

  4. ptrix Unregistered 6 years ago

    no it wont man, the GB version is PAL system while the american is NTSC...it wont work :(

  5. OvanesG Unregistered 6 years ago

    when is wrc 2 going to be released in usa?

  6. tommi mac Unregistered 6 years ago

    when yo grannma gets new knickers mate. lord knows we smellem from ere

  7. dope Unregistered 6 years ago

    how do you get the chteat codes

  8. m.mackenzie Unregistered 6 years ago

    i noticed pop ups at one stage in the background but soon forgot as the rain on the camera was amazing.

  9. Gaz Unregistered 6 years ago

    Excellent game!

  10. Gaz Unregistered 6 years ago

    how many cheats are there to the the game cause ive completed it but didnt write the cheats down!

  11. karl Unregistered 6 years ago

    wrc 2 extream kicks ass

  12. Mason Unregistered 6 years ago

    I think that rally stuff is cool

  13. Michael Mason Unregistered 6 years ago

    I think that rally stuff seriously kicks ass

  14. fast_edy Unregistered 6 years ago

    wrc2extreme has already five shortcuts...

  15. IRAQI Unregistered 6 years ago

    NEVER!!!

  16. gfdbfdghjf Unregistered 6 years ago

    bh,ngkbjkbhjk

  17. Electra Unregistered 6 years ago

    You're absolutely right my friend!!!

  18. robbie Unregistered 6 years ago

    what cheats did u get

  19. krikke Unregistered 6 years ago

    da kan ik beter

  20. robintje Unregistered 6 years ago

    da kan ik beter

  21. Herbz Unregistered 6 years ago

    When will it be available on P.C?

  22. Chad Unregistered 6 years ago

    How Many cheats are there?
    Because i have got 5 cheats
    Evos kangaroo nitro satelite
    helium.

  23. Chad Unregistered 6 years ago

    If WRCII is so good then why isnt it gone platinum



    because the makers now that thay can still make money off it cause it is soooooo good

  24. kit69 Unregistered 6 years ago

    you can play with up to 4 players

  25. lewis j Unregistered 6 years ago

    it's well good

  26. 43 Unregistered 6 years ago

    Recently I bought Colin McRae 3, I thought this was the best Rally game, then I saw WRC2 unfortunatedly the NTSC Version is delayed here so I hope the game really kicks, somebody can tell me something about the Virtual Rally 3
    by the way NASCAR Sucks!

  27. Joe Unregistered 6 years ago

    Hey do you know how long is the NTSC version being delayed for the states?

  28. Chris Unregistered 6 years ago

    Good question actually. Got two more controllers over christmas so I'll find out for you.

  29. bee Unregistered 6 years ago

    why is wrc 2 not on xbox

  30. TOM Unregistered 6 years ago

    cool game but no cheats to get extra stuff.all the cars look really lifelike.

  31. Shane Unregistered 6 years ago

    No you can't, sorry : (

  32. kevin smith Unregistered 6 years ago

    the game is ok but i think there should be more cars :-)
    the grafix are good its worth a look at .
    but if your going to buy it soon dont wait for colin mcrae 4.0

  33. lucky_one Unregistered 6 years ago

    I bought CMR 3 and i'm a little upset because in Championship mode it really works just for one player! Is it the same by WRC2 ?
    Also i have a Steering Wheel from "Speed Link" and this isn't kompatible with CMR 3...it works but not perfektly. What can i do?
    By Options can I set something, so that I can use my Steering wheel?

  34. lucky_one Unregistered 6 years ago

    I bought CMR 3 and i'm a little upset because in Championship mode it really works just for one player! Is it the same by WRC2 ?
    Also i have a Steering Wheel from "Speed Link" and this isn't kompatible with CMR 3...it works but not perfektly. What can i do?
    By Options can I set something, so that I can use my Steering wheel?

  35. agi Unregistered 6 years ago

    can i use the pal game in a plataform play2 buy in usa ....


    and tell me where i can buy this game on internet...

  36. james Unregistered 6 years ago

    this game is class how can u only give it 89% its more like 99%

  37. Andy Unregistered 6 years ago

    Actually evos entered in secrets will unlock super versions of originals

  38. G-Unit Unregistered 5 years ago

    U all got a get da life dis is bes rally game WE gis it 99.99%Know wat am sayin

  39. ignacio Unregistered 5 years ago

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  40. ignacio Unregistered 5 years ago

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  41. ignacio Unregistered 5 years ago

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  42. fred Unregistered 5 years ago

    go to australia track 2 and you might get a go-kart because that ia what i did and i got one.:-)

  43. SD Unregistered 5 years ago

    SDSDSSDS

  44. Mi Nca Unregistered 5 years ago

    Hi i do no like

  45. yugioh Unregistered 5 years ago

    päris igav mäng

  46. esc Unregistered 3 years ago

    how can i complete the game easy?