WRC 7 FIA World Rally Championship

It's an alright arcade rally game, really
Score 5/10
Pros:
- genuinely fun and addictive handling "model"
- licensed content
- simplicity
Neutral:
- performance
- vehicle setup
- stage variety, majority are well-made locations
Cons:
- graphically still on a poor level, was still an improvement over the previous title
- lacks an ultimate meaning, career mode feels silly
- game modes, blessing to have a custom championship but lacks elsewhere
- still has rallies that feel awful or not representative of their home country
- audio needs huge improvements
- few gameplay bugs
Other:
- good price on sale
Review:
Five is not a bad score, it's representing what it means to be average, and that is sometimes just enough. To start my review of WRC 7, I want to mention that things have gotten quite much better since their past two titles. I feel like Kylotonn has realized their weaknesses, and started working on them and It can be seen as a better end result. It is sad however, the tough development time leaves them with very little time to realize them. Still, comparing this to the atrocious WRC 6, it feels like a good upgrade, something that isn't an insult to the official license and all the fans of the series. I have persisted to have faith in them, even when they have failed my expectations twice.
What creates the better part of this title are the handling and stages, which both have been greatly improved with time. The more arcade feeling is what makes this game bearable to play. It's fun, it's simple, it's something unique in the modern rally genre. Intentional or not, I prefer that this isn't a simulator. The handling feels rather responsive and even when playing with a controller, I can feel the car and the way it behaves. This is a bare minimum of what should be done, but I really do appreciate that it doesn't just feel like floating around, like driving a boat. Only greater negative on the handling comes from frequent physics glitches, that can launch you rolling and ruin your stage, or even a full rally. Improvement is needed, but for once I can say that I'm satisfied enough what the developers have offered us and that is the same for the rallies that are included in this years version. The other better half has gotten a brand new feature, a longer stage to each of the 13 rallies and that is a welcome surprise. I personally wish there was overall more stages to these rallies, but I'm glad that the ones they've made are mostly alright, or even better. I find that majority of rallies make for an experience that is fun even after dozens of repeats and hours of high-speed action. Then there are sadly some that feel wrong, and from my perspective as a Finnish resident, they don't necessarily even represent the country they are from in a good fashion from the rally point of view, and at times even the geography itself.
In the end, license can either work against you, or be your friend. With rallies, Kylotonn has received a diverse set of beautiful locations, but the car selection, It's not perfect, but luck was on their side as 2017 season had some great competition on both WRC and WRC 2 classes. It gives the player enough to choose from, to at least find one or two comfortable cars to compete with, and perhaps even something one can fall in love with.
Another positive point comes from the simplicity, that creates an addictive trap for the player. It's not hard to learn to stay on course, which is something that I can really appreciate after many long hours with more simulator-based games. Mistakes are often forgiven, the difficulty can suit all kinds of players. Setting up your preferred rally experience is easy, it's part of why this game is so simple. From the A.I difficulty, to just those few assisting features and even vehicle setup, it's all child's play.
The core is something that makes future seem full of potential, but in the current timeline, it's still full of the the nasty. It's probably a little disrespectful to say it in such a way, but WRC series has felt like a large scale student project in its graphical department, which is one large lacking part. They've finally made some improvements that make for a passable end result, but passable compared to what Codemasters have been able to produce is well, poor. It's like, everything needs improving. Gladly, the performance is quite alright, which is some justification for the graphical side. If I was a little let-down by the visuals, the audio is where this dips deeper. I'm disappointed, it's like a bland meal. It can pass, but better should be expected. If it wasn't for the okay co-driver, it would easily be the worst con here. It takes us to the boogeyman, greatest negative that there is. It's really that difficult, sigh. Even in the past, it's rare to find good examples, but I feel like modern rally games really do lack a good career mode to keep players invested in the product. I believe that by utilizing the license in a form of real-world events could be nice, for their future. I can see interviews, rivalries, rally tests and real sports hype, some champagne on the podium as things I'd like to see. More narrative, more meaningful career is what is needed, make it interesting. If it wasn't for custom championship, I'd have barely any reason to keep playing. There the restrictions have been lifted, you can throw any of your disliked rallies away and just have some fun, where this game shines the brightest.
In conclusion, elements that create this, such as gameplay, graphics, content, and audio are very varying in quality, and still, need improvements if this game ever wants to be something good. At this point, it's on a level that can be quite enjoyable, especially for those who don't necessarily need the most realistic experience, for those who just want to drive, have fun, and for the fans of the real world series. It can fit a somewhat large audience, though mainly the casual one, which can also be a good thing, as this game can stay unique in that way. It's an easy portal for the rally genre, thanks to its well-made difficulty adjustments, simple and addictive gameplay, and overall a presentation that is good enough for one to feel somewhat positive about. I suppose the reason why I recommend this, instead of throwing it under the ground for it's poor and ugly parts, Is just the fun I've had with it. I know it's not going to last forever, but for those next 20 hours or so, I'm sure I'll have some of that smile creating rallying, the well-done dance of roaring engine. I do still want to warn, perhaps the low price was one reason for me to have a warmer approach at this rather than not.
I'd recommend to purchase WRC 7 on sale.

Surprisingly solid.
Even mediocre racing games are really good now.
The stage variety and quality really takes center stage. The roads are legitimately narrow and each location feels unique.
The handling, though on the simcade side, is satisfying and consistent. Less challenging and more forgiving than DiRT Rally, but that works in this games favor.
DiRT Rally is the first rally franchise you should play. But when you feel like you've played as much DiRT as you can take and just want more rally, WRC 7 is the next thing you should grab.

I very much liked WRC 7. I see a lot of negative reviews comparing it to the Dirt series. I don't have a lot of experience there, but I have played a couple of them enough to see there are some differences. I am not going to claim this is better, but it's a fun alternative.
I liked the career mode. I also like how you can restart a race without being penalized if you feel like you want to. The graphics are outstanding. The sound is perfectly adequate. I got excellent performance on my i7 5930 and R9 390X with all settings maxed. There's some very nice looking tracks and I liked running the actual stages of the WRC.
The feedback on my Logitech G27 seemed good.
Overall, I think if you enjoy rally games, I encourage you to give it a try. The only real downside is multiplayer is dead and the server seems to have been turned off which is a poor move. Get the game on sale - frequently it's quite inexpensive.

Well what can I say this is WRC! First of all I am still playing career mode, and absolutely love it, I come from playing Dirt series and Dirt Rally, and this is a nice rally game. I have not suffered no frame rate issues like others states, although I am running X5560 6 core with 18gb ddr3 and RX 480 4GB so it is running smoothly maxed out! Back to the game, I like that you can restart the race without a penalty if you fall off into a tree in the middle of nowhere and cock up! I also like that you can repair the car after most stage if you need to. I am happy with how the game looks and feels, yes at times feels a little sliddy and a tad unrealistic... but saying that this is more like an arcade style of fun, drifting around them corners is much nicer in this than in dirt series. I am playing this with xbox one controller with manual gears and like it very much, my only gripe is no MPH instead of KM and miles but that is it as far as negative goes. I would say I am enjoying this more than dirt 4 and I have done so far 20 ish hours on that game alone but this I can see I be playing much more. Somehow find this one hard to put down, so if on sale and then deffo grab this. A further edit. Having now played over 20 hours on WRC7, I still absolutely love it. I find it very enjoyable with the variety of stages and countries it offers. (dirt rally 2.0) does not contain much tbh for what you paying for! so this to me was a very wise choice indeed. Fantastic game!

The "mixed review" status for this game does a disservice to rally racing fans and race game fans in general.
I'm a huge fan of DiRT Rally with triple-digit hours in that game, but WRC7 is an excellent alternative in its own right. It looks great, sounds great, the handling and physics are very interesting -- different than DiRT, a little less "floaty" perhaps, but both games handle well.
The tracks and terrain range from gorgeous to spectacular.
One thing to note: there are some limits on controller remapping. If you're like me and you insist on shifting using the right joystick, then you will need to take additional measures. You can read my comments and instructions here:
This is a mark against the developers, but the overall game is worth the trouble.
Another thing: I experienced some micro-stuttering issues. Several things helped clear it up somewhat (with a nVidia GTX 1050 card).
First, on the nVidia control panel for this program, I set the adaptive V-sync option (both adaptive and standard work well but adaptive worked better), and turned V-sync off in the game.
Secondly, turning off in-game FXAA and using nVidia's anti-aliasing (I used 4x) had a notable improvement in both performance and quality.
Finally, what cleared it up a bit more, paradoxically, was to increase the in-game frame-rate cap from 60 Hz to 75 Hz (the latter is my monitor's rate cap at 1080p).
It's still got some optimization issues though.
I would absolutely recommend this game if you have a little patience to sort out the settings. It scratches that simcade rally-racing itch in a big way.

I don't see why the reviews of this game are not quite positive... I play both Dirt 4 and this game. Both are great. I used PS4 controller to play, and the handling actually feels to me better than what some comments say. It feels moderately different from the handling of Dirt 4, but I can't tell which one is better than the other. It feels particularly authentic when I used the in-cabin view.

It's okay because of the amount of stages for each country. However, All WRC cars drive the same, as do WRC2 cars. Cars feel very light, no heft when you slide the cars around hairpins which is something Dirty Rally nails.
Still the career mode is more enjoyable that Dirt Rally, I just wish the cars didn't feel so arcade-ish.