V-RALLY 4

This game has forced me to think about what the brand means today. Maybe they ask themselves what makes the V-Rally 4 review here when you did not even know about the previous three games. If you are one of the younger years, it is understandable that it has been 15 years since the third part. And an incredible 18 years from the time of the greatest glory of this series. But when we look at the past, the history of this brand has always been quite turbulent, even the first two parts on the US market were sold under the title Need for Speed: V-Rally, because EA was released there. Now, the license belongs to Bigben Interactive and they have been credited with the Kylotonn study, which has the last 3 WRC games, Flatout 4 and others.

So what does this game have to do with the V-Rally series? Actually, probably nothing at all, although it is true that HUD in the game is relatively retro to today's circumstances. They could also call it a different game and give it under any other name, but obviously they wanted to bring a "new" brand that would not necessarily have to use official competition licenses while offering a gameplay that would be more suitable for less experienced players. That's at least that's what the arcade game looks like and almost instant accessibility.

As the game moved well under the radar of the players and a little bit of the media, a few things about it should be made clear in the introduction. Do not count on the fact that Kylotonn with V-Rally 4 would compete with the DiRT Rally. After all, the original series did not strive for strict rigidity. Authors compete with themselves and their WRC series, to which the overall experience is perhaps closest. Good and bad. However, as the developer did not bind his hands with the official license, they could add more content that does not fall directly under the WRC.

You'll have more to choose from in the game, but after launch, you'll be thrown into a career that's a winning mode, and it also offers the most content. It starts as otherwise, a test run, which will give you the game to suggest settings for you, but only three. You have no chance to set the driving model in more detail, you can only turn traction control, ABS and manual gearbox ON / OFF. From this you can also guess what the focus of the game is, and it is a tremendous shame for those who would like to adapt their riding experience a little bit more, either to simplify or to make more challenging

After the test drive, you are gradually starting to pose different career options, which is definitely not very low. Although the game has the title "rally" and the rally is your most common activity, but it definitely does not suck. At Rally Trails, you can test your ride, drive cars, and see how the game looks. But then a little bit of a little test is waiting for you in the form of the first race rallycross. Well, as well as Hillclimb, Gymkhana and finally field bugs. The cross-career mode foot is not a bad number. In addition, you can see a map of the world ahead of you, where races and later championships are growing, so you can choose what you want, whether by race type or by location.

To make sure that this is not just about driving, the career also includes a level of management that is significantly simplified, but it still represents some sort of exaggeration. You have your own base in the game, and you also have to count on the time and even the races will always cut him off that day. Manage people, cars and your time. You can hire one manager, 4 mechanics, and 4 engineers to gradually get better people. They are asking for a higher weekly salary, but they also bring benefits. The manager is able to lower the entry price for some races, engineers will reduce the cost of improvements and the mechanic will lower the cost of repairing the broken car.

There is no need to think about it. Just take the best people if your budget allows you. The same goes for vehicle upgrades, although you will have to wait and see the right engineers to make it available to you. Before each upgrade, you can see how the car statistics will show up. And if you buy a new car, you can try it on your own test track before you buy it. However, there are no contracts within the management, you can have one contract with a car manufacturer and a few smaller ones that pay you for certain goals such as mileage and so on.

It actually works well enough until you start realizing that the campaign could be a bit more structured. It is good that you can choose what you want to leave now. But no less good is that it all repeats itself, you do not have the clear impression of progress, actually the opposite. You have the impression that you are still standing in the spotlight, for some time you can not even move on to better cars. And when you force something, you do not have enough money. For example, the championship is coming, you need a better car, but you do not have a buy. So you decide to go through a series of other races to win. And it happened a few days and the championship is gone.

But I would definitely praise at least the inclusion of online features directly into a career. Just click on a few cards below and you see just active online races on the map instead of the career races. You need some money to sign in, but they are part of the pool prize. All races have some time when they are active. And then you can join them and try to get a part of this pool prize. The more players join, the bigger the pool is. It's time for you, so you do not share it right here. And I sincerely enjoyed even more than standard career races, especially because I was so out of inconsistent artificial intelligence.

The game offers a really simple set-up system, making the lower the less you earn. The higher it is, the more you get into the account. That would be great when you did not have to move up and down again later in your career. Most importantly, it is worth noting in the races that follow. For example, in a rallycross, you qualify, and you will run for another 20 seconds. In the final, however, the same car suddenly flies like a rocket, and while you are driving constant times, artificial intelligence suddenly begins to ride the wheels nearly 10 seconds faster. And this happens later in the game quite often.

Personally I have a problem with the tracks in the game as well. I really do not think Kylotonn knows how to bring interesting tracks. In their rally games I have the impression that I'm in the gut, not the real way, as it was in the DiRT Rally. It is a shame that they do not respond to the environment that really works and the game takes you through various exotic locations on all continents except Antarctica. However, you will ride under every condition, on every surface, although it is true that those surfaces are actually only three. At least what's the difference in driving. Ice and snow are summed up in one, the asphalt is classic, and sand and gravel are pretty much the same with the game, as they are probably driving on them as well.

This is something that can impress newcomers in rally games, but they too would like to feel that the car has its weight, that you can not just drive from the mantinel to the mantinel and also that you can destroy your car. There is a pattern of damage here, but it is terribly low. You will not notice it visually, and even after really strong bumps, the car will drop off the mark and some other sheet metal. Well, not even the car's driving characteristics are too high. Below you have a nice list of icons that display parts that you have broken, but even though it shines like a Christmas tree, the real impact on the driving properties is still very limited.

If you do not want time to play in a career, you also have the possibility of fast racing, but especially a multiplayer that actually offers everything you could find in a career, unless you can directly challenge online players from around the world, eliminating this again unbalanced artificial intelligence, and some achievements are linked to multiplayer. But even better, the game also offers local multiplayer so you can sit in one screen and, as in other cases, the fun is growing when you do not sit alone in the game.

Technically it is not bad at all and even a good improvement over WRC 7. The game really looks nice, the models of cars are handled very well and although it is not a top of the market, it is still something to boast of the game. The same goes for the environments I've already said that they look really good, and that's true for everyone and for the different conditions. Maybe the effects of light could be taken by the authors, because sometimes they are not seen before. Sounds are such a mean - neither good nor bad. But if you've been used to the music of your V-Rally past during your ride, you have to give it to yourself.

Even though the review is quite negative, the game does not have to be totally damn. It's not the DiRT Rally and it does not even have the ambition to bring simulation races. Even the games have their place on the market, but this one is pleased that there are a few more interesting titles on the market that also want to bring accessible and arcade rallies. Some mistakes are hardly going to be eliminated, but career and artificial intelligence are things that could be solved by some update, so let's hold our fingers to get there as soon as possible. Then the rating can rise somewhat higher.

Thank you very much for your support!