In this day and age, we have a copious amount of racing games that promise to be innovative but very rarely hit their mark. Need for Speed went from king of the arcade-racer to the bullied kid in the school ground, and Gran Turismo Sport had to get micro-transactions to stay afloat because it released as a shell of what it was promised to be at launch.

What we need is the return of the prodigal son, to show all these young fellas how a real racing game is made, one last hurrah from a racing title that we haven’t seen in ages - V-Rally. A 20-year-old original, developed by the talented minds of Infogrames Multimedia. The game had superb graphics (for the time) and an amazing focus on split-screen multiplayer. The car physics were utterly useless, though. Nevertheless, it’s time for a comeback.

What we need is the return of the prodigal son, to show all these young fellas how a real racing game is made

We still played the game religiously, enough so that there were three whole games released before a 15-year hiatus, but the team who developed WRC 7 and Kylotonn (KT Racing) had decided to revive the classic franchise, however, it seems to be a revival in name only.

KT Racing used their in-house graphical technology, the KT Engine, which was developed for rally racing games in general. However, it should be clear that V-Rally is a different racing experience compared to WRC 7.

Instead of trying to bring forth Infogrames’ classic to current-gen consoles, KT Racing has clearly taken more inspiration from Codemasters’ Dirt 4 than anything else. It’s more like Dirt Lite. KT has borrowed a similar presentation, the stereotypical smooth voiceover that reads essays to you about the specific parts of the game, as well as a mix of various racing disciplines.



Rallycross, Baja racing, and rally are the disciplines on offer and the players are thrown into the various disciplines to try and spice things up. There is one big problem, however, is that none of these disciplines are of any fun, which just makes V-Rally feel very hollow, lacklustre, and a failed attempt at the series. One of the core modes is the career-style V-Rally mode, where you will be able to move across the three various disciplines at your own will. You can also go back to the garage and upgrade your vehicles at any time you please, which is pretty much the only positive addition to the game. The “career” mode features the pesky e-mail system present in most racing games of the genre, but makes up for it by giving players the ability to hire crew members to boost various aspects of their career. While being a very basic mechanic, the addition of crew members can change your experience as it will determine how well you can upgrade your car.

There is one big problem, however, is that none of these disciplines are of any fun, which just makes V-Rally feel very hollow, lacklustre, and a failed attempt at the series.

In (physically) any other racing game, translating a vehicle to the surface it rides on is one of the core mechanics. Players find enjoyment at feeling just how a car slides along a surface, feeling the tires grip for as long as possible, but V-Rally is devoid of any sort of physics that would associate this with a racing game. The idea behind this is clearly prevalent. You get a sense that KT Racing wanted to make the game more accessible than that of any other rally games but it only aims to ruin the experience and make you feel like you’re part of the Tokyo Drift cast, while you slide around every corner in the most exuberant manner possible.



Rally racing is one of the most dangerous forms of motorsport around and V-Rally 4 does an excellent job at showcasing that through its horrible handling physics. If a piece of shrubbery so much as breathes on you, your car will flip on its roof and proceed to race upside down for a few kilometres.

That’s not the only issue regarding how the cars feel. The accelerator feels like a warp speed button. Yes, I know there are rally cars faster than Formula 1 cars, but there are ways to translate that into a game that doesn’t make it feel uncontrollable.

If a piece of shrubbery so much as breathes on you, your car will flip on its roof and proceed to race upside down for a few kilometres.

The cars become very jittery at high speeds and trying to straighten your car once you’ve gone off course is borderline impossible. This doesn’t fall in line with the characteristic maneuverability that is associated with real-life rally cars. The disciplines just vary in power, with the buggies feeling like they’re floating on clouds and the rallycross cars having enough accelerating force to rotate the planet with their tires.



Good graphics usually don’t make the game, but it does tend to bother us when we notice the severe lack of it while playing a game. V-Rally 4 aims to be a game that is driven - pun not intended - by its legacy, and it would appear that KT Racing took the visuals straight out of the PlayStation 2 era. The scenery is, however, wonderfully crafted but then you take a look at the cars. What’s the point of being thrown into a beautiful landscape only to have a car that looks like it is a few pixels away from being a Minecraft creation? The sound is on the enjoyable side thanks to the fine details in the engine and exhaust notes. Seriously, don’t expect much from this game.

V-Rally 4 has good moments, but it is hardly the triumphant, second coming that you might have hoped for. Instead, it is like watching someone who used to be a professional athlete try and show you what they’ve got twenty years later, only to leave you underwhelmed and question why you even bothered to watch in the first place. V-Rally 4 is like the Foxies chips of racing games. If you don’t know what that is, then that just proves my point.