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WRC 4 for PlayStation 2
WRC 4 for PlayStation 2 is the official rally game of the 2004 world championship. You drive with that season's teams and drivers through sixteen rally countries, including Mexico and Japan. Alongside familiar cars, the Peugeot 307 WRC and Mitsubishi Lancer WRC 04 also appear. Your co-driver provides instructions about the road ahead. This lets you prepare for a corner while it is still out of sight, on routes covered in tarmac, gravel or snow.
The Pro Driver Challenge builds a career around different stages in a rally driver's life. You practise more than driving quickly: you also learn how setup and repairs under time pressure influence a competition. Separate testing grounds let you drive between cones, explore grip and get to know a car's responses. A mistake there does not cost an entire championship. On the actual stages, you must then decide how much risk to take and where a controlled approach will save time.
You can also drive a single stage, a rally or a complete season. In super special stages, two players with two controllers can drive simultaneously in split-screen. With three or four players you take turns and can pass a controller around; no Multitap is needed for that. WRC 4 works with a regular PS2 controller; a compatible racing wheel remains optional. The offline events let you drive routes again and improve times, concentrating on your car and the sequence of corners.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
WRC 4 for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of WRC 4
Evolution Studios made WRC 4 as the fourth instalment in its official rally series for PlayStation 2. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe released the game in Europe in October 2004. The studio built on three annual releases but worked again on handling for this instalment. The name can cause confusion: this is Evolution's WRC 4 from 2004, not Milestone's identically named 2013 game for other platforms. The Platinum edition also belongs to this original PS2 game.
The sport itself was changing too. The 2004 season added Mexico and Japan to the rally programme and introduced new cars, including the Peugeot 307 WRC. The official licence made these changes part of the game. Evolution also provided practice grounds inspired by real Subaru centres. This connected the season calendar to a second subject: the skills a driver needs before setting a fast and, above all, consistent stage time on an unfamiliar road.
During development, Sony and Evolution strengthened their partnership. In August 2004 they announced an agreement for exclusive development on Sony platforms. WRC 4 was the next announced project; new ideas for later hardware were also mentioned. Within the game, the Pro Driver Challenge already demonstrates a broader view of rallying, with career moments alongside the championship. A year later WRC: Rally Evolved followed, in which the studio would particularly expand unexpected events and a more lively environment.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
WRC: World Rally Championship began the PS2 series with the official teams and locations from 2001. WRC 4 retains driving on co-driver instructions but uses the 2004 season and adds a more extensive training programme. The Pro Driver Challenge and testing grounds particularly give the later game a different structure. The first instalment brings you back to the original championship more directly; WRC 4 pays more attention to the journey from novice to rally driver.
WRC: Rally Evolved builds on WRC 4's rally driving on PS2 and moves the official content to 2005. Its unexpected events, such as rocks on the road and stranded competitors, demand extra reactions during a familiar stage. WRC 4 instead stands out through its Pro Driver Challenge and separate practice grounds. Both involve driving against the clock, but place different emphases outside simply following corner instructions.
Richard Burns Rally and WRC 4 both let you practise on PS2 before beginning a serious rally. Richard Burns Rally makes its school and precise vehicle simulation the foundation of the experience. WRC 4 links training to an official season licence and the different steps of the Pro Driver Challenge. Someone chiefly wanting to understand a car's reactions consequently gets a different learning path from someone wanting to follow the complete 2004 WRC programme.
Like WRC 4, Shox uses rally cars and terrain with continually changing grip on PS2. However, it races on closed circuits with other cars around you and divides short Shox Zones into medal challenges. WRC 4 chiefly concerns rally stages, navigation and building a season. In Shox you therefore mainly read the space between opponents, whereas WRC 4 encourages you to consider braking points, corner sequences and the condition of your own car.
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec links driving tests and setups to a large collection of road and racing cars on PS2. WRC 4 also includes training, but keeps it within rallying and the 2004 season. Here you drive stages with a co-driver rather than mainly laps on circuits. Gran Turismo 3 lets you build a garage and a broad racing programme; WRC 4 follows a more clearly defined motorsport with its associated teams and roads.
