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WRC: Rally Evolved for PlayStation 2
WRC: Rally Evolved for PlayStation 2 is a rally game based on the official 2005 world championship. You follow a co-driver's instructions along narrow roads covered in gravel, tarmac and snow. Falling rocks, animals or a stranded competitor can change your plans along the way. Learning a route still matters, but you must also leave room to react. Even a familiar corner can turn out differently when something unexpected appears beside the road.
You can follow a full championship, choose one rally or drive individual stages. Damage affects the car's responses, so a heavy collision has consequences beyond the impact itself. Between stages you weigh up repairs and prepare for the next run. The co-driver responds to events and helps you understand the situation while you keep steering. The testing ground lets you try settings before returning to the start of a competition in a modified car.
Besides rally stages, there are historic challenges and Rally Cross races on closed tracks against computer-controlled cars. Locally, up to four players can compare times by taking turns, not simultaneously in split-screen. You can pass a controller around; no Multitap is needed. A regular PS2 controller is sufficient and a compatible racing wheel is optional. This gives you a choice between practice, a short run and a longer sequence of competitions. Controlled driving remains valuable: gaining time is of little use if you hit a rock further down the road.
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: Rally Evolved 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: Rally Evolved
Evolution Studios developed WRC: Rally Evolved as the fifth instalment in its official rally series for PlayStation 2. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe released it in 2005, following WRC 4 from 2004. This time a subtitle replaced a simple number and emphasised changes to the environment and driving. It is Evolution's original PS2 game, not WRC 5 from 2015 by a different developer. The Platinum edition offers the same game in later budget packaging.
In the original announcement, Sony placed considerable emphasis on events that could interrupt a rally stage. Rocks, fire, water and incidents involving other competitors were intended to make the landscape more than a fixed sequence of corners. Evolution also worked on damage, smoke and other effects influencing visibility and vehicle behaviour. The co-driver's voice work received extra attention too: instructions and reactions were intended to match the surface, speed and events around the car more closely, rather than merely listing corners.
The foundation remained that year's official sport, but historic cars and separate challenges broadened the programme. The game thus concluded Evolution's annual WRC series on PS2. The studio subsequently took a different direction with MotorStorm for PlayStation 3, featuring mixed vehicles and fictional off-road competitions. Rally Evolved stands precisely at that transition: still rooted in the licensed world championship, but already strongly focused on an active environment and events that force the player to revise a plan while driving.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
WRC 4 is the direct predecessor on PS2, with the official 2004 season and the Pro Driver Challenge. Rally Evolved moves to 2005 and makes unexpected roadside events a more prominent part of a stage. The combination of co-driver, setup and racing against the clock remains familiar. Where WRC 4 places extra emphasis on practice and career moments, Rally Evolved more often asks you to adapt your driving plan to conditions during an attempt.
WRC: World Rally Championship began on PS2 with the 2001 season, official cars and rally locations. Rally Evolved retains that licensed structure but adds a more lively environment and more developed co-driver reactions. Both games require you to learn the road and braking points. The original shows the series' foundation; Rally Evolved demonstrates how Evolution later expanded it with incidents and other reasons to change your line during a run.
Richard Burns Rally also features damage, a co-driver and rally roads on PS2 where a mistake can prove costly. It places stronger emphasis on strict vehicle simulation and begins with a rally school. Rally Evolved uses the official 2005 season and gives changing roadside events a more visible role. Both demand concentration, but difficulty develops differently: through precise vehicle control or through combining speed with unexpected situations.
Shox shares loose surfaces and rally cars with Rally Evolved, but turns them into an arcade racing game with Shox Zones and medals on PS2. Rally Evolved also offers races on closed tracks through Rally Cross, but additionally has co-driver-led stages and a championship. Shox emphasises short speed measurements and position among other cars. Here a greater part of the programme remains centred on completing a full stage without costly mistakes.
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec includes rally events on PS2 alongside its much larger programme for road and racing cars. Rally Evolved builds its entire structure around rallying and the official 2005 participants, with co-driver instructions and roadside events. Setup and grip matter in both. Gran Turismo 3 links them to collecting cars and varied circuit races; Rally Evolved chiefly makes you consider changing conditions on a road between start and finish.
