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WRC: World Rally Championship for PlayStation 2
WRC: World Rally Championship for PlayStation 2 is a rally game based on the official 2001 season. You race with the cars, drivers and teams from that championship through stages in fourteen rally countries. A co-driver announces corners and changes in the road while you try to set the shortest possible time. On narrow mountain roads, gravel and snow, thinking ahead matters: braking too late often costs more than just speed at the next corner.
You can drive a single rally, work on your times or follow an entire championship. The surface determines how much room you need for braking and turning in. A damaged car and mud on its body show what a stage does to your vehicle. The camera behind the car gives you an overview; the cockpit view brings you closer to its movements. Your co-driver's instructions help you find a workable rhythm even through sections with limited visibility.
You control the car with a regular PS2 controller; a compatible racing wheel is another option, not a requirement. Two players can compare their times in a local contest. The focus remains on learning to read rally roads, not pushing a field of opponents aside on a closed circuit. After an unsuccessful attempt, you can adjust your braking point or line and try again. These small improvements can add up to a considerable time saving over a complete stage.
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: World Rally Championship 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: World Rally Championship
Evolution Studios developed WRC: World Rally Championship for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. The European PlayStation 2 release arrived in autumn 2001 and began this British studio's WRC series. Sony handled the European release; BAM! Entertainment brought the game to North America in 2002. Those different publishers therefore belong to different markets. The game offered here is the original first PS2 instalment, not the separate WRC Arcade for PlayStation or a much later game using the same championship name.
The official licence gave the project a fixed foundation: the teams, cars and rally locations of the 2001 season. Evolution also worked on its own technology for the roads and surrounding landscape. The original publisher information describes satellite-based terrain and routes constructed with smooth curves. Together with animated occupants, flying dirt and damage, this was intended to create a recognisable television-style portrayal of rallying. Replays therefore also emphasised the car and its surroundings beyond the immediate driving controls.
This first instalment established the combination of official season content and rally stages on which Evolution continued to build. WRC II Extreme followed in 2002, after which the studio expanded the series annually. Later instalments added other classes, more training opportunities and eventually unexpected roadside events. That development also makes the original WRC a clear snapshot of its time: you get the cars and presentation of the early PS2 period, with the 2001 season as the shared starting point for every rally.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
WRC 4 uses the same official championship foundation on PlayStation 2, but moves its content to the 2004 season. The Pro Driver Challenge and separate testing grounds give you extra ways to practise braking, steering and setup. The first WRC focuses more directly on its original rallies and championship. Playing both reveals how the series grew from an initial licensed season experience into a broader programme for the rally driver.
WRC: Rally Evolved shares the co-driver and racing against the clock with the original WRC. The later PS2 instalment adds events such as falling rocks and stranded cars that require a response while driving. Knowing a route therefore involves more than memorising corners. In the first game, your attention centres more strongly on the road, available grip and increasingly precise execution of a previously chosen line.
Richard Burns Rally likewise demands precise braking and attention to the co-driver on PS2. Its rally school and strict approach to vehicle behaviour place greater emphasis on learning technique and the consequences of mistakes. WRC puts the official season, teams and locations at the centre. Both let you improve times step by step, but Richard Burns Rally makes preparation as a trainee rally driver a much more prominent part of that development.
Shox also uses rally cars and loose surfaces, but organises its PS2 action around closed circuits with several cars at once. Speed over a short section in special Shox Zones counts towards separate medals. WRC has you drive longer stages where overall time and co-driver instructions take priority. The similarity lies in sliding across changing terrain; the way you measure progress consequently differs considerably between the two games.
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec on PS2 includes rally events alongside road racing, with a large role for collecting and improving cars. The original WRC builds an entire game around rally stages and the official 2001 participants. Here you follow co-driver instructions along routes between start and finish. Gran Turismo 3 chiefly offers a broader motoring programme, in which rallying is just one of the forms of competition you encounter along the way.
