EA Sports WRC

EA Sports WRC marked the return of the World Rally Championship license to Codemasters studio, this time under the EA Sports banner, and also a noticeable shift toward a more sophisticated simulation compared to earlier, more arcade-oriented rally titles. Players drive real tracks from the entire WRC calendar with cars matching current and historical categories, and the game emphasizes a physics model for how the car behaves on changing surfaces — from gravel to asphalt to snow and mud — which also changes dynamically over the course of a stage depending on weather and the tire marks left by earlier drivers, so the same track behaves differently in the day's last run than in the first.

On PlayStation 5, the game offers a career mode called Moment of Your Own Team, where the player gradually builds a team, hires a co-driver and engineers, and develops vehicles between seasons according to available budget and results. Technically, the title benefits from the console's power through detailed track models created using laser scanning of real stages, real-time changing weather, and support for DualSense haptic feedback, which can convey the difference between slippery gravel and firm asphalt directly through the controller. The audio side is rounded out by the authentic roar of engines across the different classes and the co-driver's pace notes read from the track, which are an essential part of the atmosphere for the rally genre.

The game was received as a solid, if not flawless, return to the series' simulation roots, with critics and players praising especially the driving physics and variety of tracks, while criticism was aimed more at technical shortcomings at launch. For motorsport fans, EA Sports WRC represents one of the most comprehensive rally simulations available on PS5 and shows well how a traditional license can be modernized for the current console generation after years away.

Why play it: For motorsport fans, it's one of the most comprehensive rally simulations on PS5, even though technical rough edges accompanied its release.