It’s sort of odd how next gen has arrived without that launch staple, the flagship first-party driving game (though Dirt 5 does represent with its fun arcade excess) – though there’s no shortage of decent driving games to play for Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 on day one. In fact, if you’re up for something a bit more sim-minded, two of the best examples to grace a console aren’t just there waiting for you – they’re a damn sight better than they were last time around, with one of them showing off the amazing potential of the DualSense to boot.
WRC 9 and Assetto Corsa Competizione are available for both the new Xbox consoles and the PlayStation 5, with WRC 9 benefitting from bespoke next-gen versions that come as free upgrades for existing players, while Competizione simply benefits from the added power of the new machines. I’ll be reserved in my praise for Assetto Corsa Competizione, because many of the problems that plagued the console version at launch – spotty wheel support in particular – are still an issue, but there’s no such reserve when it comes to praising its fundamentals.
The extra performance on next gen is simply transformative, and at 60fps on Series X and PS5 (give or take a few frames on the Xbox) it’s easy to appreciate handling that’s as good as it gets, when it comes to GT cars at least. Coming off the back of a solid few months spent with my primary sim iRacing, it’s something else – there’s that bit more flex in the tire model, combining with an evolving track that also includes wet weather for best-in-class handling. To have access to that on a console is quite the thing.
WRC 9 – Gameplay Video | PS5 Watch on YouTube
WRC 9 similarly benefits from a boost to 60fps on PS5 and Series X, and again it’s a transformative thing when it comes to handling dynamics. This is a fairly mild iteration on Kylotonn’s brilliant WRC 8, though the iteration does come in all the right places – there’s a visual and audio overhaul that’s even more impressive on next gen, and new stages in New Zealand, Japan and Kenya (a free update also introduced a few new stages to the always entertaining, freakishly fast Finnish rally too). A lot like Assetto Corsa Competizione, dynamic weather combined with a mastery of translating the magic that happens when a tire interacts with various road surfaces is where WRC 9 really comes alive.