The first officially licensed handheld FIA World Rally Championship game!
If you're a rally fan, then you'll be aware that the World Rally Championship is just as exciting as ever. No longer dominated by British drivers in Japanese cars, the WRC these days is owned by sparkling-eyed Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, seemingly unbeatable in his Gallic Citroen.And if you're a rally fan with your heart set on a shiny new PSP come launch day, then you're going to be spoilt for choice as far as rally games go. First to appear on the shelves is this offering, boasting an official FIA WRC license.The advantages of an official license are immediately apparent and very tantalising. You get all 17 real life drivers to choose from, whether you favour Loeb, Gronholm, Sainz or Solberg. These great drivers would be nothing without their magnificent machines, and all six official manufacturers'cars are in the game, with 30 cars to choose from in total, including Evolution and Extreme class rally cars. The cars are fully deformable and every knock you take on your way round the stage has an effect on gameplay and your car's appearance. Use your skill and judgement or you'll be limping home with wings and bumpers crooked and lights shattered. All 16 rallies from this year's competition feature, including Mexico and Japan, but that's not all; with 19 bonus stages and a programme of downloadable content planned, the depth of this WRC experience really shows. When you're ready, you can take on all-comers, with WiFi enabled gameplay allowing you to challenge other drivers on the spot. Up to eight players can take part over 16 looped stages.The game has been developed by Travellers Tales, and they've redesigned the game from the ground up, with the result that it has a quite different feel to its PS2 counterpart. Gameplay is more arcadey to bring it into step with the PSP's 'on the move' philosophy, and game modes include Quick Race, Time Trial, Single Rally and whole Championship. All the rally action you could ask for.