World Racing 2 - Champion Edition

My first proper session with World Racing 2 - Champion Edition had me convinced I was playing something that fell off a 2005 lorry - because it did, and that is almost entirely a compliment. This is a re-release of Synetic's mid-2000s arcade racer, rebuilt for modern PCs with ultrawide support, a 64-bit executable, modern controller layouts, and full Steam Workshop integration. The chassis is unashamedly old school, and if you go in expecting polished 2020s production values, you will bounce off it fast. Go in expecting a goofy, charming arcade racer with genuine depth underneath the surface-level jank, though, and you are in for a good time. The driving sits somewhere between arcade and light sim - five game modes let you dial that dial up or down, from breezy arcade fun to something that actually asks you to think about braking points. Handling is stiff and predictable rather than floaty, which sounds like a knock but actually makes the car feel planted and readable on a gamepad. The catch is that the brakes are tuned aggressively, so your instinct to trail-brake into corners will scrub too much speed. The real difficulty comes from oncoming traffic and course navigation - these are open road tracks, not closed circuits, and missing a turn entirely because you followed the car in front of you into a wrong lane happens more than you would like to admit. The AI in later championship stages turns the screw considerably, and you will need shortcuts and track knowledge to compete. Progression-wise, the championship structure gates tracks and cars behind completion, which keeps you pushing forward but can feel linear in single player. Where this Champion Edition earns its keep beyond nostalgia is the Workshop. The community has built out a collection of new cars, tracks, missions, rims, and vinyls that extends the base game's already generous 80-plus vehicles and 100-plus tracks considerably. The licensed cars from the 2005 original were removed due to rights issues - you get Synetic's own fictional stand-ins instead - but Workshop mods have been filling that gap steadily since launch. Car tuning, colour and rim customisation, and a damage model that visually reflects dents, scratches, and mechanical damage all give you enough to tinker with between races. There is also a Photo Mode if you want to grab a screenshot of your freshly battered bumper against the Egypt scenery at sunset. For the friend-group question - and yes, I ask that every time - the answer here is a qualified yes with a footnote. There is no local split-screen on PC, which stings for couch play. What you do get is Steam Remote Play Together, which effectively replicates split-screen online and works reasonably well for a casual session. Online PVP is present. Occasional screen freezes at max graphical settings have been reported, so if you are running an older rig, dial the visuals back a notch before your Saturday night lobby goes sideways. Controller play is comfortable and accessible; you do not need a wheel to enjoy this, though a decent gamepad is absolutely the right tool over keyboard. The campaign is single-player only in any meaningful sense, so the multiplayer value is genuinely in those online sessions.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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