There's no denying that quite a bit of time and effort went into making these stages and that they look fantastic. However, for all that work, I feel like they fell short in delivering stages that reflect the challenges encountered in the real events and part of what makes each of the locations special (if years of WRC coverage are to be believed). Let me try to explain each location I have a problem with.
Monte Carlo -
It seems like every year there's at least one leg of the event where it's more about surviving than out pacing anyone else. There might be parts of stages due to road condition and tires where you have to crawl through. I really wanted to see the weather be a much bigger factor in the game than it is. Admittedly it's been a while since I ran one of these stages, so perhaps things have changed with the physics updates. But the last time I checked, other than visibility, the weather and road conditions really didn't affect how the stages were ran. Even on the worst weather settings you still see people flying through a stage flat out.
Germany -
I can't remember if it was Malcolm Wilson or someone else at Rally Germany one year. But they jokingly mentioned they treat Germany as another gravel event because of the variances in grip level between the types of surface, the amount of dirt and dust that covers the road in places, and how rough the road is in places. There's none of that in the game. Aside from some cobble stone junctions/intersections, there's no difference in grip between the different surfaces. And while there is a nice little dust plume that's behind the car, I've yet to see any corner or other section of road that's strewn with dirt. Some parts of these roads are extremely rough and broken up. In the game they're as smooth as butter. Sure there's a bump here or there and the occasional jump. But nothing remotely resembling the surface conditions of the real stage.
It's one thing that was done really well with RBR, the Germany/Germany inspired/Czech tarmac stages were very challenging because of the things I mentioned. It was so easy sometimes to get caught out by a change in surface or gravel on the road.
And like Monte, the challenges of the real stages aren't there in game. So it's just another matter of going flat out.
Finland (aka the land of punctures) -
There's jumps and more jumps, and a few more jumps. Did I mention there's jumps in Finland? The speed is there, the jumps are there (however exaggerated they may or may not be). But something is off with the Finland stages. There's no flow to them. I guess this one maybe more a matter of perspective than the others. But, you watch onboard of Ouninpohja (or any Finland stage for that matter) and it's almost mesmerizing how the car flows from jump to jump, crest to crest, corner to corner. No matter how hard you try, it's just not there in game. Was definitely the location I was most looking forward too and the most disappointed with.
Sorry to bring it up again. But it's something that the BTB Finland stages for RBR got so right in my opinion. When you run Ouninpohja and you've been pushing the whole stage, it's so intense, but at the same time relaxing as well.
Wales -
I've heard that Wales never really dries out. And from what I've seen of [WRC] coverage there, it's typically a cold, wet, muddy mess. Your top level 4wd rally cars will struggle at times for grip, let alone 2wd cars. I can't help but feel there's too much grip for the conditions that are represented in game.
Greece -
I honestly haven't touched Greece at all. Other than maybe a random stage a couple times, never touched it. Only thing I'd say is the real event was like a mini Safari Rally. But without anything resembling a proper damage system, there's no reason to get into that.
