FIA licensed World Rally Championship game including the 2005 season teams, drivers, cars, and rally locations. The player controls the car on the track and tries to complete the stages in fastest possible time. Since rally is driven so that the track is clear of other cars, competitors are shown as ghost cars. Co-drivers notes are both spoken and shown on the screen to aid in navigating the often twisty stages.
Game can be played in Quick Rally, Time Trial, Single Rally, Championship, and Multiplayer modes. Quick Rally selects a random car and rally stage to race. In Time Trial, a ghost car is shown on the track and the player’s goal is to beat its time on that stage. In Single Rally mode, player chooses the team and car to drive with and needs to complete all the stages in a single rally. Other drivers are shown as ghost cars.
Championship mode extends the Single Rally mode into full season of 16 rallies. Each rally has two to four stages and the player must reach certain position in order to advance to the next stage. Difficulty level (novice, professional, expert, extreme) defines the number of stages per rally and the required finishing position. Expert and extreme levels are unlocked by completing the preceding level. After each rally, points are awarded to top 8 drivers and the championship is won by most points at the end of the season. Completing championship modes also unlocks new car types and rally stages for other play modes.
Multiplayer modes include both offline (hot-seat) and online play. The hot-seat rallies are for up to four players and allow the players to compete in Time Trial, Single Rally, and Championship modes. Online wireless play allows up to eight players to race together on a single stage. As in other modes, competitors are shown as ghost cars.
The game has an arcade-style control scheme (no manual gear changes for example) and a simple damage model. Damaging the car has visual impact on the car and on expert and extreme levels, damage affects the car performance too. PSP WRC supports downloadable content, like custom avatars for the player.
