23 June,2019 08:13 AM IST | | Jaison Lewis
Motorcycle racing simulations are one of the hardest games to get right and Milestone, the developer of MotoGP 19, has come very close this time. Since it's the official game, the content reflects the current roster of MotoGP, which includes the cup and tracks.
To make things more interesting, they have brought back 50 legendary riders from the past and 35 older bikes. The game also touts a newer AI which, the developer claims, learns from your riding style and compensates for it, making it harder to win. While all this sounds amazing, MotoGP 19 lacks a few elements that would have made it perfect.
Let's start with the good part. The bikes are amazing: every bike in the game has its own distinct experience. You can even customise the bike to suit your riding style. This can be done manually or guided. We found the guided way to be efficient and even a novice could easily configure the bike.
There are lots of features like the guided bike tuning that lets first time users really experience and learn the game. The user interface has plenty of information in all the right places on how everything works and what the player needs to do. The AI competitors are easier to deal with and the assists are also helpful during races. This of course goes away if you increase the difficulty setting. In fact, the AI riders get downright nasty squeezing in tight gaps and taking all sorts of risk. However, none of it seems to give the AI unfair advantage, which is good.
The career mode is also another highlight; it lets you create a rider and then move up through the ranks, while improving your ride. The mode takes you through various teams, depending on your performance. Some parts of it are skippable, but it gives you a complete experience if you play through the ignorable parts.
One thing you should not skip is the âhistorical challenges'. Split into four parts, there are around 60 challenges that put you in the seat of legendary machines on classic tracks and older riders. Each challenge is begging to be played over and over again, till you can claim gold.
As mentioned, each bike has its kinks and the older machines are no exception; learning how to ride these old beasts on the tricky tracks took some getting used to. It is a good mode that brings a lot of fun to what is otherwise, a more serious simulation.
While the online component is better than last time, the actual gameplay is not as smooth, as it should be and makes it difficult to compete. The problems don't stop there. On the PS4, the game has lots of tiny bugs - loss of frames during the race, stuttering music during the load screen, and random visual bugs through the game.
MotoGP 19 is not quite ready for mass market yet, but it does more than enough to keep a fan of the series engaged. If you enjoy MotoGP, this game is a no-brainer. Maybe next year's iteration will kill the issues and make this even more accessible to the general gamer.
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