Milestone has released yet another MotoGP game and with MotoGP 20 you get improvements on the previous iterations to try and bring it as close to the real-life sport as possible without getting all sweaty in leathers…..Unless that’s your kind of thing!
Releasing on PS4, Xbox One, PC and the Nintendo Switch, the game is going to challenge you right off the bat, but don’t be put off by that statement and carry on reading to find out why this might just be one of the finest 2 wheel racing games out there.
Gameplay
So in MotoGP 20 you have a few different modes that you can dive into, however, I think you will spend the majority of your time playing in the Career section. Firing up the career mode and you go through a short bit of customisation of your livery all depending on what team you sign for from the many offers that you will get. It’s all pretty standard stuff when starting a career, although the number of options to edit your rider is pretty impressive in MotoGP 20.
Once you are through all the options you are greeted with your home screen, and MotoGP 20 has made it nice and straight forward. You can look at different candidates that can join your personal team, and then you have your calendar. This will allow you to see what races are coming up, find out when you need to respond to any contract offers as well as find out when a response from a proposal might come through. It’s straight forward enough, but that is where it ends. Once you get into the racing its unbelievably challenging, but that isn’t a bad thing.
On the track gameplay is fantastic, your bike feels weighty, fast, and at some times scary! Being able to edit the feel of the bike using the setup wizard is handy, especially if, like me, are pretty inept when it comes to the technical side of components. Just tell your engineer that you aren’t turning into corners fast enough and he or she will tighten the suspension and through some kind of wizardry will make your bike more responsive when leaning into those corners. There is a tonne of options on what to change, from brake balance, through to something as simple as gear ration. I say simple, but even that perplexes me.
So your aim through your career is obviously to win, but you have other objectives throughout MotoGP 20. Depending on whether you start straight into the big leagues, or start off at the grassroots……erm…..rubber tyres of racing, you have to get certain positions at the end of races as well as finish a certain number of races. Each of these objectives will give you a monetary bonus that can then be put towards upgrades for both your bike or even for your team. It can even go towards buying you out of that contract early to move to be Valentino Rossi’s teammate….yeah I wish but it could happen.
MotoGP 20 has brought with it a new braking, tyre wear and fuel consumption model, having not played too many of the previous games it’s hard to tell you how its affected, but you are definitely rewarded for taking things a bit easy, and if you do end up pushing your bike to the limit you will end up using up those precious millimeters of rubber on the wheels that you might need later on in the race.
So what other modes do you have in MotoGP 20 I hear you ask, well you have multiplayer, single races, but the one that potentially will have you most excited is the Historical Mode. This brings randomly generated race challenges, complete those and you will unlock new riders and new bikes. You have to be careful not to potentially miss out on rare bikers and then feel the physics on some of the most powerful bikes in the history of the sport.
Graphics
MotoGP 20 looks stunning, having reviewed the game on the PS4 Pro, you are given the options of whether to prioritise graphics or performance. I ALWAYS go for the graphics option to make sure the game looks the best it can be.
The bikes look stunning whilst leaning into the corners, and the animations on the 3d rider models are great. Each little fidget and movement is accurately detailed.
Its hard to comment on the scenery in the background though, especially when the sense of speed is huge in MotoGP 20, you rarely get a chance to admire the view.
Sound
MotoGP 20 has some great engine sounds, from the high pitched revving on the grid all the way to the downshifts, all the noises you would expect are here and as spot-on as I can imagine they would be.
To be fair though, with a game such as MotoGP 20 you only really are overly concerned with the engine sounds and race sounds. The menu music is good, but it’s not memorable.
Longevity
So with the season mode covering the 2020 season and with the addition of Historical Mode and Multiplayer, I can see you losing many many hours to MotoGP 20, and for the die-hard fans you will be starting from the bottom and working your way through the ranks in career mode to get to the very pinnacle of the sport.
Not being able to dive into the multiplayer portion before the game releases I can’t really comment on how that might evolve throughout the game’s lifespan, or at least before MotoGP 21 is released.
So overall Milestone has released another brilliant MotoGP game with MotoGP 20, and it refreshed my intrigue and passion for the 2 wheeled sport!
Get your leathers, squeeze into your helmet, and lets rise as MotoGP 20 gets the Thumb Culture Gold Award!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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Can Motogp 20 ran on ps5? BTW Best racing game ever.