The MotoGP series is a largely historic racing series that tends to sit behind the likes of Formula One in the world market. The series and the overall sport of motorcycle racing, however, is growing in popularity. Developer Milestone has releasedMotoGP 24as the series gets the majority of focus across its suite of games.MotoGP 24brings the official riders, teams and bikes of the 2024 season for MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3. With a main focus on the Career Mode and the overall racing experience in the game, some things were left behind, but thankfullyMotoGP 24does offer the best racing in the series to date.
Race Weekend
Milestone has dedicatedMotoGP 24to offer everything seen on 2024 race weekend. This includes the Tissot Spring on Saturdays in addition to the actual race on Sundays. Every race now includes the MotoGP Stewards as infractions will pop up throughout the race with AI riders. This includes Long Lap Penalties, but it takes a high level major infraction to trigger this. A lot of warnings are issued as they queue up for the inevitable major disciplinary decision. Along with an updated presentation to mimic the television broadcast, these events help to keep the race engaging.
Speaking of AI, Milestone has added in Adaptive Difficulty that’s on by default. It also states that this is not “rubberbanding” and it isn’t. The AI races intelligently and it’s interesting to see a rider be too aggressive and go off the track. This helps to shore up either getting blown out by the competition or blowing out the competition, which the latter still seems prone to happen. This may vary per track, but this may be more apparent early on as the system will analyze and adapt to the player. This has allowed for excellent racing with the AI at times, which adds even more engaging moments to the racing. The neural aids system was introduced last year for improved accessibility, and withMotoGP 24, the Game Experience can be altered. This allows for building confidence with racing. Offline game speed can also be adjusted to bring players up to speed. This has allowed a better understanding of how to race on a bike as opposed to a car, which is completely different in comparison.
Milestone has also added dynamic weather to races, which would require a pit stop on long races to change tires. Races would need to be set to variable weather conditions and can be forced from cloudy to rainy. Handling will dramatically change in the wet, and with variable options, brings a more realistic aspect of the sport to the series. This also further assists to makeMotoGP 24the most realistic representation of the sport to date.
Dropping the Green Flag
The physics are the final version as Milestone has stated they won’t be altering this. The development team has worked with real riders, technicians and experts to make this more life-like. While many have stated in the past that braking is required early going into corners, this has been reduced. Tires grip well and bikes can be trail-braked into corners. Brake temperature remains important especially in the front, and this seemed to be a constant issue to get these things at a good temperature. The racing is the most beneficial with a DualSense controller as managing throttle and brake pressure is key, and the triggers on the controller provide the necessary feedback.
Circuits with elevation changes stand out as more difficult, so these variations will help make every race feel different. Engineers provide a guided setup for those looking for assistance, or bike setups can be altered manually. Collision detection on bikes is much improved over previous years, but some of the contact really should cause an accident. Riders even give visual feedback for collisions. Bike starts are somewhat of a concern due to the collisions as it’s easy to bounce off other riders when they are all bunched together. Of course, the rewind function will be a friend early on for new racers. The overall racing is the best the series has seen as the physics and AI come together for a complete package.
Visual Appeals, Audio Squeals
Milestone has improved the lighting to provide a more realistic look to the action, and it’s immediately apparent. Both rider outfits and bikes look fantastic with good colors and even better reflections showing off the textures of both. Rider faces are solid enough and 3D environments look realistic. The game looks best in action especially during an overcast race, but stopping the action and looking at singular items can erase that immersion. Some of the NPC faces look dated. The game does run at a consistent 60 FPS with motion blur and looks excellent while on the track.MotoGP 24does include the updated 2024 presentation with the game UI mirroring this. The game also features the Tissot Spring podium cutscene.
This series always offers an excellent soundtrack, but there appears to be only one song for the soundtrack here, but at least it’s good. Going back to the singularity, the bikes offer varying exhaust tones and when a group are together, they sound good. If there’s just one bike, the tone isn’t great, and it could just be the sound these bikes emit. A lot of these bike manufacturers have bikes on the road that sound much greater than this, and having been to races in person, the sound quality from the exhaust just isn’t there.
Career Mode But What Else?
The Career Mode inMotoGP 24is unique and a great change of pace for racing games. Milestone has added the Riders' Market so only a few races into the season, players can opt for other teams and rumors will swirl. The game provides what team would be the best fit based on performance and personality, and personality plays the biggest role in this Career Mode. For better or worse, the R&D department where points are allocated for upgrades is gone. Race packages are earned based on the personality created by the rider. This is done by responding to other riders as rapports are built with each one. These packages are used in a testing session midway through the season with the player having the option to choose two bike builds to use for the duration of the season. One would think a testing session would have goals or something to test, but the testing session is literally just two hours of open practice to test both bike builds.
MotoGP 24 Officially Announced, Introduces Rider Market
MotoGP 24 will release on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Steam on May 2.
WhatMotoGP 24does best here is provide a good and engaging narrative for each season. Rather than just blowing through races, these other aspects come into play. Turning Point decides a short narrative for a few races with a goal in mind to help grow the career. The responses in the social network that help dictate the available race packages also affect rivalries on the track. Players can start with either a debut season in Moto3 to get a seat or jump straight to a team offer in any of the classes. There has been some thought put into this Career Mode and that’s respectable. The focus on creating drama as opposed to the traditional way of providing bike upgrades may disappoint some, though.
Outside of Career Mode, what else is offered? Milestone has created LiveGP that provides the online community a specific time to race while earning points for a leaderboard. Unfortunately, this has not been playable up to this point despite the tracks and times being active. There is a lobby system, as well, but online racing wasn’t testable either. Players can do a Grand Prix race on any of the 2024 tracks plus five Legend Tracks or do a time trial. There’s training and the return of the MotoGP Academy to help learn each track, which is important. Legendary bikes and riders are gone and overall the experience outside of Career Mode isn’t engaging. Customizations return with the ability to download other’s creations.
Closing Comments:
MotoGP 24sought out to provide what its community requested the most and those small handful of things are readily apparent in the game. Milestone didn’t do that much outside of this, but the action on the track and the Career Mode are the highlights to what’s offered here. Struggling on the track isn’t an issue like it once was, and with the adaptive AI, racing is fun while still providing realism for players. The increase in visual fidelity is nice, but pausing the action may change some minds. A racing game should continue to build on its actual racing andMotoGP 24does just that.
Version Reviewed: PlayStation 5
