Gaming Target - Xbox: MotoGP

Written by Adam Woolcott on July 14, 2002

Full Review: So the umbrella girl says to the rider: УIs that a crotch rocket between your legs or are you just really happy to see me?Ф

Slowly but surely, the Xbox is becoming a place for excellent racing games. There's Project Gotham Racing and the amazing RalliSport Challenge, amongst quite a bit more. Instead of the same old same old, these games bring some new ideas to the table, helping them to stand out amongst the slowly crowding competition.

Now it's time to add another racer to that group Ц the motorcycle-based MotoGP. Published by THQ and developed by UK-based Climax Entertainment, MotoGP is the first motorcycle racing game on Xbox. And after getting plenty of time with the game, it's easy to see that MotoGP may not only be the first, but probably will wind up being the best motorcycle racing game on Xbox Ц until there's a sequel to it. It has a bit of questionable replay, but with a lot of unlockable extras, great graphics, and the ability to use your custom soundtracks, MotoGP is indeed a winner.

Perhaps you're getting a feeling of dщjр vu Ц wasn't there a PlayStation 2 launch title (and eventual sequel) called MotoGP? Yes, this is true, but they're not the same game. Namco was responsible for the PS2 versions of MotoGP, while THQ has the license to make an Xbox version.

The MotoGP series is sort of like the NASCAR of motorcycle racing Ц minus all the left turns & drunken hillbillies cheering on their favorite drunken hillbilly driver. This explains why there can be 2 versions of the game with the same name from different publishers Ц it's sorta like having the NFL license, so we get Madden, NFL Fever, and NFL 2Kx every year.

MotoGP comes with a fairly standard set of features. There's the quick race, where you select a track & a driver and race one single race, an arcade championship that's points based, Grand Prix, which is your career mode, an extensive training mode, and time trials. The game is based upon unlocking things Ц in order to unlock all the tracks for the time trial & quick race, you've got to play through career mode and race the track there to unlock it. Since you'll probably want to play through career mode anyway, it's not a big deal. Of course, there's also a multiplayer that allows for 2,3, and 4 player split screen, as well as LAN play Ц which means you can use Gamespy Tunnel or XBConnect for online gaming, if you choose to.

Before you can do anything in the Career mode, you'll have to create a driver. Unlike a lot of racers that let you pick a driver to use, MotoGP makes you create your own, be it yourself or some other twisted creation. You can pick one of a handful of different bikes, color sets, and clothing designs. That's right folks, you too can be playing video game Barbie with motorcycle racers. Anyway, once you're done you get 10 ability points to toss around & improve your skills. You've got a long way to go, though.

After that it's advised that you don't jump into career mode yet. You must complete the training, says Yoda. Not only is training a way to learn important skills, it's a way to increase your rider's points, making him a better racer in the Grand Prix. It's not required, but I suggest you do it. There's 20 different tests, in 5 different difficulty levels. Complete the first 4 in a row (cornering, braking, acceleration, and top speed categories), and the next 4 open, and so on. 1 point is rewarded for beating the silver goal, and 2 points awarded for beating the gold goal. It's all time-based, so the faster you can do it, the better off you'll be. Once you've at least won all the silver goals, head into GP and see what you can do.

The Grand Prix mode is split into 10 races Ц there's really 16 races in the series, but only 10 in the game. Each is held at major raceways Ц including Suzuka, Donington, and the legendary Le Mans (only it's Petit Le Mans, not the giant 4 minute for a lap standard track). Other locales include Germany, Australia, Spain, and the Netherlands. Winning each race gives you 6 more ability points that will help in making your rider even better. However, finishing lower rewards you with fewer points Ц 5 if you wind up in 2nd, 4 if in 3rd, and so on. Before each race you can go out and practice the track to learn it, and qualify to see if you can race in a higher spot on the grid.

This career mode is never-ending Ц once a season is done, you can start right back up. Just pick your difficulty level before each year and you can do it again. However, once you earn all 60 ability points from the GP (as in, if you win every race that first year), you don't earn any more points, so there's no incentive to play through it again, except for kicks.

Finally, there's the arcade championship. This is similar to GP because you race all 10 tracks to win, but instead of straight racing, it's all point based, like Project Gotham Racing is. So the more you show off, be it by a perfect race, doing wheelies, powersliding, burnouts, and the ever popular endo (a reverse wheelie, really), along with winning the race, the more points you get. These points are used to unlock the various extras, like new riders and graphic filters (which I'll get into later on).

MotoGP is a fairly hardcore simulation Ц kind of like the motorcycle equivalent of a game we won't mention but has the initials Gran and Turismo, only not as deep in non-racing elements. This is certainly not an arcade racer where you can zoom through without taking your thumb off the A button Ц eventually you have to slow down and take tough corners. However, there really isn't a lot of strategy to it Ц all the bikes pretty much feel the same, and you can't customize them to make them unique. The idea is to just learn the tracks and the tough turns, and know how to perfectly take them Ц as well as knowing what turns you CAN go through without braking. Also, learning how to perfectly shift your weight for turns is vital, because it can send you way off track if you're not lined up right. It usually only takes a few trips through a track before you have it down pat.

The default controls are well-placed and really easy to use Ц yet, instead of using the right and left triggers to accelerate and brake, the old-school use of A to accelerate and X to brake is here. The right and left triggers are instead used for the front and rear brakes Ц but I've hardly ever used them. You can change the controls to use the top triggers if you like. Either way, the controls are responsive, and also unforgiving Ц if you're going through a turn and can't get the bike straight losing time is a major possibility. MotoGP demands near-perfection, especially at the higher difficulty levels.

Speaking of difficulty levels Ц MotoGP is very, very challenging. Rookie is fairly simple Ц though on your first time through it's difficult since you aren't maxed out stats-wise yet. However, halfway through it becomes a cakewalk. Though, bump it up to pro and prepare to have your ass handed to you in a hurry. Unless you have the tracks down so that you know how to handle every turn and not get passed up, it will not be pretty. Just imagine how hard the game must get on champion and legend difficulty Ц I think the only way to beat legend difficulty is to get the Master Chief and his warthog to run over all the other competitors, or get the tank to blow them all up. But as they say Ц if something's in a game to complete, it can be completed.

MotoGP has 2 problems that keep the game out of must-own status -- the AI, and the replay value. There's no question the AI in MotoGP is tough, but it's also very robotic. The computer racers just race in their lines, and don't do anything out of the ordinary to make you seem part of the race. It's kind of like being in a race where you're the invisible man Ц there's a real lack of any kind of interactivity with your opponents, unless you get tangled up with one. Even racing the same race 10 times in a row, the computer racers will do the exact same things every single time out. As a matter of fact, I did 2 seasons in a row of GP, and each race had almost the exact same results, and I was always going against the same couple guys each race. No flukes or upsets here, unfortunately.

And the replay value leaves a bit to be desired. Once you're finished with GP and arcade championship, there really isn't that much to do, besides multiplayer. Sure, you can race through the GP multiple times until your head explodes from doing it, but since it's the same thing every time, it gets tiring in a hurry. Also, you can play each individual arcade track again to improve your score Ц which does increase your replay, but once everything is unlocked, there's no need to really play through it again, unless you want to do it at a higher difficulty level or with a brand new racer. Perhaps if Climax and THQ had managed to get the other 6 tracks in the MotoGP series, things would be different.

Still, there's no debating the game is a blast. Everything comes together for an excellent and entertaining racing game that will keep you going until you reach the wall in terms of replay. MotoGP controls like a dream, and most of the tracks are a lot of fun to race on (Donington pisses me off though), and all the little extras unlocked do give reasons to play more and see what you've unlocked. It's one of those games that's easy to learn and difficult to master.

As you might expect, MotoGP's visuals are a sight to behold. Easily on par with RalliSport, MotoGP looks great. Little touches such as lifelike roads, realistic-looking fans, and great lighting effects that can even distort your view of the track are great. The bikes and riders look pretty realistic, and the riders have cool little animations too Ц like looking backwards to stare at the guy he just passed -- and the apparent flipping of the bird to a rider who gets too close for comfort during a race.

The game really shines graphically when the rain comes out Ц not only does it make things like dirt muddy, it makes the track a bit more slippery and the reflection it casts is amazing. Also, the rain gets on the УcameraФ in chase view, getting in the way of seeing what's going on. Finally, the kicking up of rain from other riders when you're behind them not only gets in your way, but it makes you move away from that guy so you don't mess up. Graphics aren't everything, but when they're mixed in with gameplay, it makes them that much cooler.

Climax also went the extra mile with the graphical filters Ц instead of just one, real looking graphics engine, it came up with a whole bunch more. Unlockable are little filters like Toon Mode, which is cel-shading (a la Jet Set Radio), Wireframe Mode that looks like a motorcycle version of Tron or Battlezone, Sketch Mode is a washed out, snow filled filter that looks like that one old video back from when MTV played music (can't think of who it is now), along with Emboss Mode which just makes things all shiny. Unfortunately, these pretty filters are cool, but are really useless in gameplay Ц the cel-shading one is fine, but the others really distort the tracks and make it impossible to see what you're doing. Good for showing off some cool Xbox effects, but bad for your eyes and ability to play the game.

The sound is just fine Ц especially because it carries the custom soundtrack. So if the music sucks, that's your fault. Just rip your own music and get out there. While I think I'm seriously dating myself here (and believe me, nothing is more fun than dating yourself, even if you get looks from others), here's some perfect songs for MotoGP Ц УI Can't Drive 55Ф by Sammy Hagar, УBad Motor ScooterФ by Montrose (complete with a guitar riff that sounds like a motorcycle engine), УMoto PsychoФ from Megadeth, УJesus Built My HotrodФ by Ministry, УRidin'Ф by Buckcherry, and УFuelФ from Metallica. That's just me Ц if you want to put in Britney Spears or whatever, you can, but be prepared for me to УHit You One More TimeФ for being a dork.

The motorcycle noises are realistic but not really that evident Ц since the music is blaring you won't pay attention anyway. However, you may want to turn down the music for УBrrrring Brrrring DiiiingФ Mode, which is the kind of laugh your ass off thing those nutty Brits are famous for. You know how you use to make noises with your Hot Wheels that sounded like an engine Ц this is just that. Instead of actual motorcycle noises, you get some little kids making those noises Ц actually it sounds like one of the Chipmunks, or the result of playing a tape at double-speed (sorry, didn't mean to date myself again with this whole Уcassette tapeФ thing). It's actually quite silly, but also pretty funny and sure to get a little УWTF?Ф reaction out of you.