Review:
MOTO GP
Genre: Racing
Publisher: Sony
Players: 1-8 (AD Hoc)
Online Play: No
Firmware: 2.81
Video: Windows Media Player:
GameSpot Video Player
The new PSP racing games are becoming more and more successful, and although Moto GP is exactly what it says in its title, there isn’t much else to the game. Moto GP is by far and a way not an arcade racer. Instead you’ll be experimenting and analysing changes to the telemetry of your bike for optimum performance on each race circuit. All of the riders from the 2006 season are available to choose from, including the Italian legend Valentino Rossi, American boss Nicky Hayden, Makoto Tamada and several others.
The visual of the game is exceptionally smooth, and the framerate is just as proud. The highly tuned bikes also sound fantastic, which will undoubtedly add to the realism of your racing experience. However, the Season mode is about as bare as it could get, simply putting you through race after race until the year is complete, and the Arcade mode only really involves a single race where you choose which bike and circuit to race on. Multiplayer via AD Hoc can be quite fun with up to eight of your friends, but again, it’s very basic.
The Rewards section is similar to the Challenge mode you can find on the Moto GP console versions, but instead of having individual challenges to carry out stage by stage as we’ve seen before, you’ll need to carry out the challenges during your Season or Arcade races. This is a nice feature but nothing to get very excited about unfortunately.
The controls are in their usual positions for a racing game, but it can get a little uncomfortable after playing for a good while. The bikes handle very nicely with both the D-pad and the analogue stick, but if there is a slight complaint it’s the lack of under steer while going through a hairpin. It isn’t such an issue, because it’s the same for all the other racers too, but somehow it just doesn’t feel or look right.
Moto GP does succeed well in the areas it should do, but will probably only appeal to the more serious Moto GP fans. The racing is intense and with a full grid of 21 bikes is lots of fun too, however after a few racing seasons the game will begin to feel quite repetitive and boring. Apart from what’s already been said, there isn’t much more to say, reason being the game hasn’t got much else to offer. All this considered, I wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone who just wants a fun racing game because the gameplay is quite technical and unforgiving.
The verdict:
Uppers:
- Dynamic Moto GP racing
- Up to 8 players via AD Hoc
- Fluid framerate and visual
Downers:
- Very few game modes and challenges
- Little originality
- Pretty short lifespan
Overall score: 65%
Henry
07/03/2007
Linear Mode
