I‘m not
really a big fan of racing, nor am I a big fan of racing games. This
rings true for sports games also, though every year, I end up with
at least one sports title in my hand (usually the new Madden).
Though odd as it may seem, I still end up playing different racing
games, with one of my favorites being Gran Turismo 3. At least for
simulation racers, I get bored pretty fast, as the "extras" that are
added to them aren’t really something that interest me very much.
But after some pretty positive reviews, and after being constantly
fed up with the lack of good Xbox games, I decided to check out Moto
GP 2, a motorcycle racer.
Gameplay
Everything in Moto GP 2 is rather simple, especially when getting
started. There are three kinds of game modes you can enter - Single
Player, Multiplayer offline, and of course Multiplayer online. In
single player, there’s a career mode that has many tracks to race
on, and also various seasons that you can "race" through. When
beginning your career, you start out with a bare bones racer,
literally. Well, maybe not literally, but his skill points suck. No
need to worry though, the game is nice enough to get you started
with 18 credit points, where you can use to improve Cornering,
Braking, Top Speed, and Acceleration. Or in other words, what you’ll
need to place first place in the later races, when the opponents get
hard.
Before you get into racing, there’s a training course that serves
its purpose by explaining the controls and how to play the game a
little bit. For completing different training “missions”, you’ll be
rewarded with credit points that are used to improve Cornering,
Braking, Top Speed, and Acceleration. So before you even get into
beginning a race, you can already have a nice head start on the
performance of your motorcycle. There are different areas of the
world which will have each track that you race in, and you can
either try to qualify for a better starting position that’s closer
up front or just enter the race like a real man and move up the
positions by skill. I think that the qualify is absolutely
pointless, it’s a lot more fun to start in the back and make your
way up to the front by pure skill (not that I’m a master at racing,
anybody can master a racing game...well, maybe...).
As you win races, the next track in the circuit will unlock, and
you’ll receive more credits to distribute throughout your rider’s
four stats. Also, as you win more races, the maximum amount of
points each skill can have also rises, since when you first start
the maximum is only 20.
All of the tracks in the game are from real world locations, and
there are about 15 or so riders total after some of them are
unlocked. For the most part, the racing physics in Moto GP 2 seem
pretty true to how they are in real life, though turning is
definitely not realistic. Although it doesn’t take long to learn how
to use the left trigger to use your back brakes before going into
turns, or the B button even, which serves as both a front and back
break. When you turn, the bikes slide too much, way more than
they’re going to do in real life. I have rode dirt bikes before, and
even though the surfaces are much different, they’re not different
enough when it comes to turning, where they actually share similar
traits. The handling sucks. Let me get that point across before we
go on any further, handling and turning is definitely NOT realistic.
As far as turning goes, in real life, going into a turn is not going
to include a drift of the bike going sideways. Now maybe if it were
in the snow and you were trying to take a turn at 40-50 MPH, but on
a black top surface on a sunny (no clouds) day - I don’t think so.
Racing is pretty intense, and once making your way to the later
tracks, the computer controlled racers get pretty damn start, and so
you’ll either have to start re-thinking your racing plan, or go back
and redo your bike's attributes. But then again, there are other
times where the opponent AI are so atrociously STUPID at times, like
when they just run right into you when you’re turning. In a real
freaking Motocross race like this, they’re not going to just ride
right into someone without trying to get out of the way or at least
slowing down a little bit. Really, you’d think that as much stuff
that THQ put into Moto GP 2, they’d have been able to create some
much better AI. The AI isn't the only obstacle stopping you from
finishing a lap as fast as you can, but to encourage people to
practice staying on the track, every second that you’re off the
track is added up, and at the end of the race will be added on to
your total time, which would then equal your total, total time. This
feature is very interesting, and is a big motivator to stay on the
track. After a while though, you’ll be so good, you won’t have to
worry about the grass...well, at least, yeah.
Other than the physics, the rest of Moto GP 2 is great, and will
please any simulation racer fan. But single player can only go so
far, and so the multiplayer is what really shines in Moto GP 2.
Whether you’re racing against people online through Xbox Live, or
racing the person next to you - multiplayer is definitely what Moto
GP 2 is all about. While I don’t have Xbox Live up and running at
the moment due to stupid credit card problems, I have played it over
at another friend’s house, and it’s really fun. Though, if you
thought you were like a "master" at the game, just wait until you
take your skills online and get them shoved into your face like they
were nothing. I’m not joking or exaggerating in any way, their are
people in Moto GP 2 online that are absolutely amazing. Like, some
of them were so good that they looked like the computer controlled
racers in single player, only with brains. If you’ve got Live,
you’ll be prompted at the beginning of the game to choose whether
you want to make an offline or online profile, and once it’s been
made, even if you’re not racing online and are just racing single
player or something, your best times and such will be recorded and
ranked in an online database for all to see. Those without Xbox Live
needn’t worry much, as the rankings aren’t really THAT big of a deal
(...well, maybe for some people...), but those with Xbox Live have a
real pretty penny to look forward to when they log on to Xbox Live.
Hell, you might log on one day to find your fastest lap for Le Mans
as number one - who knows?
But for those without Xbox Live you can still enjoy multiplayer with
another friend in different modes. You can choose to do a quick
race, race for the championship, race the grand prix, trick attack
(stunt, whatever), or my personal multiplayer favorite - Tag Mode.
Other than Tag Mode, the other modes are pretty self-explanatory, so
I’m just going to explain tag mode. To my dismay, Tag Mode WASN’T
where you knock the other person off his or her bike, but is instead
a kind of skills test. Each track is broken up into different
"segments", and who ever goes the fastest and is the most agile,
will get a point for that segment. On turns, you have to pretty much
take them perfectly, yes even the 90 degree turns. If anyone’s
played any multiplayer in the Tony Hawk games, Tag Mode is exactly
like Graffiti mode in Tony Hawk, only with motor cycles instead of
skate boards.
Graphics
I never played the first Moto GP when it came out close to the Xbox
Live release, so I can’t compare the two titles. Whether I played
the first or not though, Moto GP 2 sports some purdy visual effects.
There isn’t really much of a variation between tracks, as they all
basically look the same aside from the design the track is in. The
riders though do look good ("goooooooood"), and the bikes have a
smooth look to them, and actually look realistic. From what I could
tell, the frame rate stayed constant. I don’t know why there would
be any slow down though, about the only thing fast on the screen is
you. Even when in a big group going into a turn, or you crash and
are watching the crashing animation, the frame rate stays constant.
There are little detailed touches in the game that really help the
looks of the game, such as smoke that forms after peeling out.
Another little detail is when another rider bumps your rider, and
he’ll flip them off. Actually, he might just be shaking his fist at
them, but I like to think that he’s flipping them off, for a little
comedy relief.
Sound
The sound in Moto GP 2 sounds just like a motor cycle racer should,
at least as far as sound effects go. The motor cycle engines roar
(or squeal, I consider them squealing), the tires squeal, and you
get the nice "bam, bing, boom" whenever you wipe out. The music is a
nice addition, as there are some nice rock titles to listen to,
which fit the game pretty well.
Overall
Though I’m not a race fan, nor do I really like the games all that
much, Moto GP 2 had enough entertainment in it to keep me busy
through and through. I really wish that I have Xbox Live access
right now, but since I don’t, I have to live with the single player
and addicting multiplayer. Of course, I’m sure that multiplayer
would be even more addicting once I got the game online, and the
online might have been enough to bump up the score.
