MotoGP 19 review: Better than the Game of Thrones finale?

A Tribe Called Cars ditches four wheels for two and bangs on about Game of Thrones, as part of its MotoGP 19 review.

Formula One. Once the pinnacle of motorsport, where man risked it all in the pursuit of victory. But recently it’s gone a bit Game of Thrones finale on us. As in, s***.

Fortunately two wheelers are more exciting and less predictable than a season 8 Jon Snow script (“YOU ARE MY QUEEN!”). So I asked developer Milestone to carrier pigeon over a copy of MotoGP 19, the latest annual instalment of the superbike racing game.

 

Now it’s fair to say MotoGP 18 was “not great, not terrible”, to quote the popular Chernobyl TV show meme. Switching to the Unreal 4 engine caused its share of problems such as long loading times and bad character models. Dull presentation was also a bugbear, but then it was at least faithful to the sport.

Mistakes have been heeded in MotoGP 19. Not only is it visually superior, it comes with all the latest rule and regulation changes as well as all 19 official tracks and every rider from MotoGP, Moto 2, Moto 3 and the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.

In addition, there’s a new AI system known as ANNA, short for Artificial Neural Network Agent, that’s meant to make your rivals less robotic. For the first time, you can also enjoy lower your carbon footprint in the electric-only MotoE category, although strangely not in the career mode.

Multiplayer, meanwhile, now uses dedicated servers (Amazon AWS) for better performance. A third MotoGP e-Sport championship is also coming, starting later this year.

MotoGP 19: Starting out

At MotoGP 19’s heart is the career mode. Here, you take on your AI opponents in free practice, qualifying and then the race.  You can do everything, just the main event and anything in between, it’s up to you.

Putting in extra laps is rewarded. Free practice sessions give research points to develop your bike. In addition, the extra riding time makes it easier for you to rectify handling issues and quirks using a series of multiple-choice questions from your team mechanic.

Like in F1 2018 and other racing games, you have a sponsor. Consistently complete certain targets such as qualifying in the top 10 riders and you will be approached by other sponsors, who can offer faster bikes at the price of higher expectations.

You can start in the slowest Rookies Cup to get some practice and maximise longevity as I did. But there’s nothing to stop you from hopping on a 250hp monster and crashing into a barrier from day one. You have been warned.

There’s also the Historic Race mode, which has you riding in legendary MotoGP moments from way back in the day to recent times. Apart from teaching you about an underrated sport via the descriptions and providing a short television clip to enjoy, these represent some of the toughest challenges.

Just securing a bronze medal can be a pain, whether that’s setting a qualifying time or beating a certain racing legend such as Casey Stoner. For gold, it will take blood, sweat and many rear tyres to be fast enough.

MotoGP 19: Two-wheeled heaven?

Being brutally honest, MotoGP 19 comes across as ropey at first. Bikes somewhat hover above the road and the visuals look somewhat basic on the standard Xbox One.

Some of the animations in between races are amateurish, too, while the inclusion of the umbrella-toting race ladies (who all seem to have some sort of lower eyelid disorder) may upset some gamers. Then there’s the stilted dialogue between races and lack of commentary.

MotoGP 19 is, however, more pleasing to look at when the weather gets bad – much like how it is with Dirt Rally 2.0. Frame-rate issues and loading times range from short to non-existent, which is another plus.

Give it a chance, however, and you soon realise the core gameplay mechanics are sharper than Arya Stark’s dagger. The bikes and rider are nicely weighted, making it vitally important to nail your turn in point or waste momentum and unbalance things.

Each motorbike squirms about as it struggles for traction, particularly in wet conditions, requiring you to ease off the accelerator and lighten up on the cornering. On the limit, it’s a constant tug of war between being smooth and fast, yet aggressive and quick to react. Like in real life.

Being gentle with your inputs is therefore essential. Only a slight controller vibration before you lose the front wheel or put too much power to the rear stands between success and sliding along tarmac on your face in comical fashion. It’s enough to make the bikes feel intuitive and predictable, though.

Two wheels, or not two wheels?

Even with all the driving aids on, of which there are fewer than in Forza Horizon 4, it’s still necessary to lose as much speed as possible before turning into a corner, as is the need to learn your braking and turn-in points for each bike. Unless you want to cheat a bit and use the rewind function.

You also need to manage the throttle at a race start, manage tire wear, control the front and rear brakes individually and then learn everything again when it rains because you have considerably less traction (things get very slidey indeed). It’s all suitably realistic.

Then there’s option of the ‘Pro Career’ mode, which disables rewind and makes life even more difficult. Perfect for wannabe Rossis and Pedrosas who like a challenge.

The beefy, insanely fast MotoGP bikes take the most skill to ride, as even with the braking distance and line assist on you can easily overshoot a corner. But they are also the most rewarding to master and provide the fastest thrills in the game.

It’s impressive how enthralling MotoGP 19 becomes once accustomed to your bike. At one point I was ready to hang up my riding shoes and go back to cars, now I’m as hooked on perfecting my lap times as Cersei Lannister is on brotherly love.

Speed-wise, only the Isle of Man TT game looks faster but it’s surprisingly close given the wider circuits. I opted to turn motion blur to its lowest setting (but not entirely off), which keeps things moving rapidly without impairing your riding.

As for the AI, at lower levels it can be a bit too much of an organised procession, with each racer taking almost identical lines. It also waits one or two corners ahead for you, making it possible to come back from last to first in one lap.

Fortunately you are subjected to the odd brave overtake and nudge, some may even knock you off, making them more human. Crank up the difficulty and your margin for error becomes smaller although there is still work to be done in this area to make it fully convincing.

What about the bad stuff?

If you are expecting a racing experience as comprehensive and polished as F1 2018, you’ll be disappointed as there is much less race preparation to delve into. Good for flattening the learning curve, bad in terms of depth and realism.

Repetition is also an issue if you plan to avoid the multiplayer. There are only four championships and the historic mode to complete outside of the joys of setting fast laps so you may not stick around long if the sheer pleasure of bike racing isn’t enough.

There are also some features seen in other racing games that MotoGP 19 would benefit from. Having an online leaderboard after each career race, for instance, would let see where you rank in the world and add another layer of competition. Being able to quit out of a championship mid-season would also be useful.

It’s a shame, too, that some of the historic race text entries could be written better as it’s fascinating reading about some of MotoGP’s legendary moments. A little more variety in the challenges would have been great, too, although racing’s racing.

MotoGP 19 worth the money, then?

Despite looking last generation in places, there’s much to commend in MotoGP 19. Its portrayal of speed is almost unrivalled, the way you can glide around a corner is as graceful as dragon flight (unless the Iron Fleet is nearby) and there’s adequate realism for those who want a challenge more difficult than defeating the Night King.

But even at its best, such as when trying to get gold in every historic race, a touch of repetition and a lack of depth are felt, which makes MotoGP 19 less accessible than, say, F1 2018, Forza Horizon 4 and Forza Motorsport 7. Despite the improvements, it’s still a niche product.

That’s fine by me though because Milestone has made one of the best motorbike racers in existence. It’s a faithful, enjoyable tribute to a motorsport that keeps you on the edge of your seat far better, as it turns out, than the fight for an old iron seat.