After spending the week with MotoGP17, I can confidently say the game does what it sets out to do. The dev team at Milestone does an excellent job at providing an authentic MotoGP racing experience.
Graphics and Presentation
In MotoGP17, you can see where Milestone poured the game’s resources. Despite lack of depth in the background environments, foreground items look gorgeous. In addition, Milestone spent a generous amount of resources into the bike models. From material finishes to sound design, MotoGP17 gets the bikes right.
The look of your bike is also effected by several factors like damage, weather and environment debris. Take too many falls and you’ll see it reflected on your bike. The game also ships with a tire wear-down feature.
Off the track, Milestone created a beautiful visual presentation in MotoGP17. The UI is clean and easy to navigate even among new comers. Everything from the menu music to color palette works in unison to give you that grand prix atmosphere.
Gameplay
General gameplay is about as beautiful as the bikes themselves. While hardcore fans will definitely appreciate the skill and technique required to be good at the game, new comers may not. MotoGP17 comes with quite the learning curve if you’re completely fresh to the series. Typical racing game fans may have little to no trouble adjusting to the setting of MotoGP17. However, the casual gamer could have a daunting time adjusting to all the jargon and advanced features given before races.
On the other hand, that’s the nature of sports. The game would certainly benefit from a dedicated tutorial for riders who want to take the time and improve so they can ride with the big boys. Nonetheless, there is a true feeling of gratification if you stick it out and learn the techniques. It’s all in the turning.
The bikes feel accurately weighted and their representation from sound to handling feels spot on. You also have options to adjust your bike before each race. A nice touch in immersion, good job Milestone.
Game Modes & Longevity
There’s good and there’s bad. If you’re looking for an online experience crawling with players ready to race, you’re out of luck. There did not seem to be any inherit problem with servers, just a lack of players for each lobby. I tested this on unfiltered matchmaking. Fortunately, the game does offer solid options for private matches. So, grab your buddies and tear it up.
The good is that there is plenty to do in the base game alone. All game modes allow you to race individual races, races and qualifiers or a full weekend event. This includes split-screen as well; pretty neat. In addition to a rider career mode, you can play a managerial career where you manage riders, sponsors, events and a host of other things. The customization options aren’t incredibly deep but its enough to not be a detractor.
Conclusion
MotoGP17 is built with the core fan-base in mind. This may isolate it from casual and new fans but for those who really want to get into the series, it’s well worth the effort. The game is built solid and looks great. Milestone focused on the authenticity behind racing a bike of this caliber and it shows. A little advice for anyone looking to take this on, take the time to study all aspects of the game. Practice makes perfect, so hit the tracks in Quick Match before hitting the career modes.
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