MXGP3 - The Official Motocross Video Game
There
isn’t much of a Motocross following in India, but that didn’t stop us
from trying MXGP3 — The Official Motocross Videogame. Motocross
is essentially a bunch of bikes racing on closed, off-road tracks. The
dirt tracks feature several hairpin bends and lots of small inclines and
slopes. If you’re expecting high-speed motorcycle racing on flat
tracks, you need to check out the MotoGP series of games instead.
As
much as we wanted to get into Motocross racing, MXGP3 did a very poor
job of getting us interested in the sport. There is no tutorial level to
help new players out, and no explanations to help you to get interested
in it. There is only one screen full of screenshots and text
explanations. This made learning harder than it should’ve been. A series
of tutorial levels would’ve been really nice. This is a game built for a
niche audience, and one that only Motocross fans will enjoy.
This
is made clear by the fact that MXGP3 lacks an arcade mode — where
motorcycle physics and advanced controls don’t matter much. This is very
much a simulation racing game, and that means that there is a steep
learning curve for those who want to play.
That said, if you are
willing to invest the time required to learn how to properly race a
motorcycle in off-road tracks with some nasty turns, MXGP3 can be quite
rewarding.
After a while, we had figured out a few basic things.
This is definitely not a high-speed racing game. MXGP3 requires intense
concentration — much like actual Motocross racing — and there is a very
low margin for error. For instance, on one of the tracks we kept
crashing at one point where a hairpin bend appears right after a slope,
which is at the end of a long straight. We’d be zipping across the
straight at around 100kmph and then find ourselves flying off track,
resulting in a crash. Even at the lowest difficulty setting, winning
races was quite the challenge initially, as one minor mistake would end
up costing us a lot of time.
This is exactly why the game rewards you with 50 percent additional
credits for a five-lap race, when compared with a three-lap race.
Keeping your concentration levels up on twisting tracks is quite the
task.
MXGP3 has a lot of tracks and different riders — all
official Motocross racers — to choose from. The single-player mode
includes a full career, apart from individual races and championships.
If you’re a fan of Motocross, there’s a tonne of content here to keep
you occupied for hours.
You can also spend time tweaking your
motorcycle to suit the track. For instance, you can change the gear
ratio to long for tracks with long straights, or make it short for
courses with a lot of hairpin bends. Then you can go into more detail,
such as tweaking the front and rear suspensions for certain tracks. You
can tweak your motorcycle before every race and that’s a great feature
because the riding experience changes significantly, and can mean the
difference between winning and losing.
While
MXGP3 is all gung-ho on realism, the graphics are quite average. The
tracks don’t look great and the motorcycle graphics also are a bit
dated. On the other hand, there were no noticeable performance issues
even with 22 bikes on screen, which is a good thing. There were also a
few other elements that made us wonder how realistic the game actually
is. A few times we saw the front tire of our bike landing on another
rider’s back but he just rode on as if it was a feather and not a heavy
motorcycle landing on him. We also saw other bikes’ tyres landing on our
rider’s back with no effect. Issues like these were quite surprising to
see.
Overall, MXGP3 is a game that will please hardcore Motocross
fans who want a simulation racing game. It’s almost hostile towards new
players or those who don’t follow Motocross, but if you take the time
to learn how to play, then the game does reward you.
Pros
- Excellent tracks
- Licensed content such as riders
- Motorcycle tweaking
Cons
- Dated graphics
- Not entirely realistic
- Lacks tutorial
- Doesn’t help new players
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