After the collapse of the deep brand MotoGP marked under the aegis of Capcom, guilty of having ordered a change of course too decided to arcade-style gameplay, the very Italian Milestone regained the rights to manufacture the franchise dedicated to lovers of the two wheels, announcing the development of the new version of MotoGP 13 PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and Xbox 360 and promising a return to the shores simulation so dear to the software house in Milan. Strong previous experience with the same brand and the experience gained with the SBK series, the development team decided to rewrite the code from scratch game in an attempt to create a new standard in the field of motorcycle racing simulations.
When there is less than a month to debut in stores, Milestone has sent us a preliminary code of MotoGP 13 PlayStation 3 to allow us to test first hand preview of the new driving experience, so as to savor the goodness of his renewed essence simulation. Although it was an incomplete version and still far from that which will debut on the market, we were able to try many of the methods that will be part of the full game to be released on June 21 in our country, which includes the usual in addition to the Quick Race Grand Prix and Championship, the rich history and the multiplayer segment, with more than positive impressions.
After the first few miles in the saddle to the ground motion of the samples to become familiar with the new model of leadership, taking advantage of the curves of the difficult path of Austin (the Red Bull Grand Prix Circuit of The Americas which is one of the main novelties of MotoGP 13) we launched the creation of a digital alter ego to venture in the fascinating Career mode, the real core of the whole gaming experience.
FORGED TO BE A CHAMPION
Once you have created your virtual pilot through the built-in editor, which is currently a bit 'limited in terms of options and customizations, we decided which model to apply to our guide runner: you can choose between style Balanced (typical of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo), which seeks to recreate the full merger between rider and bike, the Elbow High (characteristic of Ben Spies), which differs from the first to the position of the elbows, the shoulders Out (made famous by Daniel Pedrosa), in which the rider leans the upper body off of the bike folds giving rise to spectacular, the Body Out (inspired by Marc Marquez), in which the centaur brings out all over the body giving the impression to hang on to the bike and finally the Old School, which is based on the legends of the past by offering lean angles considerably smaller than today's decentralized and less weight to the axis of motion. Needless to emphasize how all these aspects should be to change the relationship between the pilot and his two wheels in contact with the asphalt.
No sooner said than done: select a style balanced for our driver, we launched in the run-up to the MotoGP dream starting from the second tier, Moto 3, as a wildcard rider. The first races will act therefore lead the way to real career, with temporary contracts linked to the achievement of certain goals (like win against a particular opponent or the conquest of a predetermined position in the standings) in the hope of being noticed by a large stable. Within our virtual office, you can manage several options to control the progress of his career: from the classic calendar, from which access to upcoming events, where the cabinet to change the look of the pilot (choosing between new suits, helmets and other items unlockable), going for the laptop, the nerve center of communications. Here you can see the e-mail of the technical staff and the team, who will communicate the goals of each race (such as the placement budgeted, the opponent to beat) and the interest of new stables. The whole is surrounded by a number of social networks and fictitious magazines that show the evolution of his career, the accretion of fame and popularity with the public.
The difficult Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas in Austin is one of the new circuits MotoGP 13: in our tests, it proved one of the most complex and technical entire campinato.
So, having earned his first contract by professionals in Moto 3, we have achieved the first victories gaining experience points and more acceptance among fans who have allowed us to improve our level and progress in the next category, Moto 2. At the discretion of the player the choice to continue ringed victories in the cadet class with a team of high-end, or accept one of the offers received to our manager and try their hand at making a top class experience in a less stable noble, hoping to be contacted by a great team.
ENGINEER OR PILOT?
It is important to emphasize that the gaming experience can be sewn on to the needs and tastes of the player, both with regard to the style of gameplay (arcade or simulation) that the use of each race. Before accessing any event it is possible to change the options about the structuring of the race (ranging from three days of practice and qualifying to complete one race, starting from the last position in this case) or its duration (from a minimum of 15%, usually three laps), so go to the box and put the finishing touches to the bike before getting ready to race. An intriguing cut-scenes accompanies the player in a virtual journey to discover the country of reference, emphasizing the traditions and characteristic facial features, before putting the spotlight on the circuit and its conformation.
Inside the box, novice users will be able to enlist the advice of the engineer who will explain in detail the operation of the bike and the basic regulation of the category, as well as suggesting modifications driven all'assetto of two wheels, so as to adapt it to your needs with automatic adjustments for various aspects such as suspension, disks, etc.. Clever users and experts will instead access to a more complete menu of customization of bikes, so as to adjust parameters related to the suspension, brakes, gearbox, engine and get the ideal set to your driving style. Each change is accompanied by a comprehensive explanation that illustrates the effectiveness of each intervention. Once all the preparations, it is finally time to get on track and enjoy a captivating cut-scenes that show the characteristics of the circuit and introduces us to the atmosphere of the race.
Jorge Lorenzo is ensconced in a corner while, in the background, the circuit is carefully sunny by the new dynamic lighting system, worthy of note.
In contact with the asphalt, you can finally enjoy the double soul of MotoGP 13: the arcade, dedicated to a user occasional, which is achieved by keeping all aid (enabled by default) for driving the display of the trajectory and the number of rewind (the ability to rewind time for a short period so as not to compromise the final result), and the typical simulation, the pride of the new production Milestone.
PROFESSIONALS OF TWO WHEELS
Our experiment was based on a progressive discovery of the new simulation engine of the Italian software house, turning off from time to time the various aids to discover the consequences pad in hand and the real contribution to the game experience. Action can be taken on the gearbox (automatic or manual), the automatic brake so as to manually adjust the contribution of the braking, and especially off the brakes joint (option that automatically balances the dosage of the brakes) to manage their braking using the front (key L2) or rear (X button). The position of the pilot is manually adjustable, choosing pressing Triangle when or stay up in the hull. The combination of these elements along with the contributions of the in-game physics make the driving model differs significantly from the first arcade approach, but it is just changing the race options that you can get a really convincing simulation.
In this case, you can change the AI ​​controlled by the CPU, which makes it more or less realistic the behavior of other drivers in the race through four levels of difficulty (from the amateur level dedicated to casual gamers, to the realistic simulation suitable for lovers of extreme ), or enable different weather conditions (allowing you to compete in the event of rain and test their skills in the wet), damages and technical problems (the first voted to reduce the performance of the bike in case of incidents and clashes with other drivers , the second to make every game unpredictable), and finally the tire wear, something that will affect the efficiency of the bike in the race. Adding up all these parameters, it was clear the need to devote many hours to practice on the circuits offered by MotoGP 13 for the best master control system, which in this preliminary release came at very, very promising.
In accordance with your taste, the player can choose the driving style best suited to itself, starting from a setting typical arcade driving simulation a rigorous, robust and multi-faceted.
In particular, the driving pattern set on a manual control totally impressed us to differentiate between the motion of different categories, with different and realistic physical reactions based on the use of a Moto 3 or a more powerful MotoGP, driving on 'dry or wet, the entrance into curve and the behavior of inclined planes, the displacement of the weight of the rider on the bike (left analog stick moved to the front or back) and adjustment of the TCS (traction control).
A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE
Even the sensation of speed changes drastically by using the third-person view, that of the handlebar or that - unedited - from the helmet, which returns a good feeling especially during the inclination of the bike and stretch over your opponents, especially the achievement of the crazy speed of a "monster" of the MotoGP category. Are quite evident also changes from the pits on the parameters of its two wheels, which result in different behavior of the motorcycle especially in sbacchettamenti entrance and exiting a curve, and in the management of the brakes. What is not fully convincing is definitely the collision physics, far for realism and quality of the animation from the standards to which we have become accustomed to the best productions of the moment, which give the feeling of being limited to a few and monotonous pattern, although it is often to fall over at high speed.
Since then it seems too artificial behavior of the drivers especially to the difficulty level closer to the "realism" of Milestone: more than pilots voted in a spectacle every turn, overtaking moment of the race, the riders of MotoGP 13 show an enviable infallibility in every single corner of the circuits, with very few cases of falls and accidents "spontaneous" if not deliberately caused by the behavior of the player. The guide too quiet and remote pilots translates into the ability to take advantage of detached and overtake three or four bikes at a time following the right trail, or to make their way quickly from the twentieth to tenth place at the start. Aspects rather unlikely in a real race.
Check the bike coming out of a curve, especially managing the "weight" of a MotoGP bike and with the guidance totally set to manual, it will never be too simple ...
Technically speaking, MotoGP 13 can count on a graphical appealing from a menu colored in hi-tech style until you come to the realization in-game, via the excellent cut-scenes that attempt to emphasize the selected circuit. Polygonal models of motovetture are outstanding, as well as animations related to pilot based on the different physical behavior of the bike. Great use of dynamic lighting that goes to interface with settings all in all the discreet glance, while the fluidity of the game (usually anchored on 60fps) must deal with occasional slowdowns during the most hectic. Do not be judged fully sound, plagued by obvious problems of dubbing in the preliminary version in our possession: the final one will be accompanied by the voice of Guido Meda [Gavin Emmett I believe for the English versions], which will make an overview of the circuit at the time to enter the race. Pleasant soundtrack, though at times distant (by genre and style) from the usual driving games and possibly more suitable for an action title dramatic tones.
For the rest, the expectations of MotoGP 13 can only be positive: it is a return to the glories of simulation Milestone characterized by a pattern of driving solid, robust and multi-faceted, fully customizable by the user who can choose to create the own learning curve and change the behavior of the bike to suit your taste. We only hope that the software house Milanese able to shave a few flaws in the behavior of drivers opponents, whose AI is far too conservative, neat and perfect for a sport spectacular as the MotoGP, and management of physics relating to collisions, at times decidedly unnatural . See you next month in the pages of Videogame.it with our comprehensive review of MotoGP 13!
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With every video there seems to be visual improvements, often when you see alpha footage of a game it doesn't improve that much.
