MotoGP 13 is the latest game made for the Motogp racing championship. Milestone has now taken its go on the series after it lost its rights following the mediocre MotoGP 08 game. Racing fans all over the world were excited when the game arrived, but in the end it turned out to be something different than what the fans had expected. It has been developed by Milestone Games which is well known for its bike racing games like the Superbike World Championship series. The series’ last game, MotoGP 11/12 published by PQube, received unsatisfactory reviews, hence disappointed the fans.. MotoGP 13  began shipping on June 21, 2013 for Xbox 360, PC, PS3 and PS Vita platforms, and has also reached to the OnLive cloud gaming platform.

Gameplay and Interface

MotoGP 13 starts by giving players a customization screen to scroll through a set of options with a limited selection to choose their name, nickname, country, colors and the riding style. It’s not really as extensive as you’d expect from a full-priced game and seems like a free to play game. It does not come up to the 2013 standard; especially considering the fact that new consoles with more memory and processing power are getting released this year.

After the customization screen, you’re greeted by the main menu where you can access different game modes. The menu is quite simple and feels like developers went a little too safe while designing it.

The game features four single-player modes: Grand Prix, World Championship, Career Mode and Time Attack. Grand Prix is a standard mode where players select a class, team, rider, track and weather conditions to compete in a single Grand Prix weekend including practice, qualification and the actual Race. The World Championship mode allows players to compete in either full or custom seasons in MotoGP, Moto2 or Moto3. Career mode is the main single-player mode of MotoGP 13 which incorporates both first and third person elements as players enter a team in Moto3 due to some wildcard events. At the start, they are given an option of selecting from three teams, all of them with varying bikes and overall race performances. Players then must race multiple seasons in an attempt to ultimately become the MotoGP world champion. The career mode offers some new features for MotoGP video games which include: Parc Ferme, motorhomes and a walkable garage. The motorhome is the hub of career mode offering statistics, rankings and interaction with the team leader through a virtual laptop. The hub also has a wardrobe to edit your riders’ appearance,, and there’s a newspaper as well featuring articles on your last race. The career mode has also been expanded through objectives given by your personal manager.

Time Attack allows players to race against the previously set high score. MotoGp 13  features offline multiplayer with split screen for up to two players as well as online multiplayer for a maximum of 12 players. This is a rather arcade-style mode.

MotoGP 13 has all the official teams, riders, tracks and bikes from the 2013 MotoGP season, along with the bikes and riders from the 2012 season available through DLC. Some of the most famous tracks in the racing world, such as the Circuit de Catalunya, are also included in the game.

Before the race begins, you’re greeted with a video montage of the city. You will be racing in ― something that seems amazing at first, but gets boring after a few minutes and you desire it to end as soon as possible to proceed towards the actual game. Before the race, players are introduced to a helmet cam inside the pit stop, and the coach is on the right who teaches a few things about MotoGP racing. It is quite an extensive guide filled with descriptions and explanations of things you didn’t know about MotoGP. On the other side, there are mechanical options that allow you to edit and tweak your bike in a manner similar to other racing games we’ve seen in the past few years. Once the race starts, the rider walks towards the bike with an engaging helmet view angle, which then jumps to the racing grid.

After completing a race, you’re rewarded according to your performance and the position you achieve in the race. You are provided with “fans” that help in leveling up and unlocking new attire for your riders. MotoGP 13 offers enough stages and modes to please the gamers. The tuning is good, but serious Moto racing fans would have loved something that goes a little deeper.

The racing is fair, as it gives an interpretation of how it feels racing one of the monstrous vehicles, though the gameplay is mostly too much on the safe side. Moreover, you do not feel you are on the top of a bike that can deliver speed of more than 200 MPH. Even in the most tensed situations, the game does not give you an adrenaline kick that some previous versions were able to deliver. By default, all the assisting mechanics will be turned On, which will give beginners and casual gamers a lot more confidence, but experienced players are better off without them. Assisting mechanics seem to hinder the game’s authenticity. All bikes in the game offer great handling, and balancing is not really a problem. The ability to lean is great along with the option to control gears, though automatic mode is just as great.

The pressure applied on the accelerometer is great, with the ability to control gas, brakes, and steering is also amazing. Even the mechanics are incredible and add a great degree of realism into the game. The dynamic weather seems outstanding with races starting dry, randomly changing to rain and sometimes even reverting back to dry weather.

Sound and Graphics

This is one area where MotoGP 13 takes a turn for the worse; it features unnatural engine sounds, with the graphics being outdated and buggy. While playing the game, I saw holes in the skybox which really distracted me and damaged the sense of immersion. There is a noticeable jerk in camera movements, even from the slightest touch of the analogue stick, something that becomes quite annoying during races.

Conclusion

Although MotoGP 13 is interesting and authentic with its amazingly realistic mechanics, Milestone has under polished it, causing it to have outdated graphics and unappealing sound. I feel that had Milestone given a bit more time on its development, the aesthetics would’ve been better and made the entire experience a lot more fun. The title is one of the few great bike racing games in the market, but I would only recommend it to hardcore MotoGP or motorcycle racing fans. There are many better car racing games in the market for a lower price. I will give this game a 6/10. So, what do you think about the game? Share your opinion with us in the comments section.

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