Review for MotoGP 20. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 23/04/2020
Net of the great uncertainty surrounding sport, due (rightly) to the tragedy generated by the COVID-19 issue, the many fans have - for the moment - had to do without the world of motors. With the championships formula 1 e MotoGP, typically at the start right in this period, still until a later date, the palate of spectators grown up on bread and silver arrows or in whose veins a rampant horse runs or, perhaps, accustomed to rejoicing in front of the now "immortal " Valentino RossiHowever, having started what should probably be his last season on the track, he is therefore destined to remain dry for some time yet.
Fortunately, Milestone will come to the rescue of the most passionate people who, despite the current emergency, has kept faith with its roadmap, bringing without delay whatsoever to our consoles MotoGP 20, the latest chapter in the iconic saga dedicated to the most loved centaurs in the world of sport.
This year's edition presents itself at the starting line with a great load of novelties, but at the same time accompanied by a well-established and overall appreciated play structure but not free from blunders of sorts and some historical defects that the series carried with it for several seasons. After spending several hours in the company of MotoGP 2020 and guiding our avatar towards great goals (but also many resounding defeats), riding our brand new PlayStation 4 Pro - but remember that the game will also be released on Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch and Google Stadia - we are ready to take stock and, pass the term, however it goes, Milestone is there!
A life as a midfielder
The beating heart of this MotoGP 20, as in the past, is undoubtedly the Career mode, enriched for the occasion by a profound and satisfying managerial role. This in Milestone's intentions is clearly one of the cornerstones of this new vintage, called in some way to give new life to an increasingly interesting series, of course, but in need of novelty. Needless to say, once we had the game in our hands, we quickly jumped right into the aforementioned Career, thus rediscovering an incredibly valid and rewarding product. In fact, MotoGP 20 makes things very clear right from the start: to win, at any level, “only” skill on the track is not enough.
Just as in reality, at the base of every success there is a long program, a path planned in many small decisive steps to reach a satisfactory final result, and from this point of view MotoGP 20 does not show itself in any way shy, bringing on the screen a product with a marked and well-defined managerial position from all points of view. Ready to go and, immediately after choosing the starting class and team, freely selectable among all those present from Moto 3 to MotoGP, the game will immediately ask you to put on a real staff, essential for the purpose of an easier progression in what proves in no uncertain terms a real den of wolves.
In fact, the difficulties encountered are many: we move on to the economic question, for which we must pay close attention to the budget, in order to finance elements such as the development of the motorcycle or the hiring of a manager more skilled in procuring contracts. remunerative and with greater ambitions, to those on the track, with a bike whose performance is heavily linked to the research and subsequent development that we have been able to achieve with our management of the staff and its work.
This choice gives the Career a higher longevity and a different taste, capable of giving the player a much greater feeling of satisfaction than in the past, since even with the damage and penalties set to a minimum, we have been able to notice how much, race after race, each of these changes will have a heavy impact on the performance of our racing car and consequently on the career of our alter ego. The aspects to keep an eye on do not only concern the technical and administrative part, but inevitably also involve what is the crux of the matter, that is, the satisfaction and expectations of the team they belong to. From this point of view, in truth, the game is slightly less "pretentious", since we have noticed several times how the renewal of the contract took place despite not having achieved some of the set objectives, which on the whole always tend to be within reach and in any case in line with the bike being driven.
However, what has broken this almost perfect balance between realism, management and pure fun, is the difficulty curve, at least that of the Career Mode, as far as we are concerned, poorly calibrated and incomprehensible in some passages. Net of the many best performed (all the upgrades made in the first season), inexplicably, on the track the bike continued to suffer from a performance that to define fluctuating would be an euphemism.
In fact, very often we have happened to finish last starting from pole or have to chase even the less performing bikes from the point of view of performance, forcing us to hang out in the last positions despite all the great work done. In general, however, at least in his career, everything seemed to us really too much piloted, with our bike almost always forced to surrender to the others without the possibility of appeal. To complicate matters, the total management of the consumption of elements such as fuel and tires, an appreciable choice but which, added to the rest, gave way to some moments of pure frustration.
Style to sell… but not always!
As already mentioned, Milestone has launched on the market a product that wants to improve itself in many respects, without necessarily revolutionizing a playful formula that has already been widely tested and appreciated. Also on the front of the gameplay MotoGP 20 is about to start the new season characterized by the right compromise between innovation and conservation, bringing home an overall satisfactory final result. The main attention, and we have already anticipated it by talking about the Career, is focused on the new neural intelligence (defined 2.0) which directly affects elements such as the management of the motorbike in the race and above all on what is the very trend of each Grand Prix.
During the race you have to pay attention to every single aspect, to avoid finding yourself quickly with a handful of flies in your hands. To be clear, if you do not give enough intention to fuel (it has happened to us several times, believe us) you could remain "on foot" a few hundred meters from the finish line, thus nullifying a whole weekend or, perhaps, by choosing the wrong tires you could cars relegate to the sidelines of the race very quickly.
The "new" gameplay of the game therefore requires a greater attention on the part of the player, also because the artificial intelligence of the opponents is much more advanced and "bad". Very often, for example, we have encountered in a bitter way (with lots of ruinous falls) with far too aggressive pilots, eager to attack every single space regardless of the - sometimes too obvious - consequences.
It goes without saying that the annoying elastic effect, typical of such productions, is experiencing a strong improvement this year, precisely due to the aggressiveness and acumen of the drivers in the race. By consulting the HUD it is very easy to see how many overtakes are made during a race, both in the queue and in the central part of the ranking, with the trend that tends to diminish when the very first positions are taken into account.
The improvements made go hand in hand with an overall conservative motorcycle physics, but not free from some small improvements and some historical defects that return again this year. The small difference between running on a dry and a wet track didn't make us crazy, while we noticed big changes using a fresh set of tires and one worn out by the many laps made during the tests.
Clearly, all this information must be taken with due attention since everything (or almost) is freely customizable through the use of numerous sliders that have the task of shaping the gaming experience to our liking. Starting from the balance of the bike (reliable even to the skilled hands of your mechanics), passing through the management of penalties, damage to the bike and the "simple" difficulty of the opponents, everything is completely customizable to your liking, further evidence of how important is the user for Milestone, once again determined to shape a product for all tastes.
Fun for all tastes?
Continuing the discussion on continuity but with a few small additions, even the range of the 2020 MotoGP playful offer is classic, without disruptions and in line with the past season, albeit without some timid step forward from some points of view.
MotoGP 2020 offers the player the possibility, in addition to the aforementioned Career, to play a championship in the role of their favorite rider, to start a Grand Prix single or to try your hand at the inevitable Timed Challenges for a single player offer, as we said earlier, completely classic and conservative. Everything is embellished with a much more interesting Historical Mode than in the past and which is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most valid alternative to Career. Completing the various Historical Challenges, in the role of drivers like Valentino Rossi, Troy Bayliss, Kenny Roberts Jr. and many others, it is possible to earn a particular currency to spend in the Historical Market, in which you can unlock new teams and new drivers, to give yourself to an unbridled completism, worthy of the best possible fan.
Also the online multiplayer offer it is very similar to that of last season. Taking advantage of the new dedicated servers provided by Amazon Web Services, now more stable and characterized by significantly less invasive latency problems, it is once again possible to take part in classic meetings or in the much appreciated Match Judge Mode, introduced with the last incarnation of the Milestone course title. The decision to rely once again on the classic "rooms", however, we do not feel like sharing it in full, since we often found ourselves having to wait our turn, thus giving life to "dead" moments that are anything but pleasant.
Nice and snappy
Also on the aesthetic level MotoGP 2020 does not change its base, but tries to perfect it with some improvements scattered here and there. And it succeeds, on the whole, especially by analyzing factors such as lighting and the quality of outdoor environments, which have always been the most obvious weak point of production.
The polygonal models of the bikes are impeccable and their performance on the track, especially in the rain, is a real pleasure for the eyes. What left us slightly dumbfounded is the physics of the racing cars themselves, in some situations all too light and not very credible, but overall, thanks also to an important stability on PlayStation 4 Pro, on which you can easily reach the 60fps granite, the technical sector of MotoGP 20 undoubtedly represents one of the highest points of production.
We were not convinced by the models of the pilots and mechanics: the latter, in particular, suffer from a fairly heavy and not very useful asset recycling in the production economy. Once again the editor of liveries, helmets and various customizations for pilots is very valid. Both by downloading them online and by creating them yourself (and then sharing them with the community, of course) the possibilities in aesthetic terms are as usual multiple and are combined in the best way with a graphics sector made even more pleasant and homogeneous by a license practically of the MotoGP total that accompanies both the game graphics and the menus in general, for a final result of certain reliability.
Very good, in conclusion, the sound: if the dubbing of Buoy again limited to the initial and final phases only, the roar of the engines and effects on the track in general is once again at the top and offers the player an even more realistic and profound experience.
MotoGP 20 manages to improve the already excellent play formula set up in the past by Milestone, although not being able to be exempt from blunders of sorts. The main problems remain linked to an excessive difficulty curve in the Career, which makes the mode in question very interesting and satisfying, less fun than it should. By turning a blind eye to the question, you have a very good racer in your hands, who, however, once again lacks that innovative streak as regards online modes, which would have definitely benefited a lot. Nothing to say about the technical sector, once again the real flagship of the package, even if unable to take a real step forward in terms of collisions, once again not very credible. The new AI 2.0 is very good: the evolution of artificial intelligence makes itself felt entirely, to the delight of the purists of the genre and of those who, in general, are looking for a continuous challenge.
► MotoGP 20 is a racing-Simulation-Sport game developed and published by Milestone for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 23/04/2020
