MotoGP 21, the tried
MotoGP 21
The release of the new episode of the officially licensed Milestone MotoGP racing series is fast approaching, and it will be really interesting to put yourself back in the shoes of the strongest riders in the world grappling with the next championship. For several reasons.We are talking about the first edition of the game also developed for next-gen platforms, therefore PS5 and Xbox Series X | S, as well as a product that will inevitably have to deliver us a career redesigned with respect to to the one, already excellent, of last year.
Beyond the contents and the technical sector, are there any news also in terms of gameplay? We tried MotoGP 21 on PC thanks to a non-definitive build that the Italian development team made available to us, and here are our impressions.
Contents
MotoGP 21, one of the images game officers. The MotoGP 21 demo that we were able to test offers only a taste of the full version, with only two accessible modes (Grand Prix and Time Attack), a single category (MotoGP, with current riders and teams but also classic ones ), the editor for the helmets and a total of nine tracks: Aragon, Argentina, Donington, Jerez, Sepang, Silverstone, Texas, Valencia and Losail.Let's talk about a test focused on mechanics and sensations in-game, more than on the content that we will find in the final game, available starting from April 22; as part of the package which, moreover, does not allow shortcuts: you are immediately in contact with the fastest vehicles and it is not possible to get used to the less aggressive engines.
Gameplay
MotoGP 21, one of the official images of the game. In short, the learning curve of the MotoGP 21 demo is quite steep and you have to resort to the inevitable set of options to "sweeten" the riding experience during the first races, under penalty of an inevitable series of frustrating failures during the corner entry. The bike seems to brake a little and lean slowly, and so being on the grass upside down is an instant.It is therefore necessary to turn a lot, memorize the characteristics of each track and find ideal trajectories and braking times : the former are suggested to us as usual by the interface, while the latter are often deceptive and must be anticipated by a good second. After that, however, it is necessary to confront the opponents, who, depending on the level of artificial intelligence, will be more or less fast, more or less precise.
MotoGP 21, one of the official images of the game. From this point of view, we have never made any secret of liking situations that may be unrealistic but certainly useful to make the gameplay more varied and surprising. We are talking specifically about the crashes of the other pilots due to the same mistakes that we often and willingly make: in the demo we have seen several, but only because the non-definitive code of the game tolerates them more than it should.
So we will see which balance will be found between now and the launch from Milestone, but it is clear that the game will also and above all be played on the contents. In terms of mechanics, in fact, no big differences are perceived compared to what we saw in MotoGP 20, the system is solid and scalable as always and therefore fans of two-wheeled racers will hardly be disappointed.
Implementation technical
We expect MotoGP 21 to run at 4K and 60fps on the new consoles, using the same dynamic scaler seen in RIDE 4. The PC version we tested, and which seemed to us already quite stable, will therefore be the best embodiment of this episode, capable of reaching real 2160p and keeping them at 60 frames with no apparent effort on an RTX 3070, keeping even all the effects to the maximum.You can see some tricks in the circuits to make the scenario visually richer and more animated, but once again the effects and some details (see the polygonal models of the characters, rather and the always the same animations of the awards) to determine the technical distance between the Milestone-branded productions and the most famous driving games. Who knows if it will ever be filled.
We had no doubts about the MotoGP 21 system, which also in this demo is confirmed as solid, multifaceted and with a clear inclination to simulation realism, with few compromises regarding some specifics aspects of the driving experience. Technically, the new episode performs very well on PC, with 4K at 60 fps and all effects to the maximum on an RTX 3070, but we will also have to see how the graphics will be on consoles. The main modes are still shrouded in mystery, which will really make a difference.
