MXGP Pro Review

Bikes, Dirt and a whole lot of adrenaline fuelled racing

Milestone have a pedigree of developing adrenaline two wheeled racing, and MXGP Pro is the latest in their library which takes us into the Motocross championship from last year.

MXGP Pro is officially licenced game with all 27 official riders plus your custom rider from the 2017 championship plus 21 tracks which includes the 19 tracks within a season from locations such as Qatar, Italy, France but it seems to be lacking that British connection with no tracks from the UK. In addition you have a compound which has two individual tracks which allows you to practice bike control.

This means that the in game bike sound are authentic plus Antonio Cairoli who is a 9 times world champion adds his voice to the game when working through the tutorials.

Graphically there are some nice little touches during the start of the game as you drive around your compound. You are surrounded with a lush forest environment with great lighting effects such as sunlight coming through the trees this continues with the bikes and riders. You can also switch views from over the shoulder to helmet cam.

For me I feel the graphics are just above average, yes the game looks nice but nothing to shout about, It seems that some tracks have good looking backdrops but lacked in trackside details, not to say they are shoddy, but could of been improved. Yes it does have a bit of variation from track to track and it has official signage which adds to the realism to the game overall.

As this is off road you do get the build up of mud on your rider and bike during the race which really adds a nice touch to game especially when it’s raining, but it’s lacking that wow factor as rain doesn’t stream down your goggles or across the screen when you go through standing water, this is also the case of mud building up which is strange as it does occur visually when you have your camera angle set behind the rider.

Also even though each track has its own jumps, bumps etc the sensation when riding over the surface was very similar even during wet races where you got a little feedback through your controller but no more than you would in a dry race.

Bike handling is very tricky to get a hang of and it’s advised to go through the tutorials to get as much help as possible due to the steep learning curve of controlling your bike and getting it around those tricky corners, as the game uses a pro physics system which has made bike control very realistic which is great for authenticity but when trying to race 20 other racers and your have to use multiple controls to balance your bike it can be frustrating and makes you lose focus of track limits and usually results in me wrapping my rider around a sign at the side of the track.

As MXGP Pro will challenge the die hard fan of the series, beginners may struggle to get to grips with the handling within the game, even with practice at throttle control you seem to go slower rather than faster.

So to get the most out of MXGP Pro it’s all down to the customisation not just the bike and rider at the start of the game but for each race you need to really go through your suspension options, wheelbase and brake and acceleration settings to get the most out of your bike.

Even though there is plenty of customisation options for your rider outfits from decals to colour selection and the bike details such as exhaust type to wheel trim colour to name a few. And with options on weather, physics, rider weight and transmission it lacks simple racing options like time of day to race.

MXGP Pro offers the usual helping of game modes in single player.

Grand Prix – this mode allows you to do a single race or go for the full race weekend which includes both qualifying sessions and races which can be customised for short to realistic lengths giving you ample time to tune your bike for the race.

Time attack– this is basically keep on going around to improve your time which is good for getting used to the tracks

Championship –  this allows you to customise your own championship from the 19 official tracks or include the two compound track variations

Career –  the meat and Bones of any game there is a lot to get through before you even start with bike and rider customisation, but once you do it’s tough to get those credits to allow you to upgrade your bike and purchase new gear for your rider this can be anything from your sponsorship to overall colours.

Multiplayer  – where you can vote on what bike class and track you want to race on, and even though you may struggle to get the 20 players online to race along, MXGP pro offers AI filling so you will have a full grid to compete against. There are no tournament modes in multiplayer but can still create a lobby around the Grand Prix mode or your own custom Championship.

MXGP Pro is well presented with an easy layout menu system which is complimented with music that allows you to access game stats, downloadable content and plenty of other options, however the menu music does not play during races or tutorials.

SUMMARY

I might prefer 4 wheels rather than two, but I have begun to like a lot of the motocross games that have came out recently and even though MXGP Pro does have something different to offer especially if you put the hours in with the customisation options, it’s the steep learning curve with bike control which can be frustrating at times as you end up finishing plump last even on a Normal difficulty.

MXGP Pro is challenging at best and is ideally suited to the veteran gamers who play on a regular basis.