Racing simulators are notorious for their ultra-realistic mechanics, and high skill requirements to have a chance of finishing a race with a decent placing. There are no janky exploits, no corners to cut, and no one but yourself to blame. MotoGP 18 is no different. The game makes minimal effort to hold your hand and makes no bones about it. Every action you take matters, and with one false move you could find yourself in dead last, or even crashing into a wall. Racing sim purists will feel right at home with MotoGP.
MotoGP offers a surprisingly in-depth tiered tutorial to help you adjust to the strict nature of high-level races. It starts off fairly basic, and with a few crutches to teach you the most simple concepts of racing. It focuses on acceleration and turning and assists you with breaking so that you don’t have to worry about it at first. Once you have mastered turning and accelerating, it then promotes you to a “semi-pro” tutorial. It teaches you when to break and how to break correctly to improve your overall time. It removes some of the assists it initially provided, forcing you to learn the correct timing to decelerate so that you can make the most efficient turn possible. Once you have successfully mastered accelerating, decelerating, and turning, you then move on to the “pro” tutorial. The pro tutorial turns off all assists previously given to you and focuses on teaching the ideal pathing to take during the race for the fastest time possible. It also introduces a mechanic called the “traction control system,” which allows you to tune your bike to fit your racing style.
Once you complete the tutorial and mastered the mechanics of MotoGP, you can then tackle a multitude of modes. There are single-player modes such as Grand Prix, Time Attack, and Championship mode. But once you’ve gained a little more confidence in your skills, there are multiplayer races that allow you to compete head to head with other people.
The showcase of the game though is Career mode. True to its name, Career mode allows you to experience what it’s like to be a rookie, competing in amateur races and getting noticed by major sponsors. Eventually moving on to the pro circuit and competing in the Grand Prix. It’s the most in-depth mode and is easily the best single player experience in the game.
Overall, MotoGP 18 is a solid entry in a long and storied series with a huge fanbase. 2018’s addition is a fantastic entry-point for new fans who are unfamiliar with the racing simulator genre due to its excellent tutorial while retaining a high difficulty curve that even the most experienced and skilled players can enjoy. Once the eSport Championship mode is made available, and the highest caliber of players have a platform to compete on, MotoGP 18 will be an outstanding chapter in the MotoGP saga. As it is now, it is still a sterling example of a motorcycle racing simulator.
The Good:
The Tutorial: An in-depth and well thought out tutorial allows even the greenest of players to hone their skills and work toward becoming a Grand Prix champion.
Enjoyable by Everyone: Even though MotoGP 18 is a fantastic entry-point for newcomers to the series, the game remains true to its roots. Veterans can turn off all assists and compete at the highest level possible.
Final Thoughts:
MotoGP 18 is still a motorcycle racing simulator, enjoyable by casual fans, and fanatics of the series alike.
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