Game Reviews

MotoGP 2010

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MotoGP 2010
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| MotoGP 2010

There are few things as thrilling as speeding down a highway on a motorcycle, feeling the air rush by and the scenery blur at your sides.

There are also few things as dangerous. Balance on a motorcycle is critical - shift your weight incorrectly or take a turn too fast or tight and you feel the asphalt rush by your head.

MotoGP 2010 never finds that balance, swerving all over the track as a result of imprecise controls and an indecisive mix of simulation and arcade handling. Yet even if the controls were sufficient, this would remain a poor racing game because of its lack of features.

Shifting weight from side-to-side

As with any racing game, it's the handling that wrecks MotoGP 2010. Never do you feel as though you have complete, precise control over your machine. In attempting to differentiate handling from bulkier cars, the game overcompensates with oddly tuned handling that has you ping-ponging from one side of the track to the other.

To be fair, motorcycles do offer a higher degree of manoeuvrability, yet that's been taken to an extreme. Tilting your device slightly yields a minute shift in weight by your rider, whereas a more deliberate tilt has the effect of whipping the bike around. There's little in between - you're either drifting ever so slightly or fishtailing.

Braking helps combat unexpectedly sharp turns, although the brake button in the lower-left corner is entirely too effective. Pressing it for more than half a second brings your bike to a complete stop.

Arcade simulation

If you were to accept the finicky handling as representative of simulation mechanics, then there would be no way of reconciling such with the employ of arcade boost. Opposite your brake in the lower-right corner is a boost button that rockets your motorcycle forward. Extended use causes the function to overheat, which encourages moderation.

The amount of time required to overheat your boost is so great, though, that you can easily exploit it for most of a race. Holding it for a couple seconds, then releasing to let it cool off, then pressing it again is an effective means of maximising boost.

This saps the races of any challenge and negates the need to drive with any skill. Even if you bounce from one side of the track to the other and find yourself behind, you can just jam on the boost button to retake the lead. Not only does this destroy any sense of simulation, but it makes for a poor racing game.

Where's the game?

MotoGP 2010 has other problems. The lack of multiplayer - neither local or online - puts it at a serious disadvantage to other racers and the generally underwhelming slate of single player features makes it unattractive. Online leaderboards, alternate modes of play, and a more involved Career mode are needed.

Deficient in gameplay and features, MotoGP 2010 never achieves the careful balance vital to avoiding a crash. Systemic are the nature of its flaws that it's unlikely to improve with updates and as such, it can't be recommended.

MotoGP 2010

Muddled handling that confuses simulation steering with arcade speed makes MotoGP 2010 a disappointment not only for its lack of features, but for its gameplay as well
Score
Tracy Erickson
Tracy Erickson
Manning our editorial outpost in America, Tracy comes with years of expertise at mashing a keyboard. When he's not out painting the town red, he jets across the home of the brave, covering press events under the Pocket Gamer banner.