MotoGP 3

Get ready for another MotoGP game complete with all drivers, teams and tracks from the real Moto GP championship

Riding a motorbike at 250 KPH while fighting for position against big stars like Biaggi is actually totally insane. Your life insurance company would add so many zeros to your annual payment that you'd need a MBA degree to read it. But what to do if you crave for exactly that experience? No need to worry, Namco has the solution for you with MotoGP 3 – the newest instalment in Namco’s famous series of motorcycle racing games.

MotoGP 3 is actually MotoGP 2,5. They've updated the graphic engine, and the statistics, and they've added more tracks, bikes and challenges. However, this is not a bad thing at all.

As the name suggests, MotoGP 3 once again builds on the official MotoGP license. Therefore you get the real thing: You’ll be able to battle Max Biaggi with your brand new Yamaha superbike on the Japanese Suzuka track. Additionally you can also have fun with a number of fantasy tracks and riders.

Do you want a challenge?

In the Legends races you have to face the elite drivers and they fight for every inch

The basic choices in MotoGP 3 are about as surprising as the latest episode of Temptation Island. You can drive arcade races, participate in a season, hone your skills in time trials or take a multiplayer match against up to three buddies using multi-tap. Additionally you’ll find a few variations (that were also a part of MotoGP 2, though): Legends and Challenges. The Legends part lets you compete in short races against a handful of elite drivers, who drive extra fast because of their status. It’s a very difficult discipline to master as the AI drivers fight for every inch and every position.

The Challenge part consists of 100 challenges. This is the place if you want to unlock the many bonus items like extra bikes or photos. The challenges vary a lot and you might be given the task to complete a section of a track within a very short amount of time or to beat a specific driver with a specific bike. Most of the objectives are very difficult, though, and require more skill than finding a free parking spot in London during daytime. Most of them are timed and I often failed them by 0.050 seconds or less.

Simulation kicks

MotoGP 3 is not hardcore simulation but demands quite a lot of training

You can always choose between to modes of driving – by saying yes or no to driving simulation. If you use the arcade mode, it’s pretty easy to control your superbike. It never really punishes you – even if you drive of the track or apply full speed while in the middle of a turn. However, if you choose simulation you will realize that it can be far more complicated to drive a superbike than a racing car.

In the simulation mode physics are quite good including separate controls for the front and rear brake. Although Namco still don't simulate these awesome machines 100% correctly, you must prepared to use quite a lot of time for training your driving skills in order to avoid low-side and high-side crashes every fifth second. For example - as I’m used to F1 games, I often had problems in MotoGP 3 with turning early enough into the corners and not constantly slamming the pedal halfway into the corner.

The game also includes a garage feature. Although it's rather simplistic, you still get to change your bike's acceleration, handling and so on, which should satisfy most gamer's needs. And the changes do actually matter on the track.

The motorbikes and riders are highly detailed

In the preview a few weeks ago I mentioned the controls and that I missed an analog control for acceleration. That's no problem anymore. Both steering and acceleration can be handled via the two analog sticks on the PS2 controller. Furthermore the Namco's implementation of the rumble-function deserves praise. It really gives you a better feeling for the bike and adds some fun to the game.

Like TV

The replay feature is a highlight - complete with raindrops and shaking cameras

MotoGP has always been top-of-the-notch when it came to graphics, and Namco once again proves that they know how to make a motorbike game look great. If you slide of the track a brown ring of dirt is clearly visible on your tire until it wears off. And if you try to drive in the first person view while it's raining, huge raindrops make it difficult to see anything at all. Overall animations, shadows, weather effects, superb view-distance all add to the feeling that this might actually be something you could watch on your TV (although I would like a slightly better feel of speed). Especially the great replay-mode with trembling cameras and raindrops make the races fun to watch afterwards.

Sound is also great – apart from the annoying game-music which reminded me too much of a cheap adult-movie (not that I’ve ever seen any of those…). After a few races I turned the music off and enjoyed the sound of my bike instead, which also helps predicting when you’re crossing the bike's physical borders.

Not multi enough

Once in a while you get a glimpse of this Namco girl who has nothing to do with the game itself at all...

Sadly PlayStation 2 gamers won't be able to enjoy the superb online features of the Xbox version of MotoGP2. There's no support for iLink og PS2 Online. So you have to settle for the splitscreen modes.

In the single-player mode there's plenty of action on the track, however I don't understand why there's hardly one overtake per race between AI drivers. If a driver starts in position 9, he'll most likely finish in position 9. This takes some of the drama away from the game and is a shame. A bit more competiviness would have added a lot to the fun.

So while MotoGP 3 certainly isn't perfect, it still offers lots of high quality gameplay, and Namco have once again proven that MotoGP is the top franchise when it comes to console motorbike games.