Anyone who likes a lot of noisy machines and games at the same time, sometimes looks for a title that brings fun in one track. Speaking of motorcycles, there are not too many games on the market to translate this entertainment into a virtual form. In comparison with the number of titles focusing on car races, we find a special disproportion. The interest in racing games is great, but much less in two-wheel competition. Here, however, we can argue. Perhaps the interest in motorbike racing would be greater if there was a game on the market that would bring the same quality experience as car games. Creating such an entertaining title on motorcycles is obviously more difficult, but nevertheless somebody tries it regularly. It is, of course, the Italian studio Milestone, which has been developing racing games for years.
However, the work of Milestone does not have only one-track history. For a few years, developers took care of the WRC brand and where-here they wandered to cars with other, less known brands. In addition, they are trying to improve the reputation of motorcycles and especially licensed MotoGP series. Since last year, the creators have decided to make bigger changes, taking the next step up with the current MotoGP 19. So this year we stopped to take a closer look at the almost invisible tread, smart racers and especially the new motorcycle championship with the sound of a high-speed electric mower. Artificial intelligence and a brand new MotoE competition are the main drivers of the current edition.
As with most similar games, here is the introduction of your character - a rider. You can choose a default face profile and, of course, all other accessories, their color, and so on. Here, however, the authors shifted the level a little higher with the advent of their own editor. Thanks to it you can edit and design your own helmet, overalls or motorbike. You can choose from pre-made stickers, but also create brand new ones. At the same time, you can publish and upload any sticker you create to the server, allowing other players to access it. So you can search the next large volume of player-created stickers. With the editor, however, everything just begins. The game includes a variety of game modes, ranging from a career through a quick game, to new, historic competitions that are very interesting to diversify.
Historic races are available in four different categories, offering a total of dozens of races in total. But they are always relatively short races for one, maximum two laps. However, the system is set up so that you are rewarded with a bronze medal only to meet your primary goal. To get silver or gold, you need to do something extra. All races focus on a particular event in MotoGP race history. The game puts you on a motorbike in the role of a famous racer, who for example managed to get to the first place in the last lap. So your goal is to win, but if you want to go higher, you have to win a few seconds ahead. All these situations are accompanied by footage from a real race. Ultimately, this is a simple, but really nice addition to the standard campaign and other competitions.
The main competition in MotoGP 19 is a campaign that is a full-fledged championship. You have your own racer to sign up with one of the teams on offer. Each team offers a different motorcycle and thus represents a different manufacturer. They can vary in performance, which is very important, but you can also upgrade your bike for points earned for development. You can improve your engine, shock absorbers or electronics. However, you do not have to complete the whole championship with the selected team, as you will still be able to subscribe to another company. The authors offer a relatively large possibility to personalize the entire course of the competition. Basically, it is the number of laps, but before or after each race you can, but do not have to go through the whole weekend, from free rides, to qualifications, to specific races. So you can choose the course of the weekend.
The game features 19 well-known circuits, making contests a continual challenge. You can play the race in different conditions, under heavy rain, on wet asphalt or, of course, on a nice sunny day. There are also trails with night riding. Motorcycle riding is, of course, significantly more demanding than on cars. This requires much more discipline and concentration, and you pay much more for mistakes. How much you will blame your mistakes, you can set it yourself, so it can be enjoyed by those who do not have a lot of experience with motorcycles, but will appreciate even more experienced players. If you set up more assistants, the game will forgive you for braking or accelerating, cornering. This will make your asphalt contacts less frequent. On the other hand, with a realistic driving model, you'll be on the ground even with less hesitation. In such cases, you may be able to save your time, but it may be turned off as well.
The authors boast of a completely new artificial intelligence. It is supposed to be based on neural networks, which means that it can constantly learn and improve its behavior almost to the level of real players. This information is certainly interesting and important enough to be an example for other games. So, if it works the way the authors say. I have to say that I did not catch this news immediately, but only after several hours of playing. At that moment, however, I realized that in the game I had almost no collisions with other riders, and they were very well able to react to various unpredictable situations.
If there was a collision, it was my fault. Despite a clean ride, the rivals were not perfect and they were also able to make mistakes, collide with other riders or dangerously climb the grass. It is a very interesting change and experience. Thus, it is not possible to determine if artificial intelligence is so good that it is indeed clear that it is a neuronal AI, but it is certainly at a very good level. It is also important to mention the possibility of adjusting the difficulty of artificial intelligence. Not only easy, medium, hard and so on are available. So they're here, but you don't change the level just in these three positions, but on the full scale from 0 to 100 in units. With this option, you can precisely adjust the level of artificial intelligence to match your skills and experience to ensure the best experience from every race.
In addition to a great rider's career, you will also find faster modes like championship, fast driving or time trial. Among the championships you will find all levels of MotoGP competitions, including the new MotoE. Here, of course, it is a competition on exclusively electric motors. Such races have limited circuits on which the championship can be held, but in the end it is another new experience that pleasantly complements the content of the game. There is also a multiplayer, which also has several modes. You can choose from rooms created by players, you can create your own, but you can also become an organizer of online races. This is an interesting mode, but I found the main problem of the online part - a small number of players - both in regular and in this case. The number of rooms created can be counted on the fingers of the hands, while the number of players in them is also very small. Rather, you can use it when playing with a known game.
MotoGP 19 takes the series one step further. It offers exciting content that will be most appreciated by great motorcycle fans and long-time MotoGP lovers. However, less experienced players are also pleased by the rich possibility of editing individual competitions. The current edition is a bit more interesting thanks to new content and artificial intelligence, but it still encounters repeated shortcomings - weaker graphic design or a really small number of players. While offline content is colorful, it can only entertain you for hours. If you are motivated to grow in a campaign, the game will last for several tens of hours, but the very deserted online part simply freezes.
