Each year, Milestone promises the best MotoGP every created. Last year, they dropped the ball on a couple of things but those should be resolved in this year’s entry. Is this the MotoGP game we’ve all been waiting for or should we wait an extra year for an even better one?

Play as you want

MotoGP is a long-running franchise developed by Milestone and aims to satisfy those looking for motorcycle action. The best part about the franchise is that you’re able to play it just the way you want it. You can play it as a pure simulator where the weather, tension of your tires, and weight of your motorcycle all affect the way you perform, or you can go for a more arcade expierence. Right from the start, you can select a lot of options to transform this game into the motorcycle game of your dreams and that’s clearly one of the game’s strengths. Allowing gamers to experiment with the different levels of difficulty is what brought in so many fans years ago, it’s good to see that MotoGP 19 still follow that same pattern.

When it comes to playable modes, it’s all a bit more limited. You can follow a rather shallow career where you have to finish first or beat certain times, you can enter the online tracks, or you can try your luck in historical races. This last mode is new and offers a welcomed change to the modes we played in previous entries. During these historical races, you’ll have to reenact some of the most memorable races in MotoGP history. At its core, it’s the same as the career mode but I’m sure a lot of MotoGP fans will adore this nostalgia. Combine this with the fact that Milestone installed dedicated servers to ensure a more fluent online expierence and you know this game already improved a lot compared to last year’s version.

Never underestimate your opponents

The second big innovation is your opponent’s AI. Milestone hired an entire company to program the behavior of your opponents, all in order to mimic the real races better. It must be said while playing the game, I did notice these ‘smarter’ opponents. Where they often followed a certain path or kept racing on one line in previous entries, it seems like the other racers are doing what’s best for them. They are a lot more unpredictable and make decisions based on your flaws. They know how to race and how to exploit your weakness so you better prepare for some real challenges this time.

It’s a huge step forward compared to the other games but it’s also clear it’s the first time they tried something like this. The opponents can make rather bizarre decisions, leading to unnecessary crashes. Although it’s definitely a step in the right direction, these bugs can still pull you out of your immersion quickly.

The same technical issues

Although the game improved on a lot in this year’s version, it still offers from the same technical issues. Moving to the Unreal Engine 4 resulted in a better-looking game but it’s still far from where it should be. The motorcycles and tracks look their parts but everything else looks bland and boring, belonging to something of the previous generation rather than on a modern console. It’s a bit of a shame Milestone hasn’t addressed these graphics since it’s something fans have been complaining about for a rather long time. The same goes for the loading times. Surely, they got slightly faster but they are still way too long. Starting a race takes minutes and this really takes you out of the moment. I’m hoping these issues will get fixed later on as a patch and hopefully in MotoGP 20.

Conclusion:

MotoGP 19 is a step up compared to the previous entries thanks to its improved online mode and AI. That being said, it still suffers from the same technical issues and it could all look way better than this. If you’re a MotoGP fan this certainly is worth considering, just know it’s not the best on the market, although it’s starting to become really close.

7.5/10

Tested on PlayStation 4 Pro