MXGP 2019 – Review
Follow Genre: Motocross sports, simulation
Developer: Milestone S.r.l.
Publisher: Milestone S.r.l.
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PS4

MXGP 2019 – Review

Site Score
7.0
Good: Excellent motocross simulation
Bad: repeats itself fast
User Score
7.5
(2 votes)
Click to vote
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 7.5/10 (2 votes cast)

The MXGP games series have been here since 2014, and it’s time for a new installment. The series made its name for being serious about putting a game with realistic biking on the market. In that aspect, it’s still the same and ready to let some mud fly high in the air. Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.

Story

MXGP 2019 is one of those games that doesn’t give you any story. You pick a character, you start your Grand Prix campaign (or do a quick race), and you will simply try to win at all times. Normally, in a game like this which doesn’t really have a story, you will create your own bits of narratives by how the game goes and evolves. In this game, however, there is literally barely anything besides the racing itself.

Graphics

Graphically, the game has two sides. The characters their faces are rather flat and with a podium scene at the ending, the beauty of the game is suddenly gone. But during the gameplay itself, riding the tracks looks amazing. The mud and the depth, especially the wet parts, they look almost photorealistic. The environment besides the tracks is not very detailed, but it’s alright. You could say they got the most important aspects right, namely you, the other bikers, and the track. More you don’t really need, cause it’s all there is when riding a bike.

Sound

Like with a lot of aspects for MXGP, the game stays true to a realistic approach. This means for the sound that, besides a loop in the menu, there is no background music available. During the game, you will have to do with a lot of revving and roaring engines, accompanied by audience sounds such as hooting horns and far away voices. Other than that, there’s nothing.

Gameplay

If you are used to playing racing games such as Need For Speed or you never play any racing game at all, MXGP 2019 can be hard as balls. In many ways, it’s more of a simulation game than it is a racing game. Partially, this has to do a lot with getting the hang of the controls and the lack of a proper tutorial in that aspect. The game decides to give you a first race instead, and smashing the buttons on top of the screen for you to read and slowly figure out. In such a case, the game can be frustrating right off the bat since you won’t be really able to get to stay with the group probably, let alone to finish in the first place.

Luckily, MXGP 2019 agreed on this, and they added a ‘’rewind function’’ where you can simply press a button to start rewinding and undo your past mistakes. This way, the game becomes somewhat accessible for younger audiences as well as professionals. Though in the end, it’s probably the game that’s best for motor and MXGP enthusiasts in general, since it reflects reality quite well. Next, to the graphics and the sound, you can really feel the resistance of the mud tracks that you are riding. Besides, the game is brutal in punishing you when you cut off a piece of track, and in general, when you go outside the track there will be objects to make sure you get wrecked as well. Even though you just get respawned on the track when this happens and your competitors will fly by you, this feels somewhat authentic because you cannot afford to go too much off track in real life as well.

One of the weird things is that during a Grand Prix match, which has about four laps each time and can easily take up to ten minutes of concentrated riding, you have to do this specific track twice. This gets boring rather fast. But besides that, the game can be overwhelming and the tracks are a bit overdone for no reason, you do get better at the game. Once you ran a few rounds and played with the controls a bit, it already gets better. Besides that, you can also experiment by finetuning your vehicle if other options suit you (or the track) better. These adjustments can concern the suspension, how far the wheels are apart, etc. There’s also a custom character creation screen that already pops up at the start, but this sadly adds little in choices. In the end, it’s just a game that properly simulates high stakes motor racing, no matter what you do or choose to play.

Conclusion

A lot that MXGP does is right on point when you are looking for quality racing. It’s challenging, for sure, but it’s still available for all ages with a lot of fine-tuning options to create an illusion of you being a real biker in the professional league. The tracks themselves look good and are fun to ride, but the repetition/lack of choices kind of kills part of the game. Still though, if you love motorcycles or the league in general, this game will do you a lot of good.

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Rating: 7.5/10 (2 votes cast)
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MXGP 2019 - Review, 7.5 out of 10 based on 2 ratings
Icecreamvamp


I'm a game designer, developer, and reviewer. I've been reviewing for 3rd-strike.com since 2017.

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