Developer: Milestone S.r.i
Publisher: Milestone S.r.i
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Tested on: PS4
Ride 3 – Review
The Ride franchise has come a long way, from its bumpy start with the first game to the immediate redemption they made by making the second one so good. Because Ride 2 has set our expectations quite high, we were really curious when Ride 3 was announced. Milestone did not only improve their formula, they made the game even more enjoyable than its predecessor. With a very large campaign and loads of customization options this is a game that will stay fun for hours upon hours.
Story
Bike racing is not for the faint of heart, driving at dangerous high speeds while only wearing some protective gear to save you from getting road rash (i.e. scraping body parts over concrete). The game starts with a ‘new driver’ event that you may participate in with a loaner bike. This first race puts you against some rookies but also against some talented racers and, upon completion, you can choose a new bike from one of four categories. This opens the world of racing to you as you can now either take driving lessons and earn new bikes early or immediately dive into your racing career and climb to the top. This is how far the story goes; you just race and try to be the best driver in the world. Progression is as fast as you want it to be. You can either decide to rush to the top, or you can simply complete each event and build up a proper collection.
Graphics
The graphics are a bit disappointing in comparison with Ride 2. It seems that the previous title had better textures, but that might be due to the atmosphere. Ride 3 has put a lot of effort in the dynamic lighting making everything look very realistic. The bikes and tracks look nice and the fine details to clothing and vehicles are very pleasing. Overall, the game did not improve that much graphically and, sadly, due to the new lighting technique, those who enjoy riding from the wheel perspective will have troubles reading the dashboard. More specifically, the glass reflects light and makes the dashboard unreadable. It’s highly realistic, yes, but annoying as well.
Sound
The sound is where improvement is really felt, or better, heard. The bikes truly sound like their real-life counterparts, making your ears your best friends in high-speed battles. Furthermore, when racing, you might not always have the time to look at your tachometer to know how high your engine is revving, but the craftsmanship behind the engine sounds is so perfect that races are won by hearing the sweet spot of your bike. If you want some music during races, you must make it by revving the engine, which is the only sound you’ll hear. It isn’t that bad because the bikes sound so good, it makes you concentrate more on the action.
Gameplay
Ride 3 is a racing game that is centered on the two-wheeled division of motorsports. Bike culture is a rich one with a lot of history and, just like with cars, there is a style for each one to enjoy, which makes for a very diverse game. You start with a loaner bike and after the first event you may pick a ride of your choice. This opens the wide world of Ride 3, and it is huge! Content-wise, you will invest hours playing through the championship mode and with the freedom to attend whichever event you want, you are as free as a bird. This means that for most events, you can just complete some races and pick another one. Let’s say you want to ride a super sport but suddenly get a craving for classic bikes, well, you can just switch to another event without losing progress. One thing that has changed compared with the previous game is the prize bikes. In Ride 2, you got a bike after winning an ‘end-of-season’ event, but in Ride 3, you can get a bike after each race event. However, to do this, you need to get all the stars, and this can prove to be a bit troublesome. Sometimes, there is an event in which the opponent gets a significant boost. While it is more difficult to acquire prize bikes, the number has increased drastically, so it doesn’t hurt the wallet that much to upgrade your bike to give you a better fighting chance.
Talking about modifying bikes, oh boy, did Milestone improve this greatly. Not only do you have a handful of engine modifications (even camshaft stabilization and friction reduction to name a few), you can finally personalize the looks to your heart’s desire. Yes, in the previous version you could modify some parts and swap some colors, but now you can paint and sticker the body parts to make a unique ride. If you lack inspiration, there is the option to download liveries that other players have made, and there are some cool ones available. The list of bikes isn’t short either, with the range going from retro models to the most sophisticated crotch rockets.
Realism has always been a major focus point in the Ride games. It is essential to have the right parts fitted and take aerodynamics into consideration and bringing the engine to its maximum feels different. While this isn’t much of an issue with four-stroke bikes because of the way they are built, Ride 3 brings the feeling of driving a two-stroke to a new level. Simply put, you will notice that two-strokes will have less power on the last gear, while the four-strokes don’t have this drop. Taking aerodynamics into consideration is of uttermost importance; if you want to win a race, ducking behind the fairing is something that improves acceleration and cornering. If you are an aggressive driver, you can try pulling a stoppie (i.e. shift all the weight to the front wheel to bring the rear wheel in the air) to make a quick stop.
Conclusion
The new Ride title is yet again a great title with fun, realistic gameplay and a large amount of content. You can customize the bikes to your heart’s desire, build them to your needs and have the chance to win a lot of them if you fare well on the course. With hours of pure enjoyment and bikes that handle like in the real world, nothing is more fun than popping wheelies in victory.
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