Developer: Kylotonn
Publisher: Nacon
Platform: Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC
Tested on: Switch
TT Isle of Man 2: Ride on the Edge (Switch) – Review
Last month we had our hands on the console version of TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2. Because the Switch version came out a bit later we decided on doing separate reviews on these different platform versions. In comparison with the previous game, it seems that quality did improve a bit, yet it was worse in the Switch version. This dumpster fire that is called a game might have some good parts to it, but overall it’s a bad experience.
Story
The campaign mode in TT Isle of Man2: Ride on the Edge is pretty long. You will start at the rock bottom of the racing league and you will have to work your way up into the leagues, to finally run the Isle of Man cup. At first you have to qualify in a race to get sponsors interested in you. This is when you realize that the way to the top is very long. This is good as you will develop your driver and bike along the way. You can’t just climb the Himalaya without training first. Story progression is long, as there are many races to complete.
Graphics
This is the section where the game seriously takes the loss. When first booting up the game you might have high hopes, seeing the menus are really nicely made. You start the tutorial and you get kicked back to the early 2000s. Everything looks like a smoother version of the first PlayStation’s graphics. There is barely any attention to detail, visuals are bland and some cockpits are just nonexistent (a moving dial but non-readable surface). There is no depth to the colors, animations are simple and stiff and overall visuals look like a twenty-year-old game.
Sound
The sound department has seen a bit more love. The bikes sound realistic, as their engines will scream at high RPM. There is no music playing during races, only some music combined with engine sounds on the main menu. There is a voice-over that gives you instructions during the career mode, which is a nice addition to the game.
Gameplay
TT Isle of Man 2: Ride on the Edge is a racing game that tries to be a realistic racing game but has a few flaws in its driving engine. To start, it generally feels that your character has never passed his driving test for his driver’s license. During the tutorial you get a taste for the different racing setups and it feels like all is well, but during the first real race the frustrations arise. Unless you put the game on full assist mode, you will fall off your bike for every small wheelie you make. ABS doesn’t seem to work, as holding your front brake for a second will make you fly off your bike and your rear brakes don’t seem to work at all. If all these parts won’t turn you away, then their dastardly take on races will. See, this is probably the first game that will give penalties to the player when trying to restart a race as each time you will be deducted 10% of your pay if you retry a race (increasing to 20% for the second try and so on). As if the bad response to controls wasn’t bad enough, the penalties aren’t very welcoming for new players.
Even though you are driving some top of the line racing bikes, they handle like bricks. It is understandable that a bike weighs a bit and the driver must shift their weight to control it at its highest potential, but the bikes don’t corner and it is sometimes better to just scrape the wall to turn in.
There are a few realistic aspects to the gameplay though; you have different temperatures of your tires, brakes and engine. These will affect the races as hot components won’t be as effective as those who are on the working temperature. You can upgrade your vehicle, but to do so you must unlock these items in the career mode from sponsorship contracts. Also a wide range of different cameras will make the game a bit more accessible, from driver view to third-person and helmet cam.
While there might be some pretty bad aspects to the game overall, there are a few good things to it as well. Next to the lengthy campaign, there is a nice range of different bikes and modifications. You don’t really have artistic freedom but you can free roam around the island to explore places or take scenic routes.
Conclusion
While initial responses seemed better for TT Isle of Man2: Ride on the Edge, the reality is much, much worse. The graphics are that from twenty years ago and the gameplay is horrible and unforgiving. However, there is an elaborate career mode and sounds are ok. But as the game isn’t fun to play, it feels like a missed opportunity, unless the developers fix the wonky controls and physics.
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