MXGP Pro: The Official Motocross Videogame is a Motocross simulation racing game available from retail stores and for download from the PlayStation Store for the PS4. Motocross is a sport that continues to grow every season with the first-ever motocross championship being named the European Championship that was won by Victor Leloup in the 500cc category in 1952. MXGP began to branch out globally from 1957; therefore the official debut world championship winner in the 500cc category is actually Bill Nilsson. MXGP has undergone many reinventions over the decades through accompanying the 500cc category with a 250cc and even at one time or another, a 125cc category. MXGP Pro is the official videogame based upon the 61st MXGP world championship season. Can Milestone Italy’s fourth entry in the MXGP series improve upon its three prequels to deliver the most immersive Motocross game to date?
Prior to the start of gameplay; the player has the opportunity to customise their rider’s licence including their first name, surname, nickname, racing number, team name, nationality, 10 face types and height between 160 to 200cm, alongside numerous combinations of font styles, numerous and colours to choose from. The next major step is to choose a manufacturer from the available selection of Honda, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, TM Racing and Yamaha.
Gameplay begins with an optional tutorial at a large scale compound located in Italy on a hard pack track surface showcasing the basic gameplay elements including engaging the clutch and revving the accelerator when at the starting gates; how to rewind; forward and backward weight balancing; how to perform a scrub to efficiently position the bike upon landing a jump; and riding with pro physics enabled. A further half a dozen training sessions covering in-air control, cornering, scrub, riding in the wet, starting and braking also take place within the confines of the compound. Every training session category includes five sessions, although the following session within a category is unavailable until successfully completing the previous session’s objective. Each session takes place on a certain physics setting on a specific bike and contains strict rules and objectives such as passing through all the cornering indicators before crossing the finishing line within the allotted period of time in a fashion that is reminiscent to Gran Turismo’s licence tests. Motivation is provided to participate in every training session category until completion of all 30 individual training sessions; as the player’s custom rider receives a bonus improvement upon completing each training session category such as the bike’s in-air setup responding quicker.
An immediate addition to career mode in MXGP Pro is the inclusion of an extreme career that essentially offers the most realistic Motocross career as only full race weekends are allowed and the player is not permitted to use rewinds; however the risk and reward factor sees more credits and fame produced in comparison to the standard career, alongside a special rider outfit and exclusive livery for the MX2 and MXGP championships. Meanwhile, standard career provides fully customisable options, although given that standard and extreme career modes use separate save games; the player can try extreme career and return to the standard career without potentially losing ground in the current championship season.
Your career begins in the MX2 class by choosing a 4-stroke or 2-stroke bike. You will initially have four sponsorship offers that afford you the funding to be able to travel and compete in races in your own private team with the same quality of sponsor reward that are all looking to sponsor a rider that can finish in at least 12th position come the end of the championship. There are a further 12 sponsors that can only be earned through increasing your rider’s fame value by achieving positive finishing positions during each race weekend, although those sponsors have lofty expectations for your rider’s results in exchange for improved rewards in a fashion that is similar in approach to earning XP and levelling up in Milestone Italy’s first MXGP game. However, in addition to a team sponsor there is also a technical sponsor in which the player’s rider will be assigned a set of short-term objectives that will become increasingly more challenging as the rider gains a higher fame value, although greater rewards will be provided. Technical sponsors for major performance parts such as the exhaust, tyres, rims, suspension, brake discs and rear sprocket actually produce an improvement in attributes; therefore the player must afford meticulous attention to the current best ratio of performance offered from an available technical sponsor.
In between every race weekend you will be able to read messages that are essentially the equivalent of social media posts from your fellow riders that are either complimentary or engineered to make your rider believe that it is one of a small quantity of positive finishing positions through the course of a long season, while the player is capable of negatively, neutrally or positively responding accordingly. Your reactions to riders from the same championship class talking down your victories and podium finishes increase or decrease the strength of a rivalry; players can view the rivalry status in between race weekends. Your team manager provides helpful advice from time to time, while the player can also customise your rider, bike and team appearance, alongside reading your team and technical sponsor’s objectives.
Usually in Milestone Italy’s MXGP games the player would begin their career with a two race weekend trial period at a team before progressing onto the second season that would form the first full length season, but MXGP Pro instead gets into the action immediately with a full 19 race weekend season. Winning races or finishing on the podium rewards the player with an authentic podium sequence as the top 3 riders hold their respective trophies aloft in celebration. Your second season will possibly present the opportunity of joining an MXGP class team in the premiere tier of MXGP, although that will depend upon your performance throughout the MX2 season and if you win the MX2 championship.
Despite how clear it is to see that Milestone Italy have tried to change up the career mode gameplay in MXGP Pro in comparison to MXGP 3; it would have been amazing to see MXGP Pro taking a page out of MotoGP 17’s book by introducing an MXGP manager career mode featuring the player building a team from its very origins at the back of the grid in MX2 to frontrunners in both MX2 and MXGP.
Grand Prix mode provides the opportunity of racing on a single track with the ability to have a single race, double race, qualifying and races or a full race weekend in a race against 21 opponents. When you select the Grand Prix mode; you can choose the MX category you prefer between MXGP and MX2, were you can choose from any of the official riders from your preferred MX category, while you can also select a particular official rider, bike and team of your preference or your custom rider, bike and custom team, alongside any of the 19 official tracks and the MX or SX compound track in addition to adjusting the weather conditions, race length from quick, short, medium or realistic, A.I. difficulty, physics, riding assists and the choice of rewinds to your ideal preferences.
Championship mode allows you to create your own championship season comprising of races against 21 opponents which is customisable to your preferences as the championship will be the 19 race calendar of the MXGP season, although you can customise the race calendar to a minimum of 4 races and a maximum of 19 races comprising of repeating your favourite tracks including the MX or SX compound track anywhere amongst the calendar as many times as you wish within a championship season with the same riders, bikes, teams, race options and riding aids as Grand Prix mode.
Time Attack mode provides you with the opportunity to set the best lap time around any of the 19 tracks and the MX and SX compound track in an attempt to climb the leaderboards of the fastest times as you compete against players from across the world to see who performs the best lap time in a one lap scenario, although you can complete as many laps as you wish with a full selection of riders, bikes and teams from MXGP and MX2 categories or your custom rider, while you can also customise weather conditions and riding aids to your ideal preferences.
A major feature from MXGP 2 and 3 was the inclusion of MXoN (Motocross of Nations) that provided unique team based gameplay were each nation would be competing for victories instead of sponsored MXGP teams. However, MXoN does not make a return in MXGP Pro, although given the increased amount of detail added to each track; it would be forgiven if MXoN makes a return with improved form in MXGP Pro’s sequel. Meanwhile, it is understandable that the Stadium Series introduced in MXGP 2 has not been brought back for MXGP Pro as Milestone Italy’s excellent official Supercross videogame focuses far more attention on Supercross than the single mode contained in MXGP 2. Given how there is always drama in every season of motorsports at one time or another; it is a rather odd omission for the Real Events mode to not be retained since it’s sensational introduction in MXGP 2 when Real Events mode provided 19 real-life scenarios accompanied by video footage of what actually happened in which players would have to replicate the comeback through the field or re-write history by earning a more positive result.
Every track surface regardless of if it is hard pack, intermediate or sand features a strong amount of track deformation which is brought about by the tyres carving a path through the dirt and mud. As a total of 22 bikes produce tyre tracks; it is only a matter of time before the track feels completely different to when the race had started. The difference in the track is due to the dispersal of the dirt and mud being flicked up in the process of the tyre tracks being embedded into the mud; potentially affecting the grip and traction of the bike resulting in you having to change your approach to the optimal racing line.
When applying wet weather conditions to MXGP’s very realistic track surface and deformation; potential of further track evolution is increased exponentially as wet weather conditions change the density of the mud and the surrounding track surface. Weather conditions include clear blue skies with no risk of rain; cloudy with a possibility of rain; torrential rain throughout the duration of the race; a wet track; and even random weather conditions that are capable of presenting any form of weather in the build-up to and during the race. All weather conditions are modelled accurately to present a unique challenge as each type of weather will make your bike behave differently; especially considering how track surfaces deform depending on the weather conditions.
There are four separate categories to purchase and store customised bikes within including MX2 2-stroke bikes, MX2 4-stroke bikes, MXGP 2-stroke bikes and MXGP 4-stroke bikes from each manufacturer. Every bike offers varying attributes including speed, acceleration, braking, handling and grip which can all be customised. The bike customisation is reminiscent to that of the original Gran Turismo as you start off with the basic form of the bike and progressively improve the performance via a variety of categories including exhaust; tyres; rims; suspension; brake discs; and rear sprocket. Every category has multiple brands providing their components at various qualities which can be upgraded with in-game currency referred to as MX credits that is earned by completing races as high up the field as possible, leading the race after the first corner in what is known as the holeshot and achieving the objectives set by team and technical sponsors. There are numerous visual changes that do not enhance performance including a graphic kit; clamps; hubs; foot pegs; levers; brake and clutch caps; clutch cover; spokes; nipples; brake cables; and chain, alongside changing the positioning of the front number, left and right side number in addition to handlebars; hand grips; bar pad; hand guards; and adjusting accessory colours. The precise statistics representing the quality of every component from previous MXGP games has been replaced with a bar that showcases the quality, while a green extension to that bar provides a clear indication that the component is a genuine upgrade in comparison to what is currently equipped before purchasing the upgrade.
Players can change the setup of their bike in the pits which can potentially provide a significant performance advantage if you experiment enough in an attempt to absolutely perfect your bike setup for each track. The bike setup has been massively expanded to offer a wider range of preferences to the player that has increased from only two categories in MXGP 3 to five categories in MXGP Pro including suspension, gear ratio, brake response, accelerator mapping and wheelbase with each category having various settings. For instance, suspension has the ability to change the preload, low speed and high speed compression and extension on the fork and single shock-absorber and spring stiffness for the front and rear of the bike, alongside four configurations of pinion or crown final gear selection and half a dozen configurations for each gear ratio from the first gear until the fifth gear; modular or aggressive brake response and accelerator mapping; and a short, intermediate or long wheelbase. There are also options to save, load or delete your preferred bike setups and to return your bike setup to the default factory settings.
There are four excellently positioned camera angles including a camera angle positioned directly behind the rider, while the second camera angle is positioned further back to provide two separate views of the bike, opposing bikes and the track surface up ahead amongst the surrounding environments which certainly caters for the appropriate distances of third-person perspectives. The player also has the capability of adjusting the closest third-person perspective to being a little closer or a lot further away from the rider and bike on a slide bar within camera customisation. There are also two first-person camera angles with the first mounted to the front of the rider’s crash helmet showing the front of the bike with the rider’s hands gripping the handlebars, while the second first-person camera angle is an actual rider’s eye view looking out through the crash helmet which authentically limits the peripheral vision of the rider at the top left and right corners and bottom of the camera angle. However, the rider’s eye view could do with a little refinement as the camera angle does not seem to factor in the movement of the rider in contrast to the bike’s movement, although the player can turn the rider’s head by pressing left or right on the d-pad, but that is still difficult given that the player would be utilising the left analogue stick to steer the bike resulting in the potential of the camera not focusing on the imminent corner the player is attempting to navigate; therefore making for harder handling in comparison to the other camera angles that could be overcome by having the camera automatically manoeuvring instinctively.
The free camera available from the pause menu allows you to observe the closer details of the racing in the foreground and trackside environments. Free camera really is a great feature; allowing the camera to be positioned with freedom within the vicinity of the racing action including extensive customisation of images such as panning, camera height, zooming in or out, anywhere from a minor tilt to a full sideways tilt and six image filter presets or a custom image filter comprising depth of field, focal length, exposure, contrast, saturation, brightness, sepia, vignetting and grain. What makes the free camera work so well is that it provides players with the opportunity of producing customisable action shots in a fully immersive environment which works in perfect harmony with the PS4’s share feature.
You can watch a full race replay with the ability to watch in slow motion, pause, fast forward, rewind, change the camera angles for a different view of the action and to view the action from the previous or next rider, restart the replay or enter the free camera feature. You can view the replay from the 4 gameplay camera angles, while there are three additional replay camera angles including a dynamic camera angle positioned away from the bike with the TV camera angle changing from camera to camera in the style of Gran Turismo, alongside a crash helmet camera is mounted on the side of the helmet and shows a considerable amount of the bike and handle bars and a further camera mounted to the top centre of the crash helmet looking ahead. Every replay camera angle showcases the physicality endured by the bike and rider throughout each race as the riders explore the bumpy deformed terrain. It would be great to see some of these camera angles make the transition from replays to gameplay such as the additional two crash helmet mounted camera angles and the Gran Turismo style dynamic TV coverage; as they are that good and would further complement the immersion within the authenticity of the racing experience. It would have been amazing for the gameplay and replay camera angles to include a helicopter camera angle from high above the circuit following the action with the sound effect of the helicopter in the audio mix.
The extras feature includes a breakdown of your offline stats including your rider’s total distance covered; the amount of air your rider has accumulated while jumping; your amount of time spent playing; the amount of times your rider has fell from his bike; the amount of holeshots you have achieved; and the amount of race victories, second place finishes and third place finishes in single player and multiplayer, alongside covering the player’s success and progression in training session categories and individual training sessions. Meanwhile, the extras feature includes the option to replay the opening tutorial and viewing the credits for all of the development talent that were involved in developing MXGP Pro.
It is disappointing not to see a Vita release of MXGP Pro after the excellent retail releases for MUD and MXGP on Vita, although the consolation is remote play. MXGP Pro’s remote play performance is excellent as the graphics, audio and general performance is the same quality as the PS4 version. MXGP Pro’s remote play control scheme optimisation has not progressed on from that of MXGP 3 resulting in holding the bottom right of the touch screen to accelerate and holding the bottom left of the touch screen to brake which is most certainly not ideal and does not lend itself to racing on a deformable track. However, whereas MXGP 3 did not allow acceleration to be re-mapped to R1, MXGP Pro does; therefore I found the most competitive yet simultaneously comfortable remote play control scheme to be that of re-mapping acceleration to R1 and braking to L1, while moving rewinds to tapping the bottom right of the touch screen and using the clutch being re-mapped to tapping the bottom left of the touch screen.
The controls are well mapped to the DualShock 4 controller and are almost fully customisable. The default control scheme consists of holding R2 to accelerate; pressing L2 to use the front brake or reverse; pressing L1 to use the clutch; pressing R1 to rewind the action following a collision or a general loss of track time; pressing X to use the rear brake; pressing triangle to look back behind your bike; pressing O to manually shift up a gear; pressing square to manually shift down a gear; moving the direction of the left analogue stick to the left or right to steer your bike accordingly; moving the direction of the right analogue stick forwards, backwards, left or right to appropriately distribute your rider’s weight; pressing left or right on the d-pad to look to the left or right respectively; pressing down on the d-pad to respawn on track following a crash or loss of direction; holding R1 to chat in online multiplayer; pressing the share button takes you to the share feature menu; and pressing the options button to display the pause menu.
Despite the customisable control scheme; there is no way of mapping the steering to the gyroscopic motion sensing functionality and the touch pad can only be mapped to once instead of the left and right sides having their own purpose. It is surprising as the gyroscopic motion sensing functionality could have provided an alternative steering method to the left analogue stick, while the touch pad implementation is under utilised as it only changes the camera angle; whereas an optional control scheme from MotoGP 13 on Vita included tapping the appropriate side of the rear touch pad to shift up or down a gear. There is a lot of vibration from the DualShock 4 controller which certainly adds to the immersion of riding over the terrain as the controller will vibrate particularly during sharp turns and when accelerating through the gears. The light bar produces white for a neutral gear on the starting grid, while green ensures the rider is safely within gear at a low gear ratio, yellow represents a medium gear ratio to show the rider should start preparing to shift up a gear and light to dark orange fading into red signifies that it is time to shift up a gear at the end of the gear ratio.
Graphically, Milestone Italy’s move to Unreal Engine 4 has further improved in MXGP Pro that works in perfect harmony with new photogrammetry technology that has been implemented to scan every track in 1:1 scale detail for the most accurate representation to date in not only the MXGP franchise, but all of motocross gaming, alongside riders having received the same treatment in 1:1 scale scanning that really comes through during the post-race podium sequences.
MXGP Pro’s presentation is not as slick and polished in comparison to MXGP 1 and 2 due to the removal of pre-race videos in MXGP 3 onwards that were previously utilised to build-up the pre-race anticipation. However, MXGP Pro’s general presentation is solid with a great user interface across various menus such as the main menu, career menus, grand prix menus, championship menus, time attack menus, compound training session menus, online multiplayer menus, online leaderboards, customise menus, extras menus, options menus and various gameplay menus with support for navigation via the left analogue stick, directional pad and face buttons on the DualShock 4 controller, although it does not include support for navigation via the right analogue stick or touch pad. Instead of retaining the style of MXGP 2’s presentation in MXGP Pro and MXGP 3 through showcasing the world’s best Motocross bikes and riders in dramatic slow motion video during the menu screens; MXGP Pro’s main menus display animations of a rider sitting on his bike as he looks around at the surroundings of the training compound. Loading screens contain an image of riders racing close to each other, alongside the logo, name, length, ground type and circuit layout of the track you are about to race on.
Big Al provides British commentary, Danny Boston provides American commentary and many more commentators provide commentary for their respective nationalities in which they individually enthusiastically covering pre-race build-ups and post-race analysis. Sound effects have always been integral to the racing action in Milestone Italy’s MXGP games that unfolds on track and MXGP Pro continues that tradition; as you hear revving bike engines, applying brakes, heavy landings after large jumps and crashes, accompanied by an atmospheric crowd with air horns, gasps and applause in appreciation of the riders during the build-up to each session and throughout each session as the riders are on track. MXGP 3’s less favourable soundtrack consisting of a fusion of techno and electronica has been retained rather than the instrumental rock riffs of MXGP 1 and 2. There is no DualShock 4 speaker implementation, although it could have produced any layer of audio such as bike engines, collisions or ambient sounds.
The trophy list includes 51 trophies with 42 bronze trophies, 5 silver trophies, 3 gold trophies and 1 platinum trophy. The biggest difference in MXGP Pro’s trophy list in comparison to that of MXGP 3 is that whereas previously the player would have to win at each track in career mode; there are instead 19 bronze trophies for winning each race in any game mode such as a single race in grand prix mode or custom championship. Easier trophies include the Theory and Practice bronze trophy for saving a bike setup for the first time; the Lights, Camera, Action bronze trophy for starting the replay at the end of a race in any game mode; the Travel Journey bronze trophy for completing a custom championship of as few as four single races; the Picture Perfect bronze trophy for going into free cam mode from the pause screen in any game mode; the Safety First bronze trophy for purchasing a crash helmet for your custom rider; and the What bronze trophy for using rewind for the first time in any single player mode. Harder trophies include the En Plein gold trophy for completing all training sessions; the Attention Seeker gold trophy for achieving 100 podiums in grand prix mode or one of the career modes; the MX2 Champion silver trophy for becoming world champion in the MX2 class in one of the career modes; and the MXGP Champion gold trophy for becoming world champion in the MXGP class in one of the career modes. One trophy that is online related is the Who You Gonna Call bronze trophy for beating another player’s ghost time in time attack mode. It is estimated that depending upon skill and a good trophy guide to provide some helpful tips that it would take between 15 to 20 hours to platinum the trophy list.
MXGP Pro’s introduction of the extreme career mode is the ultimate difficulty in comparison to every mode as there are no rewinds and no customisable options resulting in the absolute most lifelike MXGP career mode. However, outside of extreme career it is rather positively the same wide ranging customisable options that offer any MXGP experience the player prefers. There are five difficulty levels including very easy, easy, medium, hard and realistic with the major differences between difficulty levels being the A.I. will become gradually more clinical with each step up in difficulty as they will wait for an appropriate overtaking opportunity and capitalise on any mistake you make. There are further factors involved in the difficulty level besides the A.I. as there are three physics settings including standard, semi pro and pro which increases the corresponding difficulty curve as the three physics settings each provide unique handling traits. The standard physics feel more arcade oriented with a lower chance of crashing when you have become accustomed to the handling and jumps, while the semi pro physics strikes a balance between standard and pro physics as the pro physics are far more realistic and fully depend upon you perfecting the weight distribution of your rider throughout every corner and jump of the track. The rewind mechanic can reduce the difficulty by having numerous opportunities to rewind back to before a crash actually occurred. Between the five difficulty levels, three physics settings and plenty of riding assists which can be turned on or off; players have full customisation over the degree of challenge they wish to encounter in any single player mode as well as the difficulty for A.I. controlled riders, physics, gear shifts and riding assists during online multiplayer.
MXGP Pro’s online multiplayer performance is just as good as single player with the same sense of speed, graphics, up to 12 players and the capability of A.I. fleshing out the field. Create match mode allows the player to implement their preferences including the length of the game mode such as a Grand Prix or Championship with the additional options of the category of event comprising of MXGP and MX2 bikes; the physics from a free choice for each player to a set standard, semi pro or pro physics; the race length from quick, short, medium or realistic instead of a customisable quantity of laps and the number of races within a Championship from 4, 9 or 17 races; the option of a qualifying session; the difficulty of A.I. controlled opponents or no A.I.; and collisions. However, if you have very limited time, none of those options matter to you and you do not want to create your own match, then you can just leave the options on their default settings and attempt to find a match as quickly as possible via quick match mode. Despite having A.I. opponents to flesh out the field; the host of the online lobby has to wait until a second player joins instead of being able to start the race immediately, while players who join an online lobby during a race have to wait until the next race instead of taking the place of the A.I. controlled rider that is furthest up the field.
There is no split-screen multiplayer which is disappointing as that would have been a natural improvement of the multiplayer component in comparison to the previous MXGP games by implementing all of the online multiplayer content into a comprehensive split-screen multiplayer feature for two players locally which would have genuinely excelled the game, although it is important to take note that it is not an unrealistic addition given that Milestone Italy’s MotoGP series features split-screen multiplayer for two players.
Time Attack online leaderboards focus on fastest times from each player with rankings covering all 19 tracks and the MX or SX compound track across both classes with each leaderboard containing each player’s rank; name (PSN ID); the bike and physics setting used during the player’s fastest time; and the best time set by each player, while players can compare their positioning on the leaderboards with players that occupy the top positions, globally, from your friends list and to immediately find and display your position within any given leaderboard.
MXGP Pro’s replayability stems from new features such as a massively expanded training compound including a variety of training sessions, new gameplay elements within career mode, the extreme career mode and enhanced bike setup to numerous official licenses and returning game modes including career, grand prix, championship and time attack in single player. Meanwhile, competitive online multiplayer and online leaderboards accompanied by extensive bike and rider customisation as well as difficulty levels, physics settings and the unpredictability of the result in each session combine together to collectively keep players coming back for many hours in pretty much every game mode and feature. However, replay value would have been better if MXoN from MXGP 3 and Real Events mode from MXGP 2 had been retained, alongside introductions of manager career mode and split-screen multiplayer.
Analysis
Title: MXGP Pro: The Official Motocross Videogame
Developer: Milestone Italy
Publisher: PQube (Europe)/Square Enix (US and Canada)
Hard Drive Space Required: 16.79GB (Version 1.05 – PS4 Blu-Ray Disc/PSN Download)
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Jason
Jason plays all genres of games and enjoys all different kinds of experiences that the games industry has to offer. Jason's favourite PlayStation exclusive franchises throughout various eras include: Crash Bandicoot, God of War, Gran Turismo, inFamous, Killzone, Little Big Planet, MotorStorm, Resistance, Spyro the Dragon, Uncharted, Wipeout and various games that never became big name franchises. A special mention goes to Black Rock's superb Split Second: Velocity as it is rather unbelievable that it will never receive a sequel.
Jason now mainly plays modern PlayStation games on home console and portably, but occasionally returns to the old retro classics on the 3DO, PS1 and PS2 such as discovering Cool Spot Goes to Hollywood 20 years after its original release on PS1. Jason is happy to see gaming coming full circle with updates for retro classics such as Alien Breed, Superfrog and Crash Bandicoot.
Excellent game but they need to realize that Kawasaki race bikes are faster than this in real SX MX