MotoGP 23 is the long-awaited licensed racing game developed by Milestone Italian team and, after having tried the title a few months ago, we are now ready to draw the final conclusions. Compared to the previous chapters of the franchise we find a system among the novelties weather dynamicsthe new mode Flag-to-Flagthe addition of cross-play (absent on PC and Nintendo Switch), a new system of competitive multiplayer and the vast customization options which make this new edition of the MotoGP franchise a breath of fresh air compared to the previous chapters. But all that glitters is not gold, in fact the title is not free from some defects: such as poor optimization on PC and some graphic defects which we will discuss in detail shortly.
MotoGP 23: clear improvements in terms of road holding and AI
Let’s start right away by talking about the feeling of the bike on the different types of tracks where the new comes to our rescue Neural Aid System. This system, suitable both for newcomers to the series and for longtime players, helps the player in different ways, moments and aspects of the game: from the management of acceleration to the brakes up to the handling of the bike. Keeping this function activated at its maximum functionality, compared to the beta where I seemed to perceive a too guided gameplay (as if there was an automatic pilot) in the final version I did not perceive this feeling. Indeed, the pilot starts to steer and brake following the input of the player, in order to better enter and follow the curve. It is a perfect function for beginners and to understand in depth and without too many errors both the weight and the handling of the bike on the track. By setting the aids to moderate, the difficulty bar is raised and different aspects of the physics of the game must be considered in order to better master the bike. Especially in the hairpin bends and in the more difficult ones, you have to keep in mind both the weight of the rider and that of the bike, playing with the accelerator and the brake so as not to lose control and end up off the track. It is tangible how Milestone has improved the bike’s road holding, with configurations that can be configured for any weather situation. Compared to the beta there have been many steps forward which outline a solid and structured racing component suitable for all gamers, from the novice to the professional looking for a more simulated driving.
With regard to Artificial Intelligence of the opposing pilots, there have been several steps forward. In fact, compared to the beta where it seemed to me that the pilots had a “kamikaze” attitude, in the final version I have not found similar behaviors. If before, for no apparent reason and at the first corner after the straight, the riders arrive darting behind us with the risk of making us fall off the bikenow it doesn’t happen anymore. It may happen that in the first moments of the race there is the classic “heap” of riders entering the corners, but the opponents will rarely crash immediately. It may happen that some accidents happen along the way, but they happen in the most “natural” way possible. All in all, the enemy AI felt well done and with just the right amount of challenge, though I’d recommend turning the difficulty to a slightly higher level once you get the hang of it. In fact, by setting the Difficulty level in Extreme the opponents become more aggressive and they follow us, so that we never feel “lonely” once we reach first place (which has often happened on lower difficulty levels), adding that extra bit of challenge and anxiety. By setting the difficulty to a lower level, the enemy AI is more generous towards usbut at the slightest mistake we could find them behind us.
In conclusion, by completely disabling the Neural Aids or leaving them at a moderate setting, the handling of the bike becomes more complex to manage, but the peak of difficulty that was felt in the beta is not reached. The management of the bike set-up and road holding have been calibrated down to the smallest detail, with a pleasant and well simulated driving sensation. In fact, the brakes may not be very reactive and there is a sensation of “slipping” on the asphalt, as well as causing excessive imbalance of the bike if you brake excessively. All this makes the driving the most simulated and realistic motorbike, but at the same time causes too much imbalance with the opposing AI if set to a very high level. With a little practice and after many crashes you will be able to alleviate this gap, becoming a professional rider.
What are the new career mode and Graphic Editor like?
The career mode of MotoGP 23 it’s the classic career you’d expect from a racing title. After creating our alter ego we will start our journey from Moto 3 and we will have to climb to the top until we reach the coveted MotoGP. In short, by winning races or getting a good place at the finish line we will gain experience which will give us the possibility to change Grand Prix and move on to the next stage. You will also be able to interact with other drivers after the races from the career menu, but don’t expect something complex: you will only be able to reply to the messages of the other pilots with a good (the first) or bad (the second) choice. In short, either be the good Samaritans and the humble or the brazen egoists, with some repercussions on the attitude of the pilots in the post. Furthermore, during the summer break, you can improve and further develop your bike with various upgrades. The road to becoming the best driver ever is very long and treacherous, but it will give you several hours of fun.
There are also some new that Milestone has brought to the Grand Prix modestarting with the new weekend and the introduction of gare Sprint. The sprint race on Saturday includes a number of laps halved compared to that of the Grand Prix, with the first nine classified at the finish line taking points valid for the general classification of the World Championship. This race is also new in the official Grand Prix and its debut took place in March this year. Obviously, you can choose which races to run throughout the weekend and customize the mode as you prefer, with the possibility of running only in the official race. Obviously during the races there will be penalties and you will have to adopt a clean driving style, on pain of expulsion from the race. Unfortunately I could not test the multiplayer mode due to the absence of both people and cross-play on PC. Such an important function was in fact cut out of the PC and Nintendo Switch versions, although it could be really very useful for finding more people and playing with friends who are on other consoles. .
The first thing you will do once you start the game is to create your alter ego. You can customize and create your pilot in a editor that looks simple and with few options. You can choose the racer’s gender and face from around a dozen predefined faces. Unfortunately, the quality of the polygonal models and face textures have a very low quality compared to the technical tenor of the title, albeit partly justifiable since we will wear the helmet for most of the time. I would have liked Milestone to create a more in-depth, detailed and higher quality and thicker editor for the creation of our pilot. On the contrary, the Graphic Editor is well done, rich and varied. In fact, it will be possible to choose from many helmets and customize them to your liking, with many customization options: from plastic or metallic, matte or glossy paint, stickers, numbers, emoticons and much more. Summing up, you can create the helmet of your dreams! As for the suit, you can change its color, stickers, gloves, knee pads or the whole suit. Finally, it is possible to choose the bike among the official partners and customize it to our liking. A very welcome addition and one that will come in very handy to stand out in multiplayer or career modes.
MotoGP 23: graphically it could have been more daring and it doesn’t shine in optimization
MotoGP 23 it is a title that has an excellent graphic design, but which does not make people cry for miracles and subdued compared to other recently released racing titles. The polygonal models and details of the bikes are of the highest quality, as well as the textures, patterns and varieties present in the suits and helmets worn by the pilots. The tracks are faithfully reproduced and the asphalt textures are well done and in high resolution. Shadows, lighting and particle effects felt well done, although the overall quality of the title doesn’t stand out when compared to other titles in the genre. In fact, among the great absentees we find ray-tracingwhich is now present in almost all racing titles as it adds many more details and reflections, and Nvidia’s DLSS in whose place we find l’FSR 1.0 di AMD. An outdated version of AMD’s upscaling and which comes with a very poor image quality when compared to the updated and enhanced version. Unfortunately, the title suffers from poor resource management which results in stuttering and severe frame rate drops after a couple of laps on the track. Both test configurations used suffered from this very serious problem which makes the races really unplayable due to very serious stuttering. An issue that I didn’t have in the beta and which did show up in the final build, despite updating the graphics drivers the problem persists. I didn’t expect to find such a problem in the final product, but it seems to have gone wrong in the optimization. Maybe a day-one patch for MotoGP 23 will solve this serious problem affecting the PC version.
Test configurations:
• GPU: Asus Rog Strix RTX 2060 OC 6GB
• CPU: Ryzen 2700X OC 4.25 GhZ
• RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance RGB Pro Series 32GB DDR4 3200MHz CL16 32GB
• SSD NVME: 500GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus
• Operating system: Windows 11
• Monitor: LG 27GL850-B
MSI Katana GF66
• GPU: RTX 3070 Laptop
• CPU: i7 11800H
• RAM: 16GB
• SSD NVME
• Operating system: Windows 11
Piattaforme: PS4, PS5, PC, Switch, Xbox One e Xbox Series X|S
Developer: Milestone
Pubilsher: Milestone
MotoGP 23 is a title that presents many new features and some improvements compared to the previous chapter. From a technical point of view, the title does not make you cry out for a miracle, but it compensates with a well-made and realistic gameplay. Thanks to neural aids, even those unfamiliar with the franchise can enjoy the title and we recommend trying the MotoGP Academy mode to fully understand the driving system and physics of the game. The editor graphic And rich in options and you can indulge yourself in creating the casco of yours dreams, personalize your very and pilot suit. The options are many and they are very welcome. The career mode is well done and structured, with an integrated social network to develop relationships with other grand prix drivers. Net of an optimization problem that causes the frame rate to fluctuate dramatically, MotoGP 23 presents itself with a pleasant graphic design, but which does not make one cry for a miracle and is slightly subdued with the times. To conclude, if you are a fan of the genre and of MotoGP, you cannot miss this new title in the franchise!
