Silverstone might still look like a building site, but the upcoming MotoGP season is creeping ever closer, and that means Capcom's
MotoGP 09/10 for the Xbox 360 and PS3 is starting to (bad racing pun alert!) rev its engines, too. So it was that I piled down to Silverstone seemingly comprising of piles of dirt and diggers right now, as work continues for an all-new, all bike-friendly track to have a look at the new game.
Capcom secured the
exclusive cross-platform rights for MotoGP back in 2008, but having not really set the world on fire with
MotoGP 08 the company has turned to Monumental Games a studio now employing more than a couple of former staff members of previous series developer Climax to handle the '09 and '10 seasons.
Yes, that's two seasons. The game comes with all the '09 season content (tracks, bikes, riders, teams) in the box. The 2010 goodies will be along as DLC, which is good news for racing fans as it means we'll also be getting the new Moto2 bikes the 600cc class.
That also means it will come with the new Silverstone track (a glance out of the window shows this is all very brown right now, although Richard Phillips, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits, tells us it will be ready for the start of the season). That also means the new Balaton track out in Hungary, which will feature later on in the season, will be up for grabs.
Championship mode is the meat of the game - a recreation of the
MotoGP 09/10 season. As you dive in, you can pick your favourite rider and bike from any of the classes (125cc, 250cc, MotoGP 800cc). While my personal instinct is to jump straight in with the gruntiest machine on offer, lead designer Greg Bryant says that Monumental has put a lot of work into making each class distinct. The 125ccs, it's all about carrying your corner speed with you, keeping your momentum up. They carry much better corner speeds than the 800ccs because they've got a bit more traction.
As it happened, when it came to hands-on time a 125cc bike was exactly what was on offer. Having curbed my mild disappointment, I concluded that Greg was probably right. The 125cc took corners well and the arcade-racing lover inside me was satisfied at not having to drop too much power on the corners. I also realised that had I started on something more powerful I would have gotten a lot of face time with the track barriers. It would seem there's a learning curve to consider.
With the 250ccs you have to take a bit more care on your throttle control or the back end is likely to slide out a bit more. Of the big bastard of the bunch, Greg said, The 800cc bike is all about a lot of attention to detail on the throttle control. It's much easier to high side. The bike can slide out a lot more easily. You really have to pay attention to the state of your tires.
Yes, the state of your tires. Tire wear is a new feature it's displayed in the bottom right hand corner of the screen and you have to manage your tires throughout the race.
While we're on the subject of handling it all seems to work well. Over-cook it on a corner and you will find yourself in the gravel. Lean too far into a bend without enough speed and you will go down. One digression from realistic bike physics and I can't decide whether this is a complaint or not is that it takes a fair bit for another rider to knock you off. I was actually using other bikes to kill some of my speed on some corners. Obviously, that's the sort of thing that will get you killed on a real bike. If, however, the game were more sensitive to collisions, it could turn into frustrating carnage on a crowded bend. I'm reserving judgement until I've had more hands-on time.
