Previews// MotoGP 09/10

Back to the features, and you also have a clean section indicator - “so, if you stay on the track - don't bump into anyone, things like that, you get a clean section, and if you get a full lap of clean sections you can upload your time to the leaderboards”, Greg said.

This year also marks the introduction of the racing line for... we'll say 'less seasoned riders'. That comes from the devs racing the track over and over again, generating the best lap line. If, however, you outdo the dev team, the line will update to your fastest line. That can be uploaded to Xbox Live (and, presumably, PSN) and then downloaded by your mates so you can show them all how to be a speedy sort like you.

Career mode is for the more thoughtful racer. In a nutshell, Greg tells us, it goes like this: “It's all about building your own team, gaining reputation from that team and hiring staff into that team.”

The main area's the GP calendar, which has all your events mapped out ahead of you. There are also research events, where you can see your team's stats, performance and level of expertise. When you're hiring, if for example you know your gearbox needs some work, you can look for someone with expertise in that particular area.

The other key aspect to Career mode is the chance to gain sponsors based on your performance. But to get the sponsorship offers in, you need a press officer. “The more press officers you have the bigger and better sponsorship offers you can get, the easier the requirements become to earn those sponsorship requirements.” Get the picture?

You can change the difficulty level at the start of every race, as well as turn the tire wear on or off and tweak various other settings. Your reputation points are affected by how hard you set it all, so the harder it is the more points you bag.

Career mode rewards the patient. Once you're into any race weekend, you can choose to practise and qualify. You can quickly switch between them, giving you the chance to improve your starting position and knowledge of the track.

In the actual races, there's plenty of feedback on slipstreaming, overtaking, clean sections, with points to be had too – it all feeds into your reputation. Points mean prizes! You've got the drift by now – it feeds back into the staff you can hire, which means better research, which means better stuff, which means... ad infinitum.

Monumental had a bit of news for us when it came to multiplayer. Up to 20 players will be supported online. “I think this is probably the highest number of players in a racing game on consoles to date”, Greg said.

Expanding on the online play, he went on, “We have a full voting system in our lobby, so once you've got all 20 players in they can vote on whether they want to have full length races or race out the full season. If they choose to race out the full season, they can choose what they want to race next. You can progress through all 17 races through a process of voting and elimination. That tallies up the scores in the lobbies and you can see how well you're progressing against your friends.”

Monumental has tested the online across it's three sites (Nottingham, Manchester and India) and says it holds up better than any of the competitors. But, then, it would say that. Apparently the game keeps all the riders in sync well, with no elastic band effects thrusting the bikes forward as the game catches up with itself.