MotoGP ’07 Review

goldfries rated it

 

The Story

Sorry, no story for this game. It’s just you as a racer in the motorcycling championship.

More details on the REAL MotoGP.

Gameplay

MotoGP ’07 is simple, just get on the track and race your way around the circuit. The game comes with 4 game modes to test your skills – Quick race, Championship, Career and Time Trial.

Unlike most car-racing games today where you could play comfortably with just the keyboard, an analog controller is a MUST HAVE for MotoGP ’07. There’s no way to maintain a constant 45 degree angle tilt while taking a curve when you’re on a non-analog controller. It just doesn’t help with the gaming experience. The difficulty in controlling the motorcycle alone is enough to turn any gamer off. 🙁

While not being an exactly enjoyable game in my book, MotoGP ’07 is not without merits. MotoGP ’07 customization feature is impressive. You could customize your bike down to the color, decals, text, various performance settings and even your helmet and suit.

There’s also a myriad of tracks available for your pick, even Malaysia’s Sepang circuit! Yup! I was surprised to see that one there. 😀

What I didn’t like about the game is that there’s just no way to change controller and graphic settings in the game. Yup, sucks huh? So you’ll have to exit the game, do whatever settings you have in mind, then launch the game. Not happy? Exit the game and repeat the earlier step. Tedious, annoying, impractical.

Even the game’s interface seems to have problem with ALT+TABbing. A quick visit to your desktop and you’ll find that the menu refuses to function as it should when you return to it. The screen is just stuck at what you last saw before you did the ALT+TAB even though the sound indicates that it still functions.

If you have an analog controller and you’re looking for a motorcycling simulation and willing to bear with the flaws here and there – this game might the one for you.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically detailed yet un-impressive by today’s standard. It’s colorful alright but it just lacks the visual OOOMPH as you see in other games.

For the sound, it’s not stunning as well. However what I like about this game is the rock music soundtrack. Running around the track with pumpin’ rock music sure adds to the atmosphere of the game.

Online / Network Gaming

MotoGP ’07 allows you to search for games within the LAN or over the Internet.

I’m actually surprised to see a few other gamers were online when I requested for a game over the Internet. However only 1 game was found, about 4 players in total.

Conclusion

I tried my best to give this game a chance. It’s just not fun to play, not with a keyboard at least. You’ll need an analog controller in order to enjoy the game better.

Take note that MotoGP ’07 is NOT an arcade style motorcycling game, it’s more like a simulation. So for those who’s looking for some arcade-style race-track adrenaline rush, please avoid MotoGP ’07. It doesn’t matter if you’re a motorcyclist / biker, like it or not you MUST have an analog controller to have decent controls over the motorbike.

So unless you’re really really really really desperate to get some motorcycling action with no qualms over crashing over and over again – STAY AWAY!

Ratings

PC Specifications Used

The computer setup used for this review.