MotoGP 20: Become Valentino Rossi From The Comfort Of Your Couch

Had everything gone according to plan, we would have had the first six races of the 2020 MotoGP season completed by now. But the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and only the Moto2 and Moto3 boys were allowed to race in Qatar. The rest of races have either been postponed or suspended, with no official starting date in sight. Thankfully though, the MotoGP 20 official video game was released a while back and that has helped me get my fix of motorcycle racing action for the time being.

Game developer Milestone launched the latest version of the game in late-April this year for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows and Google Stadia platforms. With the likelihood of getting a physical copy being next to none at that time, I bought the digital copy for my Xbox One at Rs 3,399 from the Microsoft Store as well as the ‘Historical Pack’ for another Rs 349. The game costs roughly the same on the PlayStation store but for PC gamers or on Nintendo Switch, it is significantly less.

Quick Race Mode:
The last MotoGP video game that I played properly, like spent hours and hours on, was MotoGP 13. I did try my hand on the Valentino Rossi video game (which was basically the official game for the 2016 season) on a friend’s PlayStation but that must have been for a handful of races. Compared to the 2013 edition, the current one is a different beast altogether.

To my surprise, it seems that Milestone did away with the local multiplayer feature on the game in the last edition itself, which was a bit of a bummer as my brother and I had countless memories racing each other on the old game, with me more often than not emerging as the victor.

Being the elder brother (and the one who actually paid for the game), I had a crack at it first and there was little doubt which rider and circuit combo I would pick: Valentino Rossi on his Yamaha YZR-M1 at his home Grand Prix at Mugello.

Turns out, I had waded into the deep end of the swimming pool as the M1 was sliding, wheelieing and way more powerful than I had envisaged. Qualifying was abysmal as I didn’t make The Doctor proud. The race was decent and I finished a respectable sixth place.

Career Mode:
Much like other sports games, you get a career mode here too. This was a good way to get a grip on the riding dynamics and hone my gaming skills progressively, starting off from Moto3 to Moto2 and then on to the premier class.

I have turned off most riding assists (keeping only the ideal line indicator active) and the AI difficulty is set at 90 per cent realism. This year’s career mode puts you in the driving seat when it comes to hiring professionals, your chief technician and manager. You are also given certain tasks every weekend, for which you earn development tokens, allowing you to develop certain areas of the bike. Like on the Moto3 machine, you can develop the chassis and the engine. In the intermediate class, you can also improve the electronics and finally, in the premier class, aerodynamics parts are developed.

Get latest updates on
the automobile community

Login Now

Historic Mode:
By opting for the extra ‘Historical Pack,’ you get a chance to race some legendary bikes from the past. You can try out Mick Doohan’s Honda NSR 500 two-stroker, the wild early MotoGP bikes with the Rossi’s Honda RC211V (which had a V5 engine), Casey Stoner’s championship-winning Ducati (the 800cc machine) or more recent additions like Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha YZR-M1. Rossi fans will not be disappointed with the selection but there are some rare ones too. Milestone has also included machines of deceased greats like Nicky Hayden, Marco Simoncelli and Daijiro Kato.

While this selection is vast, you just cannot hop onto one and go for a quick spin. There are featured race events where you can race a few free bikes to earn coins. Finish on the podium and you will earn coins that are necessary to buy historical bikes and riders from the market. The market itself is not constant, offering only three options at a given moment, refreshing through the list periodically.

Multiplayer Mode:
There is an online multiplayer mode that I am yet to try but it will not be the same feeling as humiliating my brother on a daily basis (just like he does with me on FIFA). You may have caught MotoGP stars playing Virtual Grand Prix and there didn’t seem to be any form of drama in terms of server lag or graphics glitching. There have been spectacular crashes though and the most recent one in Misano was a treat to watch.

Tracks:
All 20 circuits which were originally on the calendar have been included in the game. While the inaugural Finnish GP may have been called off for 2020, the new Kymiring circuit is present on the game. So you can have a go on the new track well before the MotoGP boys actually do. The game also has two vintage tracks: Donington Park and Laguna Seca. Both of these circuits have provided memorable races in the past. Laguna Seca in particular is quite a fun track, the infamous ‘Corkscrew’ is a bit scary and very hard to get right on the game as it is in real life.

Game Physics:
The game physics has evolved to a great level with the current one introducing precise levels of weight transfer during acceleration and hard braking. Brake too hard and the rear wheel pops in the air, something which I learnt the hard way. Run on to the grass while you are leaned over, and you’ll fall. Over shoot your braking marker, you’ll wash your front end. You can trail brake but stay on the brakes a little longer and you will end up low-siding the bike.

Tyres play a key role in this game as they deteriorate proportionally. As the race goes on, the rear end steps out further and further. Get on to the throttle too soon or too fast and there is a high likelihood of a high side. You have electronic aids like traction control, engine braking and anti-wheelie. While higher levels of these aids are good for keeping the Moto3 bike right side up, they end up slowing you down as it intervenes a bit too much. For most of the tracks, traction control and anti-wheelie can be completely turned off and engine braking set to one.

Each crash damages the bike. While you can turn damage off or keep it on cosmetic damage only, that does rob you off the realism of the game. In MotoGP, even rubbing along with your fellow competitors causes a bit of aero damage as you could end up clipping your wings.

Graphics & Sound:
Milestone has delivered well on the graphics front. From whatever YouTube videos I have seen, the 2019 game already was quite a decent package. The current game may be a smidge better as there isn’t much scope for improvement in the gameplay section. Where the developers should improve is the in-garage experience and podium celebrations.

There is no race commentary, which I sorely miss. Maybe Milestone needs to take a leaf out of F1 video game developer, Codemasters’, book with the way they treat this part of the game. Might I suggest getting legendary Nick Harris to voice out a few lines, especially his famous line, “Let Battle Commence!”

Updates:
There are several updates in the pipeline for the game. The plan was to assess the current season and bring the bikes to the proper 2020-spec. That does seem a bit difficult given the current circumstances. Milestone will also add the Red Bull Rookies Cup and MotoE bikes to the game soon, both of these will be free of charge.

Overall:
MotoGP 20 does good justice to the sport that we love. It is one of the good motor racing games and certainly one of the best on two-wheels. While in career mode, racing the same tracks could get a bit boring, that’s not something which can be improved. What can be improved is the non-race experience and introduce race commentary and split-screen multiplayer. Overall, the game has turned out to be a great stress buster for me while being cooped up in the house for over two months. While I cannot beat my brother in a race, we are tracking the lap times. So far, I have beaten him nine times out of ten. Excuse me now while I improve the last stat.