onearmedbandit
27th June 2005, 21:04
Picked up my copy a couple weeks back, and I have to say this is an awesome game. Nothing like riding a race prep'ed 1000 (MonsterMob Duke, GSXR1000, R1 '04, etc) through villages at speeds over 250km/h, bouncing off bumps with the back wheel skipping out of corners. Trying to keep the front wheel down out of 2nd gear corners fighting 30 other bikes (spread out)for position. Power wheelies that you can control at insane speeds for miles on end, coming over a crest at 286km/h and the front sailing into the air, before you slamming it back on the deck for hard braking with the back end skipping over bumps as you enter a tight corner fighting to stop the back end passing you. Fucking insane.
All sorts of bikes, from 125GP, 250GP, 400cc (FZR, CBR, RVF etc), 600cc, 750cc, 1000cc and sidecars. Both 600's and 1000's have production and race bikes. ZX10r, Benelli Tornado, Aprilla, Triumph, R7, to name just a few. Plenty of helmet and leather choices including real riders like Bruce Anstey and Shaun Harris. Shauns GSXR1000 features as well, very fast!
The graphics are by no means ground breaking but very good, more than acceptable. The sounds vary from bike to bike, obviously. Just go out on one of the thou's and turn the volume up, no game yet has captured motorcycle sounds like this game. With a home theartre system hooked up, you can not only hear a v-twin behind you but also feel it. The physics in the game, once you get used to them are fantastic. It takes a while to do so, but once you've got it sorted and have some knowledge of where the 37+mile track goes, stringing a set of corners together is very satisfying.
Having never been to the Isle of Man, I can not tell how accurate the track is. But all the major corners are recognisable, and it is very similar to the in game videos. Oh yeah, as with most games you start with fuck all and have to work your way up, even to doing a full lap of the TT course itself. So I have saved my progress, and bypassed everything to do some laps on the TT track with whatever bike. Hasn't taken any of the enjoyment away at all, in fact it's made the game better as it was frustrating having to go through some of the levels. I will still complete the game myself.
So all in all I give this game a sound 9.5 out of 10. Loading times (usual complaint of any PS game) let it down, an sometimes you stay on the bike when you know you should be off. (BTW, the crashes are spectacular, you will chringe). Buy this game, if you don't have a PS2 its worth buying just for this game, honestly IMO its that good.
All sorts of bikes, from 125GP, 250GP, 400cc (FZR, CBR, RVF etc), 600cc, 750cc, 1000cc and sidecars. Both 600's and 1000's have production and race bikes. ZX10r, Benelli Tornado, Aprilla, Triumph, R7, to name just a few. Plenty of helmet and leather choices including real riders like Bruce Anstey and Shaun Harris. Shauns GSXR1000 features as well, very fast!
The graphics are by no means ground breaking but very good, more than acceptable. The sounds vary from bike to bike, obviously. Just go out on one of the thou's and turn the volume up, no game yet has captured motorcycle sounds like this game. With a home theartre system hooked up, you can not only hear a v-twin behind you but also feel it. The physics in the game, once you get used to them are fantastic. It takes a while to do so, but once you've got it sorted and have some knowledge of where the 37+mile track goes, stringing a set of corners together is very satisfying.
Having never been to the Isle of Man, I can not tell how accurate the track is. But all the major corners are recognisable, and it is very similar to the in game videos. Oh yeah, as with most games you start with fuck all and have to work your way up, even to doing a full lap of the TT course itself. So I have saved my progress, and bypassed everything to do some laps on the TT track with whatever bike. Hasn't taken any of the enjoyment away at all, in fact it's made the game better as it was frustrating having to go through some of the levels. I will still complete the game myself.
So all in all I give this game a sound 9.5 out of 10. Loading times (usual complaint of any PS game) let it down, an sometimes you stay on the bike when you know you should be off. (BTW, the crashes are spectacular, you will chringe). Buy this game, if you don't have a PS2 its worth buying just for this game, honestly IMO its that good.