This year’s official MotoGP game is released today, 2nd May, and this time the blue-ribbon motorbike racing game features riders swapping teams, an automatic difficulty system and actual stewarding for the first time.
Review by Emily Jones
Is this game like Marc Marquez when he stays on the bike or Marc Marquez when he doesn’t stay on the bike? In other words, is it an improvement over the last game or more of the same?
Here's our review.
If you’ve never played one of these bike games before, they’re a bit different to car racing games for a few reasons. As you need to lean an actual pretend human being into each bend, you must turn into corners way, way before you get to them.
Bikes also stop a lot worse than cars do, and consequently, the braking distances are really long. If you’re coming from F1 games, where the braking point is after the 100m board, in MotoGP 24, you’ll need to brake before the 200 or even 300m board.
In a car game if you lock a front wheel, you kind of just miss the apex a little bit and run wide. If you lock a front brake in MotoGP you just crash. There’s no margin for error.
The only feedback you get is your controller vibrating the closer you are to locking a wheel and lowsiding. This is the hardest thing you’ll be managing, and it’s the most frustrating part of the game for me.
One of the main differences between this year's game and the previous one though is how the bike handles through the mid to exit of corners.
In MotoGP 23 when you’re clipping an apex and you apply the throttle, the bike would kind of stand up automatically and you’d understeer wide. This was kind of interesting to see, but it was a little frustrating to drive. Every corner you’d get on the gas and the bike would just go vertical and go straight.
In MotoGP 24, mercifully, this isn’t a thing. You can get on the throttle and the bike will still stay leant over, and you’ll often get bits of wheelspin as the bike tries to turn and go forward at the same time.
This is a positive over last year. The bikes feel really nice to ride, I think it’s good balance and I really enjoyed banging laps out.
This game is hard though. I think MotoGP games are up there as some of the most difficult racing games to get into. Something this game has which can make it easier is adaptive neural aids. Introduced last game, they sort of help you out with braking and turning. If you are a little bit out of control, the game will gently guide you back into doing what’s correct. So, if you’re struggling, this is a good setting to use.
The Moto2 bikes are in my opinion the hardest in the game, with the Moto3 bikes being a fair bit slower, and the MotoGP bikes having a lot of electronic aids to help you out. There are also supposed to be MotoE bikes that will be added in a later patch.
Something that’s new this year for each class is the new stewarding system. Now, on paper, this sounds like a benefit. The game will automatically give out long laps and other penalties to yourself and the AI riders. You will often see the AI binning it into each other and getting penalties without you being involved - which is pretty cool and a marked improvement (in theory) over post instalments where only you were ever reprimanded.
What we have learnt though, through games like Gran Turismo and Forza, is that the computer-controlled stewarding is just often not very good. I was in my first race meeting in this game finishing a flying lap in qualifying and on for pole. Johann Zarco was just chilling half-throttle on the main straight, I couldn’t avoid him and hit the back of him and we both kept going. Then I got slapped with a long lap penalty for impeding. It feels like the computer gets it right 75% of the time, which is just not enough.
Something that’s also new this year in the background is an Adaptive Difficulty setting. With this setting the game will automatically monitor how you’re riding through all sessions, and adjust the balance of the AI so you’re getting good fair racing.
This is turned on by default, and I think it’s really solid so far. One of my pet peeves in racing games is guessing your AI level. In most games, you can select Easy, Hard or just regular difficulty and it’s generally balanced. But in racing games, you need to specify a specific value for the AI. Am I a 98-difficulty driver? Or a 97?
With the previous releases, I’d get to Sachsenring and I’d get absolutely dismantled by the computer. Then we’d go to Jerez and I’d turn into Mick Doohan and win everything. Adaptive difficulty is supposed to fix this issue, and so far it seems like it has, for me.
I found the racing in this game to be generally enjoyable. The AI is way too aggressive all the time, which I kind of love. I’d rather this than them just getting out of the way of you. You’ll often be in a battle all the way through a race.
Sometimes the AI does do weird stuff, though. Thomas Harrison-Lord had his entire Moto3 field crash at T1 Sepang after exiting pitlane. I’ve seen instances of an entire field piling into a stopped bike on the racing line and crashing. It’s not perfect.
One of my other complaints with the racing is that I still feel like Moto3 isn’t ‘Moto3 enough’. In real life this class is an absolute draft fest and pack racing to the end - but in the game, the draft doesn’t seem strong enough to keep everyone together - it just races like a slower Moto2.
Graphics-wise, I think the game looks great. There are FSR and DLSS available, and I think the rider models actually look fairly good - I like them more than in the F1 games. In action, the riders look super fluid and the bikes look great.
The main difference I’ve seen vs last year’s game is that the colours are slightly more washed out, with less contrast in this year’s. Going back to MotoGP 23 made me realise the colours were very intense. I don’t know if it’s better or not, but that’s what I’ve noticed.
The weather system is super beautiful just like the previous games, and the flag-to-flag system is fully implemented - with races going from dry to wet or vice versa.
Customisation is also back. It’s very similar to last year, so there aren’t many changes, but it’s still a really good system and lets you design your number, as well as a butt logo for your character. You also get to customise things like the riding model, how many fingers they use on the brakes, and what brand of suit, kneepads, gloves, and boots they use.
If you’re a karter kid, you can do the standard and make your character wear exclusively Alpinestars gear.
The sounds in this game are generally really great, with the exhaust cracking, gear shifts and wobble of the engine out of corners sounding awesome. The engine noises sound more high-pitched and intense than last year, and the music in the game kinda rules I think. I actually like hearing the MotoGP theme rolling up to race meetings, vs the F1 theme playing constantly.
The multiplayer is similar to last year. Alongside split screen, and the usual hosting and joining lobbies. The main attraction is LiveGP.
LiveGP is ranked organised racing. There’s a season each month, and each season features 10 races to race in. There’s a full ranking system, and if you’re into smacking other people at this game, that’s the place to be.
The main feature going into this season is that riders will now swap teams throughout career mode. While this doesn’t sound like much, and the F1 games have had this for years, this is one of my favourite editions to the series - just because of how much funny stuff happens.
The career mode starts pretty much the same as last year, you do a few races in Moto3 to finish a season off - then you sign to a team in Moto2, MotoGP or Moto3 for the next season. The rider swaps can kick in immediately and were just very good. Fermin Aldeguer has decided to stay in Moto2 and has moved to Honda Team Asia on my save. Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez had swapped teams. And Prima Pramac has fired one of their riders, I assumed not Martin and hired Tony Arbolino of all people.
Aside from this new feature, otherwise, it’s pretty much the same as last year. You get turning point challenges, which are generally just beat this rider over a race or two and we’ll give you special points. And then you do so until you’re beating more people like your teammate, then you become the number 1 rider and get to make more decisions about what parts of your bike you upgrade.
All the time they’ll constantly tweet at you about something you did in the last race, and you do the obvious thing which is pick the meanest way to respond possible. My new teammate in Moto2 had a lovely message to welcome me to the team and I responded that I’m sure the team is happy to finally have someone who knows how to ride a bike.
The career mode is fine, and last year’s improvement was huge. But otherwise, it’s more of the same.
One other feature has disappeared. In previous games, the formation lap has been incredibly bugged. 50% of the time all the riders would just straight up crash off the start line. They have fixed this issue though in this game, in the funniest way possible. Which is that they’d just removed it. There are no formation laps, when you click 'go race', is just cuts straight to the grid. At least that works.
Otherwise, the bike retrieval feature also has been quietly removed from the last few games after being introduced in 2021, but it seemed like nobody was using it. Oh well.
There just doesn’t seem to be quite enough different from previous games to warrant spending full price on this one if you’re on the fence. The game modes are all the same. In MotoGP 22 we had the genre leading 2009 mode that pretty much fully recreated that entire season.
In MotoGP 24 you have the multiplayer modes, a tutorial mode, MotoGP Academy (which is basically just a circuit familiarisation mode), Grand Prix, Championship, Time Trial, and Career. Which isn’t enough new in my opinion.
I actually really like these games. As a series, I think MotoGP has come way further in the last 10 years than things like the F1 games. If you compare MotoGP 15 to this year, the games are so different in terms of how it plays, and how the sport is simulated.
If you haven’t picked up a MotoGP game in a few years, I recommend buying it - it’s a really good simulation of the top bike racing on the planet. I’m going to play a lot of this game, and I love how it feels to ride - it’s challenging but rewarding at the same time, and just very entertaining.
At the same time though, there’s not been a huge change from last year with new features and other things. If you played last year, or even the year before and you still enjoy it then it’s probably not worth getting this year’s title. But also if you want to, go for it. I’m not the boss.
MotoGP 24 is out today, and is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Are you going to pick it up? Let us know in the comments, and let us know who your favourite rider is.
Review by Emily Jones
Is this game like Marc Marquez when he stays on the bike or Marc Marquez when he doesn’t stay on the bike? In other words, is it an improvement over the last game or more of the same?
Here's our review.
Hard As Nails
If you’ve never played one of these bike games before, they’re a bit different to car racing games for a few reasons. As you need to lean an actual pretend human being into each bend, you must turn into corners way, way before you get to them.
Bikes also stop a lot worse than cars do, and consequently, the braking distances are really long. If you’re coming from F1 games, where the braking point is after the 100m board, in MotoGP 24, you’ll need to brake before the 200 or even 300m board.
In a car game if you lock a front wheel, you kind of just miss the apex a little bit and run wide. If you lock a front brake in MotoGP you just crash. There’s no margin for error.
The only feedback you get is your controller vibrating the closer you are to locking a wheel and lowsiding. This is the hardest thing you’ll be managing, and it’s the most frustrating part of the game for me.
One of the main differences between this year's game and the previous one though is how the bike handles through the mid to exit of corners.
In MotoGP 23 when you’re clipping an apex and you apply the throttle, the bike would kind of stand up automatically and you’d understeer wide. This was kind of interesting to see, but it was a little frustrating to drive. Every corner you’d get on the gas and the bike would just go vertical and go straight.
In MotoGP 24, mercifully, this isn’t a thing. You can get on the throttle and the bike will still stay leant over, and you’ll often get bits of wheelspin as the bike tries to turn and go forward at the same time.
This is a positive over last year. The bikes feel really nice to ride, I think it’s good balance and I really enjoyed banging laps out.
A Helping Hand
This game is hard though. I think MotoGP games are up there as some of the most difficult racing games to get into. Something this game has which can make it easier is adaptive neural aids. Introduced last game, they sort of help you out with braking and turning. If you are a little bit out of control, the game will gently guide you back into doing what’s correct. So, if you’re struggling, this is a good setting to use.
The Moto2 bikes are in my opinion the hardest in the game, with the Moto3 bikes being a fair bit slower, and the MotoGP bikes having a lot of electronic aids to help you out. There are also supposed to be MotoE bikes that will be added in a later patch.
Something that’s new this year for each class is the new stewarding system. Now, on paper, this sounds like a benefit. The game will automatically give out long laps and other penalties to yourself and the AI riders. You will often see the AI binning it into each other and getting penalties without you being involved - which is pretty cool and a marked improvement (in theory) over post instalments where only you were ever reprimanded.
What we have learnt though, through games like Gran Turismo and Forza, is that the computer-controlled stewarding is just often not very good. I was in my first race meeting in this game finishing a flying lap in qualifying and on for pole. Johann Zarco was just chilling half-throttle on the main straight, I couldn’t avoid him and hit the back of him and we both kept going. Then I got slapped with a long lap penalty for impeding. It feels like the computer gets it right 75% of the time, which is just not enough.
Something that’s also new this year in the background is an Adaptive Difficulty setting. With this setting the game will automatically monitor how you’re riding through all sessions, and adjust the balance of the AI so you’re getting good fair racing.
This is turned on by default, and I think it’s really solid so far. One of my pet peeves in racing games is guessing your AI level. In most games, you can select Easy, Hard or just regular difficulty and it’s generally balanced. But in racing games, you need to specify a specific value for the AI. Am I a 98-difficulty driver? Or a 97?
With the previous releases, I’d get to Sachsenring and I’d get absolutely dismantled by the computer. Then we’d go to Jerez and I’d turn into Mick Doohan and win everything. Adaptive difficulty is supposed to fix this issue, and so far it seems like it has, for me.
On Track
I found the racing in this game to be generally enjoyable. The AI is way too aggressive all the time, which I kind of love. I’d rather this than them just getting out of the way of you. You’ll often be in a battle all the way through a race.
Sometimes the AI does do weird stuff, though. Thomas Harrison-Lord had his entire Moto3 field crash at T1 Sepang after exiting pitlane. I’ve seen instances of an entire field piling into a stopped bike on the racing line and crashing. It’s not perfect.
One of my other complaints with the racing is that I still feel like Moto3 isn’t ‘Moto3 enough’. In real life this class is an absolute draft fest and pack racing to the end - but in the game, the draft doesn’t seem strong enough to keep everyone together - it just races like a slower Moto2.
Pretty Slick
Graphics-wise, I think the game looks great. There are FSR and DLSS available, and I think the rider models actually look fairly good - I like them more than in the F1 games. In action, the riders look super fluid and the bikes look great.
The main difference I’ve seen vs last year’s game is that the colours are slightly more washed out, with less contrast in this year’s. Going back to MotoGP 23 made me realise the colours were very intense. I don’t know if it’s better or not, but that’s what I’ve noticed.
The weather system is super beautiful just like the previous games, and the flag-to-flag system is fully implemented - with races going from dry to wet or vice versa.
Customisation is also back. It’s very similar to last year, so there aren’t many changes, but it’s still a really good system and lets you design your number, as well as a butt logo for your character. You also get to customise things like the riding model, how many fingers they use on the brakes, and what brand of suit, kneepads, gloves, and boots they use.
If you’re a karter kid, you can do the standard and make your character wear exclusively Alpinestars gear.
The sounds in this game are generally really great, with the exhaust cracking, gear shifts and wobble of the engine out of corners sounding awesome. The engine noises sound more high-pitched and intense than last year, and the music in the game kinda rules I think. I actually like hearing the MotoGP theme rolling up to race meetings, vs the F1 theme playing constantly.
The multiplayer is similar to last year. Alongside split screen, and the usual hosting and joining lobbies. The main attraction is LiveGP.
LiveGP is ranked organised racing. There’s a season each month, and each season features 10 races to race in. There’s a full ranking system, and if you’re into smacking other people at this game, that’s the place to be.
Riders Market
The main feature going into this season is that riders will now swap teams throughout career mode. While this doesn’t sound like much, and the F1 games have had this for years, this is one of my favourite editions to the series - just because of how much funny stuff happens.
The career mode starts pretty much the same as last year, you do a few races in Moto3 to finish a season off - then you sign to a team in Moto2, MotoGP or Moto3 for the next season. The rider swaps can kick in immediately and were just very good. Fermin Aldeguer has decided to stay in Moto2 and has moved to Honda Team Asia on my save. Pedro Acosta and Alex Marquez had swapped teams. And Prima Pramac has fired one of their riders, I assumed not Martin and hired Tony Arbolino of all people.
Aside from this new feature, otherwise, it’s pretty much the same as last year. You get turning point challenges, which are generally just beat this rider over a race or two and we’ll give you special points. And then you do so until you’re beating more people like your teammate, then you become the number 1 rider and get to make more decisions about what parts of your bike you upgrade.
All the time they’ll constantly tweet at you about something you did in the last race, and you do the obvious thing which is pick the meanest way to respond possible. My new teammate in Moto2 had a lovely message to welcome me to the team and I responded that I’m sure the team is happy to finally have someone who knows how to ride a bike.
The career mode is fine, and last year’s improvement was huge. But otherwise, it’s more of the same.
One other feature has disappeared. In previous games, the formation lap has been incredibly bugged. 50% of the time all the riders would just straight up crash off the start line. They have fixed this issue though in this game, in the funniest way possible. Which is that they’d just removed it. There are no formation laps, when you click 'go race', is just cuts straight to the grid. At least that works.
Otherwise, the bike retrieval feature also has been quietly removed from the last few games after being introduced in 2021, but it seemed like nobody was using it. Oh well.
Overall
There just doesn’t seem to be quite enough different from previous games to warrant spending full price on this one if you’re on the fence. The game modes are all the same. In MotoGP 22 we had the genre leading 2009 mode that pretty much fully recreated that entire season.
In MotoGP 24 you have the multiplayer modes, a tutorial mode, MotoGP Academy (which is basically just a circuit familiarisation mode), Grand Prix, Championship, Time Trial, and Career. Which isn’t enough new in my opinion.
I actually really like these games. As a series, I think MotoGP has come way further in the last 10 years than things like the F1 games. If you compare MotoGP 15 to this year, the games are so different in terms of how it plays, and how the sport is simulated.
If you haven’t picked up a MotoGP game in a few years, I recommend buying it - it’s a really good simulation of the top bike racing on the planet. I’m going to play a lot of this game, and I love how it feels to ride - it’s challenging but rewarding at the same time, and just very entertaining.
At the same time though, there’s not been a huge change from last year with new features and other things. If you played last year, or even the year before and you still enjoy it then it’s probably not worth getting this year’s title. But also if you want to, go for it. I’m not the boss.
MotoGP 24 is out today, and is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Are you going to pick it up? Let us know in the comments, and let us know who your favourite rider is.
