	MotoGP4
	Developer: Namco Publisher: SCEE Release Date: Out Now Players: 1, 1-4 split screen, 2-8 LAN	Words By:
Not to be confused by the Moto GP series by Climax for Xbox, MotoGP4 is the latest sequel in the series by Namco. It’s not exactly the first game that springs to mind when asked to name a Namco racing game, but it’s clearly a very popular series to have lasted three sequels. You can see why too. The game is a great mix between arcade and simulator, offering different handling modes, rider assists, and dual braking options. The Single Player mode in MotoGP4 has the typical Career/Season mode, along with Arcade and Time Trial. Further to this, there is a Challenge mode with 125 separate tasks to complete. These vary from beating certain riders around a set track, or doing a Time Trial event at Mugello. Some of these are completed during normal play in the Career Mode, and some, like the one-on-one challenges, are done within the specific mode. Further to this is the Training Mode, where you are taught how to ride and handle the bike correctly, and how to take corners without losing speed. The main portion of the game is the Season Mode, where you start in a 125cc bike, and race through 16 races to try and become the champion. If you succeed you can change to a better racing team, and also move up to the faster 250cc bikes. If you win in that, you can race in the full MotoGP bikes. Along the way, there are various tests between races, which unlock parts for your bike, like brakes, frames, cowls etc. Unfortunately, I don’t think the tests are handled very well, as its not really explained to you very well what you have to do, and you only have one attempt at it. A system similar to that of Gran Turismo’s, or even Climax’s Moto GP game would have been better. Allowing only one shot at a test at a time is pretty tight because you’ll most likely make a mistake on your first attempt because of the poor instruction. The Season Mode itself is really good, and on the normal difficulty setting provides a very good challenge. The AI is very competitive, and it’s nice to see them making mistakes sometimes too. If you ride close to an opponent’s back wheel, they will occasionally get stressed and make a mistake and fall off, allowing you to race right past them. All of the famous and real life tracks are in the game, such as Donington, Le Mans, Phillip Island, and Motegi, and they look great. They are all nicely detailed and convincing, with very impressive draw distance on tracks such as Mugello. The un-damagable bikes and riders are well detailed too, with nicely animated riders, and the lighting effects on the bikes are great too. You get a full 21 bike grid, and even with a screen full of bikes on screen, the game always stays at a smooth fifty frames per second – something Climax’s Moto GP games on Xbox could never achieve. Overall presentation is very slick, with nice easy-to-navigate menus and options. The bike handling in the game is enjoyable, and feels good. Swinging the bike from left to right is cool, allowing some seriously fast cornering. However, there is a strange pivot movement on the bike, which looks weird when tilting the bike left or right. It makes the bike look like it’s got no real weight to it, and doesn’t look as realistic as it could do. The Xbox Moto GP games do a better job of making it “look” right, even though I think Namco’s racer plays better. The Xbox racer allowed you to move the rider around on the bike and it really felt like you were shifting weight. Tucks, left to right movement and sitting up was achievable, and it worked really well. I was a little disappointed to discover something similar wasn’t available in MotoGP4. There are some nice features like the rear wheel “snaking” if you are hard on the brakes, and it can snap and lose grip if you are forceful and sudden on the throttle too. One feature I’d like to see in is slides - I want to be able to 2-wheel drifts like Valentino Rossi! Namco are the kings of drifting in videogames, and I’d love to see it in the next MotoGP game (obviously not quite as mental as Ridge Racer though huh?). The difference between Arcade and Simulator handling is well balanced, and with Simulator you really have to be careful when cornering, and you will want to stay away from the green stuff too – you’ll be thrown right off your bike. There is also a braking assist, which automatically applies the brakes for you coming up to a corner, which helps you get used to when to brake, and how long for before you bring the throttle back on. The bikes sound good, and the Dolby Pro Logic II support adds some good surround support. The music is an acquired taste – it’s typical rock/metal that seems to always go hand-in-hand with videogame racers. You can always turn it down if you don’t like it. There are many licensed bikes and riders in the game, and they all have subtle handling differences; some are better at raw acceleration, whereas others will be more stable in the corners, and then there are some with much better braking capabilities. I dabbled with a few different ones for a while before I found one I was comfortable with. You can also adjust various parts of the bike, like the brake bias, gearing, and steering types – these have a massive effect on the bike’s handling, and you can do it between each race in the Season, so if you’re serious you can tailor the handling for each circuit (which is handy as they vary so much). Along with the Single Player mode, there is a traditonal split-screen mode, and a currently untested online 8-player mode too. The latter features voice chat, and can also be played in a LAN configuration too. Overall I really enjoyed my time with MotoGP4. The main Career Mode is really enjoyable and provides a good challenge, and the previously mentioned Challenge Mode will extend the life of the game nicely. There is well over 25 hours of game play available here, and I thoroughly recommend the game to anyone who is a fan of the sport, or indeed racing games in general - I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.