Milestone S.r.l’s Ride series is back with the 2 wheeled sim returning for a third installment. So does Ride 3 lead the pack? Read on to find out, as I review Ride 3.
Italian veteran developers of the industry Milestone s.r.l have always had a vision of the Ride series becoming the motorcycling equivalent of it’s four-wheeled brother Gran Turismo, and sure it arguably has the depth in licenses, bikes, and modes to rival the daddy of car racing, but that’s about as far it goes. Sadly Ride 3 falls short on the gameplay aspects and from a visual perspective.
A little more on the customize options at play in ride 3 and the quality in terms of selection and choice in the customization of each bike is bonking mad! Breaks, exhausts, wheels and many more can be played around with as you build up the bike of your dreams, spending currency earnt from competing on the race track which you can then show off online.
The game can boast having over 270 officially licensed bikes to collect (70 new choices have been added to ride 3) and the big powerhouse brands in the industry are all here. Milestone has also strived to push the depth in track numbers to a new level by including 30 circuits with 12 fresh inclusions.
For newcomers to the series, handling the bikes and adjusting to the handling mechanics of the tracks, and A.I may prove frustrating and time-consuming. The game is not particularly accessible for a new audience as the tutorials and advice are hardly generous. The blue arrows on track provide a limited guidance of where to position the bike to maximize times and speed as you compete around the tracks. It will be a steep, sometimes unforgiving learning curve but the rewind tool at least assists in immediately learning from any mistakes.
The Career mode returns, pitting gamers on a journey to establish the best modern superbike, which utilises a level ladder with star requirements to progress up the ladder and towards the final goal. These are split into numerous tiers known as volumes, which have unique goals. Some volumes will throw at you restrictions like using a two-stroke 125 cc to a legendary 250 cc.
This mode is full of content and throws up numerous race conditions from different era’s known as special events. Career mode throws everything at you, to the extent that the opportunity to experience nearly every variety of bike class, circuit, performance type, and event options are all here.
I found the career mode repetitive (in terms of constant point grind) and lacking in excitement, build up, and a big bang as such. No commentary or pre-race building hype in the form of trailers and overview left me feeling like what I was trying to compete for had little importance.
The attention to detail on the bikes is one area Milestone get it right. On closer inspection (such as in photo mode) the authentic recreations have been well designed and you can see the finer details on the bikes.
On the race track, the game does not fare as impressively. The landscape in Ride 3 suffers from average textures, mediocre levels of foliage and the race audience seem better suited to a retirement home such is lack of atmosphere and roar from the crowd. Whilst I can see some graphically pleasing encouragement from the Unreal Engine, there’s still a long road ahead before it catches up to rivals. The 60fps does at least offer a smooth, improved, sharper output for those of you playing PS4 pro and Xbox one X.
The bike and crash physics also seem rather hit and miss when racing, the A.I never seem to fall off their bikes, and god forbid if you end up off the race circuit as race officials penalize your finish time. The off-track surfaces also have little impact on the handling and speed physics, the bike appears to be just as speedy off the track as it is on. The bikes handle well enough on the straights, and corners can be tricky if break timings are off. The A.I seem competitive but risk lacking, rival bikers will for the majority of the course stick to the race line without taking much of a gamble for race position.
Ride 3 does show promise and is a racing sim that will give motorbike fans plenty of replayability due to the high depth of content on offer. (270 bikes will take an eternity to collect). Motorbikes are stylish and eye-pleasing, but that’s about as good as it gets. Career mode feels stale, and the most fun to be had would be competing through the online matchmaking servers and weekly challenges. Ride 3 is a game perhaps best suited to its more ardent of fans then novices of the sport.
Ride 3 is out now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Thanks to Milestone s.r.l for the review code.
