Despite having started out on four wheels with Screamer racing cars and a lively arcade system back in 1995, when the team was still called Graffiti, Milestone has always had motorcycles in its blood and the ambition to bring them to the screen in the most convincing and plausible way possible, trying over the years to become a reference point within this specific subgenre.
An objective that the Spanish studio achieved quickly, we could say with relative ease given the lack of real competitors, alternating the development of officially licensed titles (first SBK, then MotoGP), notoriously forced to a mortifying annual cadence in creative terms and projects that in some ways they are freer to express themselves, like the RIDE series.
The new episode, which arrives after three years of waiting and cuts ties with the platforms of the previous generation, increases the content even more and proposes a very well structured career from a structural point of view, supported by the solid foundations of a model of fun driving. and a convincing confirmation: we will tell you in the RIDE 5 review.
Structure: more and more
Let's start with the aspect of RIDE 5 that has received the most obvious improvements, namely the game structure, which in the new episode appears well thought out and well organized in terms of content and methods, in a word... solid. From the home screen it is possible to access the new Race, try your luck in individual customizable races, try the multiplayer section (which includes online challenges and split screen) and enter the inevitable editor, through which you can create not only liveries but Also custom races.
La career as always, it represents the fulcrum of the experience and distances itself from the similar method described in the RIDE 4 review by a more precise and traditional connotation, if we want, free of the frustrating driving license tests and divided into four chapters (Down the Visor, Burning Ambition, Full Throttle, The Road to Victory), which in turn are made up of a sequence of unique events that can include multiple races of different types.
In short, variety is not lacking It is above all the global vision that convinces: The perception of a purely simulated course lies in its dynamics and its facets, which do not end in practice lap after lap of the grand prix, but rather look beyond, highlighting clear differences with the rigorous and overly ruthless simulation described in the review. of MotoGP 23.
The loop is, therefore, the most classic and traditional: that of starting from the bottom, of strong but beatable opponents, of the new bike just unlocked, of the money earned with decent first positions and immediately spent on set-up to improve the benefits, in the context of Mechanics similar to Gran Turismo. which are exciting and always keep interest alive.
It is a pity that this well-studied approach does not find support in a difficulty balance It's also finely framed, which is certainly left a bit to chance and personal preference. Is the race too hard? Instead of replaying a previous event to get that upgrade that will allow us to win it, we are going to adjust the level of artificial intelligence (i.e. the speed of the opponents).
It is clearly satisfactory that there is always the possibility of choice, extended as usual to numerous driving aid options even without reaching the excessive automatisms of the aforementioned MotoGP 23; but we would have preferred a bigger decision in this regard, a more traditional approach here as well instead of the simple penalty in experience points for those who overuse assistance.
But back to the content: on the front of the continued RIDE 5 rises to a total of thirty-eight and sees the debut of the circuits Autopolis (Japan), Blue Wave Circuit (United States), Sonoma Raceway (United States), Circuit Des 24 Heures Du Mans (France), North West 200 (Northern Ireland), Almería Circuit (Spain), Andalusia Circuit (Spain), Iberia Circuit (Spain) and Ricardo Tormo Circuit (Spain).
This abundance is obviously reflected in way layout, with unique races that can be normal, endurance or time trial and include the possibility of modifying the light conditions (sunrise, morning, afternoon, sunset, night), the start time of the test and the weather, fixed ( clear, scattered clouds, cloudy, overcast, light rain, rainy) or dynamic, also in this case customizable in its cycle.
Gameplay: always solid, always similar
RIDE 5 can count on solid driving model that Milestone has introduced since the beginning of the series, and that naturally derives from other experiences of the Spanish team with two-wheeled motorcycles. In this case, however, we are talking about a simcade system, which does not condemn you to a fall if you do not achieve the braking time to the thousandth, but still leaves some inevitable limits intact.
Le many settings aids related are easier to explore here and very little experience is needed to take off after a more assisted introduction phase, so to speak, also eliminating the annoying visual indicators of the ideal trajectory and opting for a manual gearbox instead. instead of the automatic. , to make the most of traction and recovery during and exiting tight turns.
In reality, there are several shades of game of RIDE 5, and from this point of view there is no doubt about its excellent scalability, although as we mentioned we would have preferred a more rigorous approach for Career in terms of balancing difficulty and the possibility of freely using help in case of problems.
However, it is necessary to point out a management ofAI of opponents still conceptually outdated, with the various drivers following predetermined lines regardless of who is in front of them and therefore entering into collision: an eventuality that fortunately does not always produce a crash due to a certain degree of tolerance, but the problem remains and in a race it never happens that we witness more varied and plausible comparisons between the other drivers.
Technical realization: let's hope the weather is not good.
Available exclusively on current generation platforms starting this year, the Milestone series has adopted Unreal Engine starting from the third episode and this has allowed the developers to obtain a good compromise in terms of resolution and frame rate, dynamic 4K and 60 fps respectively on PS5, but the visual representation of the experience still changes radically depending on the lighting.
In general, clear, sunny days produce excessive flatness and show the limitations of the game in terms of effects, especially in combination with the classic third-person view which is presented here in a very static way and therefore does not add depth and unpredictability to the presentation.
However, when they come into play volumetric clouds and you run on wet asphalt, the situation changes dramatically and the realism increases accordingly, the shadows are cast on the models convincingly and the reflections of the screen space substantially enrich the graphic sector, giving it a certain personality.
The sound is confirmed to be functional for the action, while on PlayStation 5 the Dual Sense Controller This time it is also used in its peculiar functions, in particular the adaptive triggers that offer variable resistance to the brake and accelerator, as well as the haptic feedback that communicates, through its sophisticated vibrations, a whole series of useful information about the transmission and contact with the street.
Conclusions
Tested version PlayStation 5 digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store Price 79,99 € Holygamerz.com 8.0 Readers (12) 7.4 your voteRIDE 5 improves, optimizes and enriches the Milestone series experience thanks to many new content, including several new tracks and an interesting and well-structured Career mode, which focuses on the traditional and foolproof Gran Turismo progression system despite losing the opportunity to rationalize it. the balance of difficulty according to precise and unavoidable rules. The Simcade driving model appears solid and multifaceted, but the limits of an artificial intelligence that follows rigid and monotonous patterns persist.
PRO
- Nice race, solid and interesting.
- Now there is a lot of content.
- Always solid and scalable driving model
AGAINST
- Artificial intelligence must be improved
- Difficulty balance must be managed independently.
- Graphically it still moves between highs and lows.
