I bought this, MotoGP 2 Xbox, because they've delayed the third installment... never played the 1st, heard good thing etc etc. They've managed to recreate the testicles to the tarmac commitment to corners... they've managed to make the game really freaking tedious.
The controls are a mixed bag, they "kind of" work. Left Trigger rear brake, right trigger front, A accelerate good by analogue control. Or you can dip into right analogue stick acceleration, up from neutral, but down is generic brake. So to ride successfully you have to meld trigger braking with using the right stick to analogue accelerate, but you end up reflexing down right stick to brake which is essentially cheating.
I started a "Career" which is moderately engaging, you have stat points to alot to Acceleration, Braking, Cornering and Top Speed. This is your RPG element thats all a bit to vogue for my tastes. Could you be a better rider if you stuck the points in the right place? Are you hindered by this? Is it worthless. Anyways you get more points by beating challenges, do three corners like, and winning at racing.
My argument with these modern doofangle games is that all I want to do is test me, against the track and the AI. Not decided on the hairspray brand of my rider.
The race weekend exists, which seems to be lost on current four wheeled racing games in amongst the cleavage... so you get practice, qualify, race. If you really commit yourself you practice, learn the track, braking zones, then qualify, I always end up in pole?!? and then race, but the race appears to only 3 laps long, so usually you've spent more time practicing than racing. Is that right? Is it fun? A race currently seems to involve me immediatly sliding down to about 4th or 5th on the first corner, sticking with that group, then getting pingged off my bike on the last lap then scraping 5th or so on the last corner.
Tell me, is this fun? And I don't really think it is, they've muddled a classic GP game with all this exteranious piffle. Sure, painting your bike is, well, liberating, choosing stats is always something I can't deal with, surely you, the player ARE the stats, and the bike is the bike supplied plus or minus the tyres you choose.
Now there are Sim based options cowering in the corner somewhere, what I want is ARCADE and SIMULATION buttons bright and breezy on the opening screen, options locked down. When you are offered a %age of SIM, what does that tell me? It says the developer couldn't be arsed, or didn't have the hutzbah to commit in a creative way to how the game should exist, so your handed a wet lettuce of non-commital game design, fluffed up with some spurious stattage and arbitrary challenges.
As an aside the gfx are medocre too, which is dissapointing, has anyone matche LeMans on the DC for quality art direction, crispicity and FUN?!
gfx are mediocre!!? I can't agree with that at all, I think Moto GP looks fantastic, the tracks have a very appealing level of texture detail and grittyness. The riders are a little too shiny, but I can cope with that when the rag doll is so nicely done for falls.
The challenges teach you the game though... I couldn't have coped with some of the later races if I hadn't spent hours practicing and beating some of the challenges. They're reasonably enjoyable too, in teaching you various bits of the handling as you go along.
I agree career mode is a bit naff, and a string of grand prix don't really make a 'career', but I think you are being too harsh about the game overall.
You tried online yet?
I assume this is the XBox version and not that Namco game with the same name?
I can't really see anything wrong with the graphics parsee. The controls sound a little odd though. I would have thought that the analogue sticks should be used for turning, shifting weight and gear changes, with the triggers free for front and rear brakes?
I'm getting stick for my perception of the graphics... compared to say Panzar Dragoon Saga the gfx are a muddy, incontinent mess, all fuzzy and have that typical Xbox vaseline thing going for them. Remember I don't care much for DirectX8 rendering, always looks to plastic to me.
Control wise, let me try and explain again:
Left Shoulder - Rear Brake
Right Shoulder - Front Brake
Left Stick - Steering, Lean forward, back
Right Stick Up - Accelerate
Right Stick Down - Generic Brake
A button - Accellerate
The Rest: Can't remember
So the A button is essentially redundant. How the hell do you change gear then? Click in the stick or something?
You raise an interesting point, how do you change gear without growing a third thumb... I'll check the manual at lunch time... its not going to anyhting as absurd as clicking in the sticks, if so, I will personally send a sturn letter to my local MP.
There are a bunch of different control schemes, and one allows you access to front and rear brake as well as gears. I can't remember the exact setup though.
I got Moto GP 1 and played it briefly the online element was really good fun and I'm told that the sequel is even better but the game is quite hard to get hold of for a decent price.