Overview

With many previous releases behind them, we can say that the developers at Climax had a lot of experience to concoct this new episode of the Moto GP saga. Therefore, it is logical that we find content similar to the previous game, content divided into two categories that we will find in the various aspects of the software.

The GP mode gathers the 17 official circuits and all the competition staff, and it offers nothing more and nothing less than an update compared to previous Moto GP on the original Xbox. We thus have the choice to carry out the complete season by taking care to select our driver and his bike, or to take part in a simple race on one of the circuits. Grand Prix and Extreme are the two hearts around which the game revolves, knowing that racing, evolving and obtaining good results is what matters.

Gameplay

Thus, it is inevitable that this MotoGP '06 does not betray its predecessors with content that offers extended hours of play if only by the number of races: seventeen officials circuits which will bring you your share of challenges. However, the developers have taken no risk, who are content to recycle and update content known to fans of the series. So what can we say about the sixty or so challenges that mode offers? Quite simply that they provide a new way to access the rest of the game's content and that they don't differ from the other modes offered.

In GP mode, the search for the real sensations that drivers experience in these races is the most important thing, i.e. knowing how to understand each corner, gauge and carry out accelerations or braking in time. However, where, for example, the front brake should be combined with the rear brake for precise timing in deceleration and acceleration phases, you quickly realize that in the end the bike's behaviour is hardly modified. If you are an enthusiast of the sport and put your knowledge into practice, you may not be much better off than a beginner who is lost in the controls. An undeniable willingness of the developers to make the game available to everyone at risk is the case, of losing credibility with those who still considered MotoGP as a real simulation.

As for the Extreme mode, it is not intended to overshadow the GP driving style. Here we can afford to take more risks in handling the bike, offering more pleasure in a more comfortable ride or, on the contrary, more difficulty and even incomprehension depending on the type of player.

Graphics & Sound

We might as well stay in the context of disappointment and address first of all the small visual defects that can make your teeth grind when you play this MotoGP '06.

However, some will not fail to criticize that the driver does not bend down enough to apprehend a bend or adopt the same physical attitude when he finds himself in the gravel, which is not very logical. In the same vein, enthusiasts will regret a total lack of weight management on the bike, which would have influenced driving. For those who are less demanding, collisions with other riders are very random. Motorcycle crashes do not follow a typically rigorous logic or that the bike never shows signs of damage. In the same way that wallowing in the grass, on the asphalt or in the gravel does not change the visual aspect of the thing, by that you mean that you do not see any grass flying away, nor any cloud of smoke from the gravel forming.

If some people will agree with the previous remarks and give them importance in their judgment, let's underline the visual qualities of this release, which should put the majority of the players in agreement. We like the fact that you can visually customize your bike even if it's just necessary. We also like to race in pleasant environments, mostly on the Extreme mode circuits. We also have little to criticize the riders and motorcycles' animations, which are very convincing and the great lighting effects.

Pleasant, our feeling won't go any further. Uneven textures, especially for the background landscapes, denounce a more general observation about these same textures: they are not convincing. In short, MotoGP '06 offers a pleasant visual aspect, simple with a few right ingredients but in the end, without any real surprises.

Let's finally finish on a musical note. If the game's music is catchy while not being too invasive, we will remain on a half-tone impression concerning the noise of the engines. The fewer connoisseurs will find, and rightly so, these sounds are of good quality and differentiate according to the type of engine being ridden. Simultaneously, the more experienced will not hesitate to display a mocking smile when their ears associate such a noise with such an engine. Too demanding, you might say? Once again, Moto GP 06 tries to accommodate all types of players by generalizing a detail like this.

Conclusion

Moto GP '06 amid an identity crisis? This is, in any case, the impression that comes out of this MotoGP '06. By trying to keep a simulation side while wanting to be more accessible to the general public, the developers fell into a pinch from which they have difficulty to get out. It's hard to grasp some gameplay inconsistencies as well as visual details that make the wrong impression. Fortunately, the game is still as complete as ever and offers a pleasant graphic environment for real gaming pleasure.