Distributed by
THQ

Price: £39.99 Players: 1-4 (1-16 online) Widescreen: Yes 60Hz: Yes Dolby Digital 5.1 sound: Yes Xbox Live-enabled: Yes Moto GP 3 follows on from one of my favourite ever Xbox titles to date, Moto GP 2, and indeed one of the highlights of the decade along with the Grand Theft Auto series. The basis of the game is simple - choose from one of many riders, and ride around more tracks than you can shake a stick at. The better you do, the more tracks and riders you'll unlock for later. It's also possible to tweak your bike and any game specifics to your own exacting standards, but when I first played the original online I didn't go to bed until the sun had come up. As such, you'll be unlikely to play this in single player mode if you have Xbox Live enabled between your console and PC. There's so much fun to be had racing round the tracks and trading wisecracks and (gentle) insults.

Playing the online demo for the first game which came with the Xbox Live Starter Package was a revelation in itself, given how the Playstation 2 editions of the same series, albeit without the "Ultimate Racing Technology" tag, were such dogs. Graphically you really feel like you're there. Glorious sunshine, torrential rain - all aspects of weather within are recreated perfectly. The bikes zoom around the track in pixel-perfect style and the competition really heats up when you're all jostling for position after the start of a race. For those with widescreen TVs, you'll find this title automatically sets you up for an anamorphic widescreen picture, which saves you a job. Similar to the prequel, it's still possible to ensure that any idiots taking it upon themselves to go round the track backwards do not become the scurge of the track as they smack into people trying to win a race. Yes, you can make collisions forward-only. Also, the camera angles when you take a tumble from your bike are still as good as ever and once a race is over there's the ability to watch the replays in slo-mo, forwards, backwards - any way you like.

The game comes with a selection of tunes that are well worth a spin round the tarmac to listen to, but this is one of those Xbox titles which allows you to hear your favourite music as you go and my album of choice as I type this is David Bowie's underestimated and critically-panned 1987 album, Never Let Me Down. While the game sound is Dolby Digital 5.1, and there's excellent placement of the rear speaker sounds as displayed when you fall off your bike, it's disappointing in that the most you hear is the basic rasp of an engine or three, and however much you try to change the volume, the sound from a CD-ripped track is always woefully more quiet than the in-game alternative. As I mentioned earlier, new riders and tracks are unlockable. Also, you'll be able to view highlights of each track, access the 'legend' difficulty level and play mirrored and reversed versions of each track depending on whether you can pass muster as the game requires. During the time I've played this new release, there's still the problem of the last game in that when I play Live, I can't hear everyone. It's meant to be more realistic that you can only hear those nearby to you, but even then that doesn't make sense since on a race with few riders you'll still be able to hear and talk to those positionally in front and behind you even if they're plenty distance away from you. It's annoying when you're having a jokey conversation with someone and they fall outside of earshot and you can no longer chat. Similarly, if the person positionally near me is doing likewise with someone positionally close to them then you'll keep hearing half a conversation, which is rather maddening. Thankfully, there's some grace saved with the commentator feature, in which one contestant can take a ride out and check all the on-bike cameras to champion those in front and make snide comments about those at the back, such as "DVDfever, wouldn't wanna be ya!", as I experienced early on as I got to grips with this game once again.

And now for some of the bad points. This game has been a long time waiting (2 years and 4 months), but there doesn't feel to be that much additional content to it. There are 16 extra made-up street and road courses for a new 'Extreme' championship and an online ranking system but that doesn't particularly interest me since I'm just up for a few quick games and a laugh with other players online, not making a career out of it. Riders-wise, we have the names of those from 2004, not 2005, which seems rather odd. Moto GP 3 sees the removal of Suzuka track due to the safety concerns bought up by the tragic death of Dajiro Kato, with the Qatar track in its place. There's also different menu music. I always prefer that of the first two titles as it was gorgeous and felt smooth and stream-lined, whereas the new version is rather generic electronica. Overall, most of what's on offer with this title is very similar to the second game. There are some new tracks, but such that should be an add-on to Moto GP 2, not a full new game, and the disappointment by all of this is reflected in my 'enjoyment' score below. Basically, if you have Moto GP 2 stick with that. If not, buy this.

GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2005.