Career mode & extreme street racing
Career mode begins by choosing one of two bikes, a KR211V or a Yamaha YZR-M, although more bikes are unlocked as you progress through the career more. All bikes are customisable to a certain extent –no you won’t be able to don bunny rabbit ears on your helmet, but you will be able to change the colour of your helmet, logos and your riding gear amongst other things. You can then create your rider, choose your team name and nationality.
The aim of the game is simple – win as many Moto GP championships as possible, rise up the seedings, and finish in number 1 spot by the end of the season. Of course that doesn’t mean you’ll need to win every race as the seeding system also depends on the ranking of other riders – beating a higher seed but finishing 3rd or 4th will still ensure you’ll rise up the rankings accordingly. As your ranking grows points are gained that can be used to customise your bike; handling, acceleration ,braking, and top speed can all be enhanced. These experience points can also be gained by completing various challenges on each track.
Click for larger imageAside from career mode you can unlock 17 Extreme Street tracks. This game mode allows you to choose from three Extreme categories, 600, 1000, and 1200. It’s disappointing that you have to spend time unlocking all of these tracks but it’s certainly worth the time exploring the mode. The tracks in Extreme mode range from Germany’s Autobahn to the dusty Outbacks of Australia and you’re also able to earn money to buy new bikes, something which isn’t featured in career mode.
Click for larger imageLet’s get down to the nitty gritty, the heart of the matter – how do the bikes handle? It was immediately apparent from the outset that the fine-tuning of MotoGP 06 has made riding a more technical experience. I was never great at previous MotoGP games but I could get to grips with the controls after a relatively short period and be able to judge corners quite accurately. In MotoGP 06 it took the best part of an hour to be able to navigate a circuit without crashing. The brakes and throttle need to be used with extreme precision to be able to take a corner with precision. In career mode and online it’s wise to learn the tracks turn by turn before you take on the professionals and the hardcore MotoGP fans, otherwise you’ll just make a fool out yourself. For the sake of reviewing purposes I jumped online after only a few hours of playing offline and finished last in almost every race, I then went back to the drawing board feeling somewhat frustrated.
