Genuinely thrilling, fully satisfying, great looking. A few minor flaws do little to scratch this game's shine.
The game has a fairly sharp learning curve, especially if you've never played a motorbike racing game before, it can take some time to get used to the idea of having to straighten your bike and lean the other way in a chicane, but once you get the hang of it, you'll quickly master it and from that point, you will have never played a more satisfying racing game.
The game AI is a little bit rubber-banded, especially on the easier difficulty levels, but the effect is slight, so as to prevent frustration without making you feel coddled. during qualifying rounds, the AI has a nasty habit of bunching around you, slowing to a crawl so that you always have "friends", but the AI behave nothing like this in a real race, and you'll tend not to notice, anyways, as the slow enemies are easily passed wihout incident, it's like you're racing alone, like a qualifying trial should be. Also, you'll have to be careful, navigating a course in a pack of other bikes, as too much contact between bikes, especially cowl to cowl, will usually put you on the ground before them. It can be difficult, with the limitations of an analog stick, to maneuver precisely enough to avoid contact, but the problem only really arises if you are pushing hard against the other bike, or you slap into them.
The game features two race modes, the thrilling Extreme mode and the more paced, satisfying, challenging Granf Prix mode. The GP mode follows all 16 circuits from the 2004 MotoGP season, recreated in surprising detail, with all the last-breath-braking and sweeping corners as the real thing. The courses can take a while to learn, but if you start at the easier difficulty levels, the game is plenty forgiving untill you find yourself able to race with the pros. There are few things more satisfying than taking home the championship after 16 close races of 16 greulling, challenging real-word tracks. Also, the first time you win on a real circuit, you unlock a well-constructed, exciting highlight video from that race in the 2004 MotoGP season. These videos, which are a pleasure to watch over and over, are only the tip of teh iceburg of unlockable content in Moto GP 3
Extreme mode takes you through 16 fantasy courses that, compared to the real tracks in the GP mode, are so wide-open you'll hardly need to use your brake, and when you go back to GP, it may just take you a few tries to re-learn how to slow down and now fling yourself off the road at that one nasty hairpin... but the extreme tracks are a lot of fun, regardless. The sense of speed is gutteral and real, and the game really shines on these tracks, graphically, as you experience a dizzying speed blur and fantastic, muffled sound effects when you push your bike to the limit. nailing a narrow chicane at 210 MPH is every bit as fun and satisfying as finessing a slow S in a tight pack in the GP circuit and coming in for victory.
Moto GP3 features stunning visual effects, superbly detailed bike models, seamless rider animation, a visceral sense of speed, and, when you're ready for it, a fast and intelligent AI that would give Valentino Rossi himself a run for his money. This game is perfect for MotoGP fans, and newbies alike, as well as anyone else with an Xbox and adrenal glands.