A long awaited game... but is it worth it? Read review from a person that races in games and on the track with a bike!
I learn a lot about the apex rule, committing to the line, and riding slow to ride fast rule on MotoGP3. Below is a quick summary of the different aspects of the game compared to real life riding and real life racing:
Graphics: Outdated liveries and riders... For example, the Derbi machinery is now red/black instead of green/red as ridden by Jorge Lorenzo #48 in the gamespot title banner. Alex Barros and Max Biaggi have left the real championship series and hot rookies such as Casey Stoner and Daniel Pedrosa are in the 125 and 250 cc categories respectively.
Handling: The handling, while very light compared to the xbox version, is helpful because it real life, during deceleration I can quickly flick my bike by using a riding technique called counter-steering.
Lap times: The lap times performed by me are very comparable to real life (by pro racers, such as Valentino Rossi) when played on hard setting with sim off but I tend to go faster around the track with sim on...
Acceleration: In sim off, when you accelerate while in the corner, your speed is maintained at a respectable rate, which really mimics real life circumstances of not going full throttle when you are knee dragging. In sim on, the motogp class bikes then to high side, which is an unfortunate thing because all modern motogp class bikes have traction control, which prevent unequal wheel spinning during corner exits.
Braking: As in real life, you have to find your brake marker and prevent it consistently. If you go too hot into the corner, you risk going wide or worse crashing... Late braking also does not improve lap times but it does allow you to overtake into the corner and "stuff" your opponent, as in real life.
Racing lines: In this game committed to your turn and the racing line is very critical unlike the xbox version where the player is allowed to make unforgivable mistakes. If you lose concentration as I sometimes do when doing 28 laps of the same circuit, you lose lap time and sometimes on an inferior bike that means no chance of gaining a position.
AI: The AIs are still quite robotic, but as a player, you can put pressure onto an AI to make a mistake, such as highsiding or running off the track. However, the AI aggression does not increase if you had successfully overtake them... it is just a matter of maintaining your lines and putting out faster lap times to put space between you and him.
Development: A huge responsibility of real MGP riders is to develop the bike... this is done by your team manager giving parts to test and for you go put up a better result when compared to the current stock pieces. These tests while quite lame, attempts to make us feel like a more involved rider, which can be a positive point!
How I played the game: I have already won all three championships in three seasons by playing hard in random weather and full laps without any aids, such as track map, and in sim off (why? because my lap times will be slower). It is possible to win the 125cc championship on an inferior "kit" bike (the class C bikes) just as the one Thomas Luthi used to win the 125cc championship in 2005 (Yes, he was on a kit bike with little factory support). The next season, you'll be offered a decent 250 ride, which I took and became champion once again and I finally got promoted to the MotoGP class, riding the Honda once again. Before I owned a sports bike, I learn many critical issues to real riding from this series, which was something the xbox version couldn't teach me.. More importantly, I had fun while learning... after riding for real on the track and on the street, I noticed that there are some things that games cannot teach. However, Tourist Trophy seem to play a good job at simulating real riding conditions. For future bike owners, I recommend getting a smaller bike for your safety and minimizing losses ($$) from bike crashes. Get a 250 bike and start from there... you will feel exactly like playing this game.. Fun learn riding while on a smaller bike and finding it very easy to tame a bigger beast when you upgrade the next time. Remember to always wear gear and protect yourself!