That's it. Frustration has officially set in.
It's been many, many months since I first picked up my Xbox 360. At first, playing games like Condemned and Call of Duty 2 had me thinking that the new wave of gaming had finally arrived. I could not have been more mistaken. As those of you who are tracking my contributions probably know, I have not posted a review in a long time. And there's a reason for that. Right now, there's not a single game on Xbox 360 I haven't played. And that is simply sad. Microsoft has decided to save up all their good titles until Christmas to compete with the PS3 and Wii launch. Sure, the winter line up looks great. But what about right now? Right now, the situation sucks, and that's being nice. I've been staring at the same wall of launch titles for months now and I'm sick of Microsoft trying to literally BORE me into trying them all. The 360 is an amazing machine. And I know I'll catch heck for saying this, but it's how I feel: I'm underwhelmed with the software available right now. Oblivion was great...when it played and didn't jack up the hard drive. Ghost Recon will go down in my book as one of the most overhyped games of all-time. Rumble Roses XX was the joke nobody laughed at. And now, Moto GP becomes just another game selling itself out for those who love graphics. Can we PLEASE get something that isn't sports-related that doesn't suck and isn't a FPS? Before the 360 even had a name, I made a prediction. And that prediction was that the new generation of gaming would see some powerful hardware that would suffer from lack of good software. And if this is any indication so far, I'd have to say I'm on the money with that. So if J. Allard or Peter Moore happen to come across this, can we get some games on the system that we can pick up, play, and enjoy without tearing our hair out or having to fragment our hard drives? PLEASE? Anyway, enough from me....it's game review time.
GAME REVIEW SECTION
Just to be clear, I have never played a Moto GP game before this one. I saw it on the shelf and thought, "I like bikes. This could be fun." So, I bought it home and plugged it in. Seeing as to how I don't normally play motorcycle racing games, I expected it would take some getting used to. But hey, I'm always up for a challenge. However, I also like to have fun. And, of everything else, fun was the one thing this game had the very least of.
Graphics: I don't know how many times I've said this before on a game I didn't like on 360. I hate to do it yet again, but here it is. The graphics are great. Everthing looks crisp...until things get going and then pop-up rears it's ugly head, along with framerate drops. But the environments are nice and weather effects aren't shabby at all.
Sound: Inspiration for buying stock in companies that make ear plugs. Seriously, I've never heard music this bad. And the bikes sound incredulously generic.
Control: I had planned on having to learn to weight shift, etc. I hadn't planned on having to learn the complex controls this game demands. If you don't hit the corners perfect, you're going down and that's it. I have no idea who thought up the powerslide move, but it sucks. Especially if you're racing on a wet course. Also, who assigns acceleration to the A button and not the triggers??? WTF! Fortunately, you can change the controls however you like, and I give them big props for that.
Entertainment: Consider this. You're flying into a corner, picking your line. You accidentally wobble and bite the turf. As you're sliding, your bike smacks up against other racers. Huge, awesome accident right? Well...it should be. But not in this game. Your bike just glides across the ground, leaving everyone else in the race totally unaffected. In fact, I'm yet to see a single computer player take a dive. Which raises the question: Realistic....how?? This one kept my interest for all of about twenty minutes. I forced myself to play the game longer in order to give an opinion that would be honest. The bike customizing options are too complex as well, as I gave up customizing my bike after five infuriating minutes of trying to place "vinyls".
All in all, if you like bikes, you WILL get some entertainment out of this one. If you like sim games, you might get a few more miles out of it. But for a pick up and play, it's a definite no. Unless you know what you're getting into, you will probably put this one down in frustration pretty quick. No purchase recommendation here, but you might want to rent it. After all, there's not exactly alot to choose from......