Thomas Harrison-Lord
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Writing For
TheSixthAxisLatest Reviews
DIRT 5 strips away the more serious elements of the franchise and puts all its eggs in one, arcade cabinet shaped, basket. At times a riot, in other areas a little repetitive and lacking in finesse, it nevertheless delivers on the concept of an adrenaline-fueled off-road racer. It’s a game that makes you sit forward in your seat and savour the joys of jumping a Dakar Rally Peugeot 3008 over a ravine.
Motorcycle fans will gorge themselves on Ride 4's 250+ obsessively detailed motorcycles and one of the best track lists to be found in a modern racing game, but the pizzaz needed to keep playing is sadly missing and the career gameplay can be duller than counting your own eyebrow hairs.
With driving that is now on par with the competition, WRC 9 will keep sucking rally fans back in for more. Elements around the core rallying action could still do with some added finesse, but when the basic premise is so solid, those issues fade into the background. At last, Kylotonn has delivered on the promise of authentic driving experience, and for a rallying game, I think that is the single most important element.
If it wasn’t for the addition of My Team, F1 2020 would go down as being great for newcomers, but past the best before date for those who have enjoyed recent iterations. Some elements are now very tired, but being able to oversee the running of your own team proves to be incredibly satisfying and just enough of a distraction – for now. F1 2020 highlights just how much of a team sport Formula 1 is, and that can only be a good thing.
MotoGP 20 tries to build upon the promise of recent developments with a raft of new features, but it's those very inclusions that don't quite feel fully formed yet. The presentation is more polished, there's a real attempt to try something new, and I enjoy the more serious focus of the riding, but I can’t help but think that this game needed a little more time in development to iron out the quirks.
GRID is an enjoyable racing game for those who want to enjoy some close racing without worrying about camber angles. The market needs games like this to provide light and shade. I was hoping this new GRID would be a fresh start, but it's last night's takeaway re-heated. I enjoy leftovers – cold pizza is one of life's great pleasures – but that doesn’t make the perfect racing game when the rest of the world has moved on.
While F1 2019 adds features from the all-time bucket list of many an F1 fan, these new additions aren’t quite fully formed yet. This still managed to be the best Formula 1 game by Codemasters to date – the handling of the F2 cars and new online modes are genre defining – but there is always scope for further improvements and some areas are now beginning to feel a little stale. Video gamers can be so demanding sometimes.
There is a bigger thorn in F1 2018’s side and that is that is age. Still running on the EGO game engine, albeit in a heavily reworked and upgraded state, no matter how many interesting and new details are added to the game, elements are now beginning to feel dated once more. When other racing games provide ultra-accurate representations of tracks, F1 2018 is at times behind the pace. Spa is an excellent example, with some of the corners not being smooth curves, odd bump placings and dull trackside detail. Track surfaces on certain circuits aren’t up to snuff when compared to contemporary rivals. Likewise, the game creaks along when watching replays and the way characters walk and talk is very awkward.