MotoGP 21

I have very little to complain about Milestone’s latest attempt to emulate the world of MotoGP and its feeder series. Last year’s already great game has been further improved, with vastly improved graphics and performance on the new consoles, several gameplay and UI tweaks and a handful of brand new additions. The much-hyped manual control over a rider after a fall is not quite as exciting as we hoped, but it doesn’t really matter; MotoGP 21 is an excellent rendition of one of the fastest and most exhilarating sports on the planet, proving not only to be one of Milestone’s all-time greats, but...

Thanks to gameplay tweaks and numerous new features, MotoGP 21 is undoubtedly the best and most accessible MotoGP game yet. There are still some areas that can be improved, however, such as career mode which can feel sterile at times. If you’re a fan of the sport it’s well worth picking up, especially if you have a next-gen console where the improved visuals and performance really elevate it to the next level. And thanks to the new tutorial aspects, it’s also a great entry point for those keen to enter the world of two-wheeled racing.

Milestone was ready for the next generation of consoles, as they have now launched their MotoGP series on the PlayStation 5. Time to see if this was a basic port, or if it takes advantage of the new platform in our MotoGP 21 PS5 review.

I’ve come to the (very obvious and not at all revolutionary) conclusion that Milestone’s motorcycle racing games are basically the FIFAs of their niche. Whether you’re talking about MotoGP or Monster Energy Supercross, you’re getting one per year, they will mostly feature the same kind of content, with just one or two new additions, a handful of quality of life adjustments, and updated rosters to differentiate one another. Even with the fact that I’m now playing it on a PlayStation ...

Despite technical wobbles, MotoGP 21 justifies another annual release.

A new tutorial system makes MotoGP 21 a good year for new riders to jump aboard this long-running motorcycle racing sim, though its other additions are slim enough that returning players will probably feel let down. One of the biggest new features, making you retrieve your bike after a spill, won’t be a good idea until the AI has to do it as well, but the tweaks to the bike handling are notable improvements to what is still most certainly the best-feeling MotoGP game to date.

Milestone's MotoGP series has taken some significant steps forward in recent years; expanding the career mode, making the bike handling more realistic and lively, but it's a little tougher to see the signs of progress in MotoGP 21. This is a slighter evolution of the series, with the biggest changes the ones that you can see from the jump to the new generation consoles and, if you're on PS5, feel through the DualSense controller.

A few times in the past, I've said how difficult it is to write a review of a game that I've recently previewed. The same can be said for a game where the final product doesn't really differentiate from the preview version in any great and meaningful way. Knowing this, you may imagine that my impressions of MotoGP 21 are still very much my thoughts about the game now. If that is the case, your imagination would be correct.

The MotoGP series returns with MotoGP 21, published and developed my Milestone. As the name implies to the unfamiliar, it’s a racing / sports / simulation title involving motorcycle racing, launched 22 April 2021 for the PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Time to once again burn rubber on the MotoGP race circuit with the yearly return of the series. MotoGP 21 once again grips the track, offering a roster of 120 riders, along with another 40+ historic riders and bikes, as well as 20 iconic official tracks for its annual release. It’s more than enough content to get the burning tire smell a new player like myself craves after flexing my rainbow road mastery!

Although certainly not extraordinary, MotoGP 21 is a decent enough racing game. Some more innovation would have been nice but given the complications caused by COVID, I can understand the limitations in place. Series veterans will most likely enjoy this but I can't see it attracting many newcomers with so many great racing options already on the market.