PC Gamer - UK (2022-07)

An all-new mode, titled Nine: Season

2009, takes you back to a bygone era

when Rossi, Lorenzo, Stoner, and

Pedrosa jostled their 1,000cc

machines around each other for the

wins, by way of a documentary-style

video series directed and narrated by

filmmaker Mark Neale,

and a series of

challenges intertwined

between them.

The challenges are

straightforward, the

objectives always

focusing on either

overtaking or gapping

opponents. But you’re

right there, among a full grid of 2009

riders, listening to a classic inline four

screaming its lungs out and looking

for a gap between Rossi’s knee and

the apex. Truthfully, for those with

even a passing interest in the sport,

that’s really enough.

That’s not to say Milestone shirks

any responsibility in simulating the

current season. As ever, all three

categories of racing are present,

correct and resplendent in 2022

liveries. And as ever, that lends a

depth to its career mode that not even

Codies’ F1 games can

quite match. When you

finally move up to the

premier class you feel

like you earned it, like

there’s a story to how

you got here. It remains

the biggest pull of the

series, even with the

inclusion of the 2009

season playable doc this year.

Mastering the bikes, meanwhile, is

a little easier. Last year’s title veered

so far off into hardcore sim territory

that even months after release I was

still routinely outbraking myself,

tucking the front, and squirming

around in braking zones like those

inflatable men they put outside car

dealerships. I wasn’t alone. Milestone

has addressed the braking difficulty

this year, but not in a manner that

feels particularly satisfying.

Essentially there are just extra

levels of assist now. Before you either

admitted defeat, turned on combined

braking, and got on with it, or

persevered with committing an

impossibly deft series of inputs to

memory. Now there are additional

options to modulate your inputs, the

upshot of which makes the handling

more forgiving at the cost of control.

Turn on the modulation and you

simply can’t lean in rashly enough to

tuck the front, which saves you a

crash but also feels a bit too much

like an autopilot mode.

New assists aside, wrestling a bike

around a circuit still feels extremely

challenging, and with ride height

devices to play with now along the

straights, there’s an extra wrinkle to

mastering the controls. It’s not

completely convincing – ride over a

bumpy apex, watch the insane

Buckaroo ride that occurs in its

aftermath, and the illusion of

simulation is shattered – but it feels

M

odern MotoGP is in a golden era. 2021 saw eight

different winners across 18 races, and so far this season

we’ve had three different riders on the top step in four

races, including two taking their maiden victories. It’s

unpredictable, packed with talent and spectacle, and

guaranteed entertainment every race. Naturally, then, the focus of

Milestone’s licensed bike sim MotoGP 22 is the 2009 season.

RIDE ON TIME

MOTOGP 22 looks back at an historic season in style

By Phil Iwaniuk

Milestone has

addressed the

braking

difficulty

this year

ABOVE: Manual race starts are a bit easier this

year, and now feature holeshot devices.

Ennea ‘The Beast’

Bastianini. Are we looking at

the next world champion?

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

The latest officially

licensed MotoGP

racing sim.

EXPECT TO PAY

£40

DEVELOPER

Milestone Interactive

PUBLISHER

In-house

REVIEWED ON

I7 9700K, RTX 2080 TI,

16GB RAM Windows 10

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

LINK

motogpvideogame.com

MotoGP 22

REVIEW