MotoGP Ultimate Racing Technology 2

Published by THQ
Developed by Climax
Platform: Xbox
Released - Out Now
Price : £39.99

MotoGP Ultimate Racing Technology impressed the socks off me. In all my years of playing bike-racing games I've never come across a title that engrossed me as much as this title did. In fact if you asked me to pick fault with the game I would be hard pushed to. Bearing this in mind I was surprised that THQ was to release a sequel to this great game only around a year after the original title. It was difficult to imagine what they could add to make it better. Of course one of the major inclusions this time around is full support for Xbox LIVE. A demo of the original game was bundled with the LIVE starter pack and it has proved to be fantastically popular. But what other improvements have been made? Let's find out.

Personally I would regard the biggest improvements with MotoGP 2 is that it now features 16 circuits and a training circuit. The original MotoGP only featured 10 circuits. So what are the extra circuits then? The extra 6 circuits are Phakisa, Catalunya, Estoril, Rio, Motegi and Sepang. The addition of these 6 circuits makes the game feel far more complete and also makes the championship feel more authentic.

If you've played the original MotoGP you'll remember there was an arcade championship, where you had to try and score as many points as possible from keeping on the track and pulling wheelies etc., and a full-blown championship. This time around the game has been set out a little differently. The single player mode now offers a Quick Race, Career Mode, Stunt Mode and Time Trial. Stunt Mode has replaced the Arcade Championship from the first game but is exactly the same thing. Quick Race and Time Trial are self-explanatory but it's worth mentioning that you can only drive on circuits that have been unlocked by either driving on them in Stunt Mode or Career Mode.

Career Mode is where you create your own rider and customise their bike and leathers. You have a multitude of lessons you can take and if you successfully complete them, you get experience points that you can assign to four abilities, Cornering, Braking, Top Speed and Acceleration. You can also take part in the championships too in Career Mode. This time though you have a choice of three difficulty levels. Doing well in the championship races will earn you more experience points to further improve your rider. Of course when you're happy with the ability of your rider you'll want to head off to challenge other people on Xbox Live. If you don't have Xbox Live then you can still participate in either system link or split screen races.

To keep Stunt Mode interesting, Climax have included the feast of unlockable items from the first game. There are various graphical filters such as toon, sketch, emboss, pop video (which is a new one) to name just a few. There are extra riders that can be unlocked to play as. There are also extra items to alter the look of your custom rider. It's fair to say that even the Stunt Mode offers many hours of play in it's own right.

The only complaint, well it's not really a complaint, I have with MotoGP2 is that the developers have done away with the predefined control systems that were in the original game. If you've played the first game you'll remember how there were a number of predefined control schemes. This enabled you to choose whatever control system you preferred. These are now gone and instead you can now redefine you own controls. Of course some of you may prefer this and indeed I have been able to setup the control scheme to my liking but the predefined control schemes offered greater ease of use.

On playing MotoGP Ultimate Racing Technology 2 for the first time one of the major improvements becomes glaringly obvious, the graphics have been improved. The details on the bikes and circuits have all received an upgrade. What makes this even more impressive is that the framerate only ever dips during wet races (the rain effects are again superb) and even then on rare occasions and for only a second at the most. I personally thought the original game was pushing the Xbox to the limits but from the quality of the visuals that are on offer here I was obviously wrong.

MotoGP 2 isn't going to cause any problems for deaf gamers. As with the original game the FMV clips that run before a grand prix are not subtitled. These only serve as an introduction to the circuit though. That's not to say it wouldn't have been nice had they been subtitled. If you place first in a grand prix you'll unlock a highlights clip of the 2002 race on the circuit in question. These clips have commentary and this is not subtitled but once again this isn't too much of a problem.

Overall MotoGP Ultimate Racing Technology 2 is a worthy successor to a brilliant game. The game has been restructured slightly and is now fully compatible to use with the Xbox Live online gaming system. Even for the single player experience though it's still brilliant. The extra tracks and improved Career Mode, not to mention the brilliant bike control that has been carried over from the first game, make this the best two-wheeled racer you can buy on any console.

Overall Game Rating: 9.1/10
A great sequel that doesn't just add Xbox Live support but also beefs up the single player game too.

Deaf Gamers comment:
FMV clips and highlights are unsubtitled but in every other way it's fine for deaf gamers.