Monster Energy Supercross 5: Review of the new Milestone racing game

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monster energy supercross 5 review of the new milestone racing game
monster energy supercross 5 review of the new milestone racing game

Milestone engages with US Supercross on next-gen consoles: will it be able to repeat the success of the MXGP series?

 

On January 8th in Anaheim the stars and stripes championship dedicated to Supercross resumed: the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship 2022 will conclude the season in Salt Lake City on May 7th. For fans of Cooper Webb, Justin Cooper and Colt Nichols (the latest winners in the three classes) there is only one solution to relive the exploits of their heroes: play Monster Energy Supercross: The Official Videogame 5, the fifth chapter of the simulation. dedicated to the US championship signed by our local Milestone. The Milanese software house is now the undisputed queen in the field of two-wheeled simulations, and in the world of motocross it is forced to work overtime: in addition to the overseas Supercross there is also the European one dedicated to the MXGP categories (where ours dominated Tony Cairoli, in this regard here is the review of MXGP 2021).

A question of balance

The fifth chapter of the Milestone simulation brings as a dowry all the riders and official bikes of the 2021 season of the Monster Energy Supercross AMA (in categories 450 SX, 250 East and 250 West), as well as several innovations that do not exclusively concern the driving model. The veterans of the series will immediately notice the “Future Academy”, a mode that is something more than a simple tutorial: under the supervision of a legend of world Supercross like Ricky Carmichael, we will learn to manage our vehicle and launch ourselves in daring feats .

The Future Academy is therefore a good way to learn “tricks of the trade” such as, for example, managing body weight or drifting without losing too much ground. This is an addition with which Milestone aims to please both newbies and veterans of the series, who have long complained about the lack of a tutorial that would allow them to refine the driving technique.

A challenging Simcade

Monster Energy Supercross 5 is the classic simcade that it seems easy to master but instead proves much more complicated, with a very challenging learning curve. In fact, it takes very little to fall facing a series of whoops and end up at the bottom of the group and, especially at the beginning, it is not easy to find the right balance in one’s competitive deeds.

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After grinding a few races and metabolizing a good number of falls, it is easy to realize how damn important it is to shift the weight of your alter ego at the “right time” (via the right stick) to limit the risk of tasting the mud. The weight of the bikes and the different displacement (250cc and 450cc) require the player to have a different driving sensitivity in tackling the tracks of the stars and stripes championship (the official ones and those prepared by Milestone), which are quite demanding and hide many pitfalls. . When facing a series of whoops surgical precision is required in order not to lose too much speed, get away from the opponents and, in the worst case, end up against the barriers. Unfortunately, the morphology of the slopes tends to offer limited space to land, and side-by-side challenges with opponents are a custom, as are contacts that lead to ruinous falls.

The spaces to go throttle are quite limited and there is never a moment of respite: between opponents, mud, barriers, bumps and jumps, it is therefore necessary to maintain a very high level of concentration. To remedy a traffic accident it is always possible to use the “Rewind” function (in a limited way) which can be recharged with a series of stunts during the laps of the track, but it is a simple palliative. As for the PlayStation 5 version, the use of DualSense is rather limitedas the controller does nothing more than offer some haptic stimulation while racing.

The physics engine has a tantrum

The Unreal Engine, then, on some tracks puts its own and on more than one occasion, jumping on a ramp, we literally found ourselves upside down for no good reasonnot to mention the times we have been knocked down by a slightly too aggressive opponent.

In short, starting with all the settings at the maximum as regards the simulation realism (advanced physics activated, joint brakes, Flow aid and Rewind deactivated) could be a bit problematic for those who are not very familiar with the series, and fortunately Milestone offers the ability to automatically control jumps and corner entry, in order to make gameplay more accessible for newbies. The deformation of the terrain still leaves something to be desired (graphically and physically), while the AI ​​alternates performances that we could define realistic with others that are questionable (lap times, for example), especially on some tracks. In this regard, after seeing the “ANNA” system in action in the MotoGP series, it would be nice to have a customized AI with riders differentiated by riding style and ability in the motocross titles as well.

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Career and other modalities

The Milestone simulation offers a good number of game modes and a solid multiplayer sector, although the Career mode remains the strong point of the Milanese production. The new version of the single-player experience is structured in three phases (Futures, Rookie and Pro) with a lot of skill tree and perk to unlock. By competing you unlock everything and more: from sponsors to training exercises, up to the skills for your alter ego (an editor has also been added to customize the helmet).

For this reason it is important, especially at the beginning, to aim for good placings and to get to the bottom of the races. Passing from one championship to another will unlock one of the most awaited features, namely the “Rider Shape System” which simulates the state of form of the rider. How? Through training, performance on the track and falls during the races.

The three stages of the Career offer completely different challenges: for example, in Futures the focus is mainly on the development of one’s own driver; in the Rookie you have to justify the “contract” and compete for a team (it is also possible to create your own); in the Pro, on the other hand, there will be an entire championship in the 450 category.

As for the other modes present, we find the “time attack”, the championship mode (you compete in one of the three classes available with multiple customization possibilities) and the classic single race. One of the strengths of the series is represented by the Track Editor which also peeps out in this fifth episode without big news (apart from the addition of the “Rhythm Section Editor”), while the open world Compound mode also returns, which allows to run around alone and with friends. The introduction of the split-screen on the same console is appreciable, while the multiplayer allows you to have the AI ​​as a “wild card” during the races in the event of some abandonment.

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Faces of fear

Milestone’s use of the Unreal Engine in Supercross still not convincing: we noticed some improvements regarding the textures and animations of the riders (riding their racing car), while the outline always leaves a little too much to be desired.

The ground textures, in particular, should be brought to the next-gen, while on the faces of the pilots it is better to move on. Technically, Milestone’s production is solid (even if it does not impress in terms of frame rates) and the roar of the bikes on the track gives good sensations, but it was certainly reasonable to expect something more.

 

Monster Energy Supercross The Official Videogame 5

Version Analyzed PlayStation 5:

There was great curiosity for this fifth chapter dedicated to the world of American Supercross. Milestone confirmed the good he had already shown with the MXGP series, even if the overall result is not exceptional. We are facing a discreet title with some strengths and weaknesses: the graphics sector is still not up to par with the new consoles, while the AI ​​would need the algorithms developed by Milestone itself for the MotoGP series. However, it is a fun title to play, with a highly customizable and surprisingly challenging driving model. The content offer regarding the game modes is good, while the possibility of downloading the contents produced by the community is confirmed as a nice plus.