Moto GP 3 Review PS2

The Namco motorbike series gets another instalment for another year of racing. This third edition is tweaked from the previous two and it features more tracks, 15 instead of 10 and 41 bikes rather than 38. The graphics have been polished up and the controls have also been improved. Otherwise though, this is pretty much the same as the previous titles in the series.

The greatest addition to Moto GP3 is the handling and controls of the bikes themselves. The addition of loads of handling options increase controls even more, so you will always be able to find a set up that will suit your preferences. The analogue sticks control the throttle and brakes and the riders weight, left to right. There is also a nice option that lets you control the front and rear brakes independently, this is something that only adds to the real life realism of riding a motorbike as the balance between the front and rear brakes is essential to make you bike brake and corner as fast as possible. There is also the obligatory automatic and manual transmission found in most racing games. You may be thinking that with having all these separate controls at your finger tips may make thing a little over whelming, the true of it is, you can get a little muddled at times but the practice is well worth it because it will keep you competitive through out the game.

Once you have got the hang of these controls using the analogue sticks you will have to perfect your braking and cornering technique. This can be difficult and sometime frustrating as the analogue sticks can feel slightly numb at times. To counter measure this Moto GP3 has incorporated an on screen meter that shows you graphically how much pressure you are applying to the controller. This is most useful when you start shifting your riders' weight to the left and right, as this is the real secret to cornering perfectly. Obviously you can switch off all of these options but you will not get the same amount of satisfaction from the game as it will feel much more arcade, plus the level of control available using all of the controls is far greater than the computer can off you with these options switched off.

Moto GP 3's features pretty much the same selection of game modes that its predecessors offered. In the season mode you take a racing contract with one of the racing teams before you go to race a season against everyone else. The arcade mode is basically what you would expect, you can select any bike and any track for one race only. Time trial let you set lap times for each track, plus you can use this mode to tweak your riding style and practice the 15 tracks. Once you have set a time on a track, you will see your ghost on the track the next time you race, enabling you to see where you went wrong or did yourself proud on your last quickest lap. Time trail will also give you a password that will let you post your fastest laps on the games website. Then you can see how bad you really are. Legends mode will allow you to race the very best of the competition from the past up to the present. Then there is the multiplayer mode which offers the ability for four players to race head to head.