Milestone brings us a new installment of the official video game of the AMA Supercross Championship, a very complete, difficult and realistic simulation title.
A few years ago a study of the University of Pisa became famous in which they talked about "the love hormone" and made sure that it only lasts two years. Of course, their researchers should not know the idyll between Milestone and the world of motorcycling, because both sides have been twenty years of romance and the thing seems far from over. The Italian developer, a veteran of speed games, renews her votes with relative frequency and has been offering sagas such as Superbike, SBK, Ride, MotoGP and MXGP since the beginning of the century. They have been adding since 2018 the Monster Energy Supercross series, which has become an annual franchise and launches this February 4, 2020 which will be its third installment. A title that demonstrates the passion of the study for motocross and that serves to consolidate the proposal and demonstrate that it goes very seriously. How? Well, with a good number of novelties and a rapid pace of improvement.
Monster Energy Supercross 3 repeats as the official video game of one of the most important championships in the world of motocross, the AMA Supercross Championship. Thanks to this, it contains the license of all the pilots and tracks that were part of the 450cc and 250cc categories in the 2019 season, which crowned Cooper Webb, Dylan Ferrandis and Chase Sexton. In total there are more than 80 different pilots and more than 15 different tracks. In addition, this third installment includes as a novelty the presence of official teams, one of the pending subjects of their predecessors. For the first time in the series will be the colors and logos of the teams of real builders. We have only lacked that they also have real names and sponsors (then between parenthesis). We can choose between brands such as Honda (HRC) and (Rockstar Energy) Husqvarna, through many others such as (Monster Energy) Kawasaki, (Red Bull) KTM, (Monster Energy Factory) Yamaha and (JGR / Yoshimura) Suzuki.
A season of delay
The commitment to reality does not stop there and the trajectory mode of the game follows the real competition calendar, including its tests and classification systems. The only downside in this aspect lies in the title launch window. Like the previous ones, Monster Energy Supercross 3 focuses its attention on a season that ended more than six months ago and that we have already left behind in the rearview mirror. The 2020 championship is underway since January and makes the game outdated, with one hand in front and one in the back. We should start looking for a solution to this temporary setback in the face of a hypothetical Supercross 4.
The first title of the saga was one of the games that were given with PlayStation Plus in December 2019, so as more than one will already know its proposal, this time we will start with its novelties. Without counting the official teams, the first one is the presence of women for the first time in the saga. This is due to the inclusion of a new character editor that will give us the possibility to choose the sex and appearance of our avatar. Each option will have its own set of movements and was necessary for the kinematics that are at the beginning and end of each test. A nod to the rise of pilots like Vicki Golden, who in 2015 became the first woman to compete in the AMA Supercross Championship. It is appreciated, but it would not have been more than said editor had a greater and better degree of customization, because it pales next to those there are for circuits and motorcycles. In addition, being the first contact with the game, one would expect a better first impression.
A multiplayer to match
But if there is an important novelty in this delivery that is the presence of dedicated servers. The online of the previous ones was a desert moor where the games were filled with bots and in which we had the habit of not crossing with anyone. Monster Energy Supercross 3 offers its own online infrastructure to ensure that there is life beyond the CPU and minimize both lag and possible latency. Of course, the servers will be available for all versions of the game except for Nintendo Switch. A decision that Milestone did not want to give too many explanations. The company not only offers this new network support, but has also incorporated new multiplayer modes. The classics are conserved (standard races, triple crown and showdown for 8 players) and a elimination mode, another with control points and a third one called “treasure hunt” are added. As if that were not enough, the servers also offer private rooms, games with completely customizable rules and the one that has become our new favorite option, free driving through the complex, in which we are now allowed to invite our friends to train and try maneuvers cooperatively. It is the perfect method to learn to play: accompanied and laughing.
If the online mode fulfills what it promises, it will be a great step forward, not only for the saga, but for Milestone, which has always resisted this section. The rest of the improvements are graphic and playable. In the first we will enter later, while the second are a series of very specific adjustments in the handling of the game. The physics system continues to take steps forward, we have been completely released when it rotates in the air and progress has also been made in the reactions of the riders to the behavior of the motorcycle. Modifications needed, yes, but there is still a long way to go.
A game not suitable for everyone
Now, for those who do not know the proposal and have not tried the previous ones, Monster Energy Supercross 3 is a very demanding simulation game with a very violent learning curve. It is a very difficult title even activating all possible aids and automatisms, and of course it is far from the arcade genre. It is an approach to this discipline that had not been seen in the past. A realistic approach that demands patience and skill at the controls. If we accept all this, the title can delight supercross fans and is able to keep us hours and hours at the controls with a quantity of content more than remarkable. Its offer is frankly wide: a trajectory mode, individual tests (multiplayer modes, but with rivals managed by AI), counter-checks with online markers, free exploration so that we cross the practice complex, championships (where to choose between several racing series) and finally, a good handful of challenges (ranging from one on one to perfect driving tests, passing through doors or doing pirouettes). Special mention should be made of the scenario editor, which allows us to create our own circuits and upload them to the network to share them with other players. We can choose the type of exit, the challenges of its lines, whoops, put bridges, jumps, tabletops and, ultimately, extend the life of the title as much as we want. Monster Energy Supercross 3 will have no problem enduring until next year's delivery.
However, although they are many and very complete modes, most were already in previous installments … and in a very similar way. The scenario editor, for example, could have been encouraged to include outdoor tracks. His creations are still covered instead of adding variety. It would have been fun to be able to mess with the three types of climates of the game (clear, wet and rainy). Something similar happens with respect to the trajectory mode. It has more similarities than differences with respect to its first delivery. At that time he was very applauded. It was a surprising and promising campaign, with more options than we expected, but in these two years there has been hardly any evolution. We do not ask the title to compete suddenly with the stories of NBA 2K or FIFA, the giants of the sports genre, but it could gradually incorporate some of its features. By boat soon, to continue completing seasons we can think of the need for incentives beyond contracts (historical records, for example). The same goes for the extra modes, which, while still abundant, could bring us some surprise from one edition to another (classic drivers from the world of competition, some unofficial championship, etc.). They are quick and surely improvable ideas, but they allow us to glimpse that the title can still be much better. He should not settle for the remarkable, as he has been doing.
Simulation with capital letters
Returning to the simulation section, Monster Energy Supercross 3 validates several engineering subjects and brings the driver's license as a gift. The game invites us to change gears, control the pilot's weight, his posture, the force we execute on the handlebars and how to land after each jump. As if that were not enough, before each race we will have at our disposal a multitude of options to configure our motorcycle, such as the preload we put on it, the stiffness of the springs, the damping system, the transmission, etc., and so on. The tests themselves contribute to this and can go from a handful of minutes to more than an hour depending on the type of experience we seek. The degree of complexity and realism we seek depends entirely on us.
Too bad the tutorials are few and seem unusable. Far from bringing love of motocross closer to the general public, the game creates an invisible barrier with the most neophytes in the field and rejects newcomers. Your learning curve is crazy. It not only requires skill, but also that we learn by magic some concepts that are not explained anywhere. If it is your first Monster Energy Supercross and you are not too well versed in simulation games, prepare to be in last position for many races (but many, many). The problem arises when we do not know what we are doing wrong or how we can improve. It is certainly one of the big problems of the title. It does not give any facility and can be very frustrating. Most will throw in the towel before discovering its virtues.
Mud on the screen
As regards the technical section, Monster Enery Supercross 3 makes a very grateful effort. It is far from excellence, but at times the result is very colorful. The game makes use of the Unreal Engine 4 and boasts a fairly solid and stable framerate for the large number of pilots on the screen. It has more animations than ever, the gradient of the tracks is palpable, the light games with spotlights and fireworks are quite resultones and even has its own factory details, such as the movement of the clothes depending on the speed and wind. Unfortunately, the faces are still taken from the Wax Museum in Madrid, the modeling seems strange in sight and in the falls it is better not to look, rather than for the possible accident, for the way the character falls, a toy doll . Textures, impacts, expressions, public, dirt and all kinds of details are still missing, but the most important thing is achieved. His brave photo mode gives a good example of this.
In sound, the game comes with commentators in English (without subtitles), although all the texts of the menus are translated into Spanish. The effects pass without grief or glory, being somewhat repetitive and unable to differentiate between engines, settings and situations. The package comes dressed in several melodies, none recognizable, and some underground song by artists like Kyle Devine. Both are heard in the background during the menus and the races themselves. In the absence of a budget the section is well resolved, but sometimes it is too generic, like being in a clothing store, and it is likely that you end up in your own playlist.
CONCLUSION
When a company with more than twenty years of experience in speed games insists so much on a saga, it is usually for something. Monster Energy Supercross is a good example of that. The third installment of the series is the best to date and demonstrates why Milestone is still trying to consolidate the brand. Today there are very few motocross proposals so generous in content and even less that offer such a complete, realistic and difficult simulation experience. Monster Energy Supercross 3 adds to the usual formula a character editor, the official brands of the AMA Supercross Championship and a multiplayer mode that, this time, seems to be up to par. A title that may not reach the outstanding in any of its sections and which may still have a long way to go, but still able to show a good level in almost everything. Solid and on the right track, it is a very interesting bet for lovers of this sport. We trust Milestone.
THE BEST
- Multiplayer mode is more careful than ever.
- The wide range of content.
- The simulation experience, very complete, realistic and difficult.
WORST
- The Nintendo Switch version has no dedicated servers.
- The learning curve is crazy and its tutorials are useless.
- The trajectory mode, among others, has stagnated.
Good
It meets the expectations of what a good game is, it has quality and does not present serious failures, although it lacks elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
