If RIDE first of the name had clearly left a bitter taste in our mouths, it is full of enthusiasm that we embarked on RIDE 2. After all, the faults of the first opus are clearly identified and Milestone had only to correct them to finally obtain a game that can seduce us without restraint. From the first minutes, you feel confident. The main menu indeed reveals a plethora of game modes, which promises hours of piloting. We find the "World Tour" mode which serves as the main campaign and in which we spend most of our time. The latter takes up exactly the mechanisms of the Polyphony Digital series with races by type of motorcycle that make us earn money. Once a small nest egg has been collected, all that remains is to go shopping at one of the twenty dealers available from the outset, plus one in DLC. We find all the major manufacturers with a jumble of Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia, BMW, KTM, Husqvarna, MV Agusta and many more for a total of 190 motorcycles, from roadsters to sports cars and old ones. . Once the hail of your dreams is in your hands, you can finish blowing up your finances with the preparation store that is always present.
While the motorcycles and your rider are nicely modeled, everything else is abysmal, from the frozen trees to the cardboard spectators. Pity.
Here, we will have the choice between aesthetic modifications (paint, triple clamp, handles, mirrors, etc.), and mechanical modifications (exhaust, air filters, brakes, suspensions, shifters and custom forks). All accessories are licensed and all models available are from the catalog of major manufacturers. We will find aesthetic pieces from Rizoma, Barracuda, UFO, Renthal or Zeta. On the mechanical side, it's the same with Brembo discs and pads, Öhlins forks, BMC air filters and other Akrapo-exhausts. You understood, the personalization box is pushed with unparalleled meticulousness and it's class. Moreover, your pilot will also be able to have class with 4 outfit presets (two track suits and two street outfits) all customizable. Your pilot will be wearing helmets from Shoei, Arai, AGV and others, while clothing will be provided by Alpinestars, Dainese, Rev'it, Ixon and many more. But since looks aren't everything, you can also customize your avatar's riding style by adjusting your riding position. We can adjust the sway, the exit of the elbow, and even the angle of the head. Style well out Marquez way or more collected in the image of Max Biaggi, it's up to you!
RIDE THE LIGHTNING
Once your makeover session with Cristina Cordula is over, it's time to take action. The game immediately takes you by the hand with debuts on 125cc 2-stroke handlebars, while glory and money coming, it will be possible to move upmarket. Moreover, Milestone has taken the PP system from Gran Turismo to try to define the efficiency of motorcycles. By tampering with the mechanical parts, you will also increase the PP score of your motorcycle, thus denying it access to certain events. We say try, since in reality the PPs have little impact on the reality of things. To be clear, a 1000 PP 540cc will lap infinitely faster than a 600 PP 620cc; a first pitfall signed Milestone. Another reason to rejoice, RIDE 2 signs the arrival of many 2-stroke motorcycles in its roster. Unfortunately, beyond the noise, there is no feeling in terms of piloting. Whatever the settings, it is impossible to find the catapult effect when the butterflies open when approaching the red zone. Second disappointment. Once in game, we immediately find the feeling of RIDE first of the name, with a rather pleasant half-arcade half-simulation approach. The hardcores will be able to switch the physics to pro mode, decouple the brakes and shift gears by hand, which offers a rendering very close to the MotoGP series, while the novices will have fun with all the electronics activated, anti-wheeling and automatic braking in the lead. Unfortunately, as soon as you open your eyes, it's a cold shower. Milestone's Emotion FX graphics engine is showing its great age. While the motorcycles and your rider are nicely modeled, everything else is abysmal, from the frozen trees to the cardboard spectators. Pity. Only one downside to this observation: the arrival of rain in the game allows nice effects with the drops on the motorcycle and the combi. On the other hand, the visual effect on the track is disastrous, while the piloting does not really become any more difficult, the game automatically fitting your mount with super racing rain tires. Among the events, we will of course find classic races, time trials and drag events (where you only change gears). Some small novelties are nevertheless appearing with very boring slaloms between cones and a test that asks you to overtake a competitor in the shortest possible time.
HIGHWAY TO HELL
We will also find the team events, but with a very diabolical twist now. If in the "World Tour" mode it is only paired events with an AI that generally does the job, a special mode is dedicated to this practice. Called "Team Races", it will put you with 3 AI against another team in very rewarding challenges that allow you to win new machines. The operation is simple since on arrival, the winner pockets 15 points and this goes down to the eighth. Except that in this discipline, your teammates are real balls. Completely useless, they monopolize the bottom of the grid and make you lose, even if you stick 10 seconds to the second. To have any hope of winning, you will have to recruit other more competent team members via a market. The skill ranges from 1 to 10, knowing that the stronger the AI, the more it will cost to unlock. No question of normal currency here, you have to go through a token system to recruit staff with prices between 5 and 45 tokens per pilot depending on his skill. No problem, all you have to do is earn these famous tokens. To do this, head to the daily challenges section of the menu. Like in GTA Online, the game will give you three challenges each day with increasing difficulty. The first earns 1 token, the second two and the third three. At this point, the strongest in math among you will have already winced. So at most, we recover 6 tokens per day? For a pilot worth 45? Exactly ! A week of daily play to be able to replace one of your three balls! Isn't life beautiful? The hardest thing is that the day we got to work, the last challenge (the three-point one) asked us to win a race riding a Suter. Except that Suter is not in the game. Finally yes, but in DLC against 6€! We are still not far from Pay-to-win at this level. Unacceptable in a game sold as a base for 50€. Otherwise you can also buy these tokens with your in-game money at the rate of 20cr per token. By way of comparison, a good big hypersport like Honda Fireblade or Aprilia RSV000 that you buy once the game is well started costs 4cr; an early game 20 just under half that amount.
I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYBODY IN HARLEY DAVIDSON
This kind of defect is symptomatic of Milestone productions, with a lot of potential wasted by many things. Moreover, the list does not stop there since we can cite the deplorable technical aspect of the title. The bugs are legion, like when the wheels of your millstone don't touch the ground (in a straight line, huh, we're not talking about jumps), or when the game simply crashes. If the solo remains generally stable, this is not the case of the multiplayer which has a frankly shaky netcode. Ok, we are far from the disaster of the first episode at the multi level, but the improvement is not yet convincing. That said, the developers seem to have put more heart into the work than with the first opus, since during our test period, we saw no less than three updates fall, without noticing any real change. Finally, if RIDE had the bad taste to offer all the new Yamaha DLCs, RIDE 2 is moving towards a slightly more varied approach, but the price of the content is really prohibitive with 1€ per motorcycle on average. Six euros the pack with the bewitching Suter MMX500 (and other less interesting machines) and 4€ the pack with the mythical Suzuki GSXR 1300 Hayabusa, clearly the game is aimed at an audience of enthusiasts. But there is also good news in RIDE 2, since the Supermotard makes its arrival in the game roster. Unfortunately, it will only be road races (no dirt) while sliding will be very limited due to the gameplay from MotoGP. Again a bit of a disappointment. Finally, a last word to say that among the 30 circuits, our fanboy side has not failed to see the appearance of certain legendary tracks such as the Nordschleife, but also several road races including the legendary North West 200.
