Review: Valentino Rossi: The Game

VALENTINO Rossi: The Game is this year’s official MotoGP game for Xbox, Playstation and PC and it’s just caused a whole weekend to vanish behind closed curtains as we spent the last couple of days camped out on the couch next to empty pizza boxes and beer cans.

If like me, you’ve got the kind of attention span that eventually sees you growing bored of chasing tenths of a second in the quest for the perfect lap then Valentino Rossi: The Game could be the title to keep you hooked because along with all the serious stuff you expect from a racing sim, it’s packed with features and modes that inject a more immediate sense of fun.

Valentino Rossi: The Game still retains the simulation modes and elements you expect from a MotoGP game. When racing a championship season in Moto3, Moto2 or MotoGP as one of 90 GP riders from the current season on all the tracks, this format doesn’t disappoint thanks to great graphics and liveries, and gameplay dynamics that reward the more as you spend more time getting to grips with it and learning the tracks.

But it’s stuff outside of this that really makes Valentino Rossi: The game that bit more special, thanks to a host of additional modes. Haven’t got that invite to Valentino’s ranch yet? No problem, because now you can race there from the comfort of your house You can also take part in the Monza rally, race an R1M and go drifting in a Mustang at Misano.

I was expecting the car stuff to slammed in as an afterthought and to suffer as a consequence but the gameplay engine is derived from Sebastian Loeb rally (also made by developers Milestone) and it plays really nicely. The drifting is a bit of casual fun, but rewarding enough, especially when you get the car completely sideways though a corner to see the score totting up in front of you.

The variety and depth available in the game means that playing it can be intense as you want – from eyes-on-stalks moments as you strive to fend off your rival on a championship-deciding last lap of the final race of the season, to spending 10 minutes kicking up dust at the ranch. It’s means that’s it it’s a game you can easily pick up and play – unlike previous MotoGP titles you don’t need a whole evening free to get the most out of it.

My favourite feature however has to be ability to race a selection of historic two-stroke 125s, 250s and 500s on a selection of famous circuits.

A particularly cool way of playing through everything on offer from Valentino Rossi: The game is to play through the VR46 Academy mode, where you start off in Moto3 and eventually graduate to MotoGP, getting invited to the ranch along the way and getting the chance to enter some events as a wildcard.

As you’d expect from a game carrying his name, Rossi features heavily – he was involved in the game’s creation and the developers were always camped out at the ranch speaking to him and other assembled riders, who also spent a lot of time testing and giving their feedback on the game. Rossi has recorded bespoke audio for the academy mode – so he gives you words of encouragement and congratulations as you progress up the ranks.

I’ve owned a lot of the recent MotoGP titles and although the serious gameplay in Valentino Rossi: The game is similar to previous MotoGP games, the much needed injection of character, charm and fun in this game gives it a refreshing lift to make it more fun and engaging so it should satisfy die-hard racing sim fans and casual players alike.


Tested: Valentino Rossi: The Game
Price: £39.99
Availablity: For XBox, Playstation and PC