2023 is the year when virtual motorsport starts peaking. Having already tried F1 23 & MotoGP 23, Ride 5 is another brilliant motorsport racing game that I have come across, and here are my two cents on the game with this review. While Ride 4 provided realistic motorcycle racing, it was overshadowed by MotoGP 21 and the freshly released RiMS. However, Milestone have come back strongly with Ride 5. There are numerous improvements in the new installment which make the overall gaming experience a worthwhile one. However, one of the most notable additions would be the Qualifying feature. Ride 5 also ups its ante on graphics, rideability, and realism. With numerous Riding Aids, even beginners will have minimal trouble if they want to step into the world of motorcycle racing.
Ride 5 Review
Ride 5 is a revelry of bikes with more than 270+ motorcycles available for in-game purchase. From Ducati to Kawasaki, there are legendary bikes all around that can be unlocked, customized, and taken out for a spin. The textures, details, and graphics of each motorcycle will make you feel as if you are currently riding a real one. Additionally, each bike has different features and the Bike Setup menu provides valuable options for bikers to make various changes.
One of my favorite additional options with these bikes was the ability to Edit them as per my needs. Although Liveries and Stickers are limited, players can check out numerous options if they are concerned about aesthetics. As you delve further into this Ride 5 review, you’ll understand why the game is a safe space for motorcycle fans to get riding.
Along with the bikes, players are in for a treat with how riding around the tracks feel. The dynamic weather system makes things pretty interesting with one mistake leaving you at the back of the pack. Players can toggle between clear weather, cloudy weather, or even include rain and thunder to bring an immersive experience of real motorsport to a game. However, the game is pretty accurate on track limits with no room for errors. That means players have higher chances of crashing out of qualifying and time trials rather than actually getting through them.
Ride 5 packs numerous different modes with the likes of Endurance, Career Mode, and Custom Races being the top choices. The Career Mode is a feast of events and tracks that players will get to lap across with 20 AI-controlled players. Along with that, auto-generated rivalries with other players will make you want to push even harder and reach the top of the championship. With multiplayer to pop up soon enough, players will get the chance to bring their name to the top of the global leaderboard. And if you simply want to boast in front of your friends and beat them, Private Servers or Split Screen will be quite useful.
Rideability
Ride 5 improves massively with numerous changes made to the texture, graphics, and physics to bring realism to the game. With dynamic weather changes added to the fold, players are about to get an immersive experience around some of the famous circuits of Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Whether it is the speedy corners of Monza or bumpy rides through Suzuka, players will have to go through different gameplays.
On release, the game will have 44 real and fictional tracks, each of them containing a new challenge. Weight transfer, lean angle speeds, braking, cornering, and other aspects have probably never been as important in virtual motorsport as they are now. And the pre race Bike Setups are really useful if you want some hands on customization before a race.
Game Modes
If you are a MotoGP fan, you might want to have the glamour of the motorsport with the official tracks, athletes, and maybe even your favorite teams. However, Ride 5 is nothing like that. But if you were to ask me, what Ride 5 has to offer is much more and, hopefully, you can realize the potential of the game with this review. Players can go for normal Races, Endurance mode, Career Mode, or simply play multiplayer. Personally, the Career Mode is the best one among all of those. You get a variety of tracks to go through with different types of events and tours available while collecting points and trophies to climb the top of the leaderboard.
It’s quite possible that you might not want to bark up the AI tree but the Multiplayer mode will also bring amazing challenges. Additionally, players can choose to create private servers and hold tournaments and races of their own. Since Crossplay is enabled in the game, you could have other platforms joining your race. However, one of the things that all the game modes are missing is podium celebrations and hopefully, Milestone adds this going forward. I would absolutely love to see some good emotes that I can use to brag in front of my friends.
AI & Competition
The AI competition is probably more challenging than ever before and new players should start with Very Easy settings if they want to get anything out of the races. Like Ride 4, opponents in Ride 5 are pretty aggressive and might crash into your back while overtaking. One of the most annoying parts, when that happens, is that they somehow manage to ride further instead of falling themselves. Additionally, the difficult mode for AI is on a different scale and that is one challenge that I have not been able to take up yet. Overall, the game is full of overtakes, and victory or defeat drops down to the barest of margins.
Ride 5 Verdict
Ride 5 is peak virtual motorsport and whether you are a beginner or a veteran, you are going to enjoy this ride. Testing this game for the last few days has been fun, immersive, and overall a solid experience. Whether it is the Rideability, the game modes, or the graphical experience, there aren’t many complains from my end. Since the final product will be polished a little more, it’s unlikely that players will find any problems with the game. So answering the most important question, considering that Ride 5 is a massive upgrade on Ride 4, it is definitely worth playing. Hopefully, this Ride 5 review is what you needed. Since there are numerous new games releasing, check out our Reviews section. Also, check out the 2023 Games Calendar if you want to plan which games to buy while you are here at Gamer Tweak.
