➤ RIDE 3, the review 🎮

LAUGH 3 right from the start communicates a deep planning, which has led the franchise to establish itself qualitatively compared to other Milestone productions. Proof of this is a finally conscious use ofU, with two different graphics modes that allow you to enjoy a higher resolution at 30 frames per second or to give up some details by opting for 60 stable frames. However, it is not just about technique: the developers of the Spanish team have focused on substance, increasing the fleet and the number of tracks, redesigning the career to make it a colorful and convincing mix of experiences, and going to retouch those aspects of the physics and artificial intelligence that did not fully convince. The end result is a product that is fundamentally traditional in its mechanics, but very solid and pleasant to see in motion: a perfect combination to aspire to a position of reference for the genre.

RIDE 3 in numbers

The over 230 bikes immediately available in RIDE 3, belonging to 26 brands and divided into seven categories (sports, maxi enduro, endurance, supermoto, racing superbike, café racer and naked), guarantee an excellent variety in terms of gameplay. Once on the track, in fact, each model differs from the others for the weight incidence, the reactivity, the management of the curves and the final speed, all aspects on which however we will be able to work thanks to an intuitive upgrade system which allows you to modify various elements of the engine, transmission, brakes and suspension, to finally arrive at the aesthetic aspect and the compound of the tires. When purchasing a new component, the change in performance is immediately notified, both in the details of the characteristics (acceleration, maximum speed, handling and braking force) and of the total power of the bike, the latter a fundamental indicator of the category in terms of races.

The approach is therefore the traditional one of simcade, with a career progression that is marked not only by access to new events based on the stars won (three for the first place, two for the second and three for the third in each race. ), but also from the growth of our vehicle, essential to be able to be competitive against opponents who initially have an edge. On the track front, 12 new tracks have been introduced for a total of 30 circuits and over 40 variants. Here too it abounds in terms of variety and personality, ranging from settings such as Nurburgring, Brands Hatch, Daytona, Donington Park, Monza, Imola or Laguna Seca to urban scenarios set on Spanish, Finnish, American and of course Spanish roads. Staying on the numbers, the modalities include the aforementioned and renewed career, fast options such as the single race, the time attack and the drag race (introduced in RIDE 2, allows you to try your hand at races based exclusively on acceleration and final speed), multiplayer to challenge other users in races or entire championships, and finally the weekly challenges, which will offer new ideas and contents continuously.

Road test

Milestone racers have always been characterized by wide driving adjustments that allow you to shape the gameplay according to the needs and tastes of the player, and RIDE 3 is no exception, while compacting the options to make the choice more immediate. It is in fact possible to select a general difficulty preset, modify the complexity of the opponents' artificial intelligence (which in this way will become not only faster but also more aggressive, although still unlikely in behavior), the simulation level (which makes it more or less easy to stay in the saddle during difficult situations), activate or not the ideal trajectories indicator, change the transmission from automatic to manual, use the Rewind function (the classic feature that allows you to rewind time in case of accidents or smudges) and finally adjust the driving aids, in this case automatic braking, joint brakes, ABS, anti wheelie and off-piste help.

In short, it is possible to act on many aspects to make the races more challenging, progressively on the basis of our experience and the approach we prefer; a very important element since the game allows you to enjoy a more arcade or more realistic experience without sacrificing the solidity of a gameplay that very effectively summarizes the work done so far by Milestone, and which in the field of two wheels knows well few rivals. We particularly liked the varied and engaging approach of the new career, which entices motorcycle enthusiasts with the details, history and details of each single-seater and each category, dividing the events as if they were catalogs and making them gradually more full-bodied, more complex and detailed, drawing from the freshest and most original modes we had seen in the second episode of the series.

Stylistically, we also appreciated the management of the garage as a customized hub, very nice to see thanks to the abundance of visual effects and reflections on motorcycles and objects, in which to modify the clothing of our avatar in a purely accessory way (jackets, jeans, shirts and shoes), on the other more related to track work (suits and helmets for the different races). Finally, a few words for the livery editor, which allows you to change the appearance of each vehicle (together with the aesthetic customizations) by applying paints and vinyls on each side, through a layered system that will not fail to give satisfaction to those who want to stand out. also allowing you to share your creations with the community and in the same way download the liveries created by other users: a certainly welcome extra.

PlayStation 4 Trophies

There are 51 Trophies in RIDE 3, and most of them can be obtained by winning a race on each of the circuits in the game. However, the achievements also go into the details of the individual actions, such as ringing valid laps in the time attack, reaching a certain maximum speed, unlocking the various Milestones, covering a certain amount of kilometers, completing 20 online races and of course reaching the end of the long career. in single player.

Technical realization

RIDE 3, as written at the beginning, is the first Milestone racer that effectively uses the new graphics engine adopted by the Spanish team, the Unreal Engine 4. This translates firstly into the presence of two different graphics options, one voted at high resolution but locked at 30 frames per second, and the other that uses a lower resolution focusing more on fluidity, with 60 very stable frames. We clearly preferred to play by activating the second mode and appreciating the punctual and precise work as usual on the polygonal models of the motorcycles, assisted by a good level of detail regarding the tracks, which however move between highs and lows: the sports circuits do not they impress for the amount of visible objects, while the extra-urban settings from this point of view manage to give something more. The effects that are anything but exasperated highlights a philosophy devoted to performance rather than visual impact, so don't expect extremely spectacular graphics from RIDE 3: from that point of view TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge manages to do better. However, the rain and the night races, one of the novelties of this episode, were good.

As a first "conscious" step with UE4, however, the game convinces and portends an interesting future: not only is the fluidity irreproachable, as already mentioned, but all those annoying pop-ups that were noticed in the first Milestone titles that used the new engine. In short, the improvement is evident and we imagine it will lead to further positive developments. The sound sector is excellent, with a certain fidelity in the reproduction of the rumble of the various engines, a decent audio environment during the races and a good soundtrack, which however tends annoyingly to snap during even short loads: we are sure that with a patch it will be possible solve the problem quickly.

Comment

Tested version PlayStation 4 Price 64,90 € Resources4Gaming.com

8.2

Readers (29)

8.5

Your vote

RIDE 3 confirms the excellent work done by Milestone with the second episode of the series and relaunches in a convinced way on numbers and quality, redesigning the career to make it a varied and engaging experience, closely linked to the prestige and history of the categories and paths involved. That the game has been created with great care can be seen from the very beginning, the motorcycle park has been enriched with many models and the same has happened to the settings, upgrades, customizations of all kinds, from the aesthetic ones to those concerning the gameplay, which also in this case allow us to shape the guide and the degree of difficulty according to our preferences. The final result is certainly a reference point for simcade on two wheels.