REVIEW

Moto Racer 4 Review

by Rob Pritchard, February 23rd, 2017

It has been fifteen years since the last numbered entry in the Moto Racer series was released for the PlayStation 2. The franchise received a portable entry in 2008 for the Nintendo DS, and now the long awaited fourth instalment has arrived for the current generation platforms. Although the PlayStation 4 edition stands out as the unique version of the game as it is compatible with PlayStation VR, along with the rest of the game, it lacks the potential that Moto Racer 4 could have achieved with a little more care and attention.

Like many of the simulation games that have come before, Moto Racer 4 does not have a narrative driven single player experience. Instead, you are taken through a career mode similar to the World Tour mode in Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed, in which you must complete set challenges to earn stars which allow you to compete in harder events. The range of events on offer from overtaking cars using slalom style manoeuvres, to elimination contests where the last place racer is disqualified and a simple race against multiple bikers to the finish line. The changes in objectives are refreshing and enjoyable, with enough variation in between events to ensure that you do not become over familiar with their presence.

The different ‘sections’ of the Career mode focus on either road based circuits or off road tracks, but unfortunately, regardless of which surface you drive on, their physics feel more or less feel the same. The only major difference is that you have the chance of being hit by oncoming traffic if you decide to hit the tarmac instead of grass, sand and dirt. As well as the stars gained from every successful event, you can also earn upgrade points to improve the performance of each playable characters vehicle, and unlock more playable bike riders at the end of each Career section. Although hidden characters are nothing new, to see them have to be earned rather than bought is a design choice I heartily agree with. The only major criticism I have with the Career Mode is that it is the first game I have ever seen to subtract earned stars for failing an event. You can earn them back by successfully completing the event in question, but it feels slightly excessive to remove a player’s achievements because of a single loss.

From a graphical perspective, Moto Racing 4 is slightly above average. While it does seem that the developers have utilised the Unreal Engine 4 to ensure a smooth frame rate, and very few graphical glitches, the lack of detail in the various environments is slightly disappointing because of the visual effects we have seen in other racing games such as Driveclub and Need for Speed. The user interface is clean and slick, and doesn’t provide any distractions for the player as they travel through the various environments, which include a desert air field base, a forest and a mountain filled area beside the ocean. As I do not own a PlayStation VR, I cannot vouch for the quality of the virtual reality segments, but several sources have reported that it is limited to a very small selection of game modes, and doesn’t seem to be as immersive as other VR titles that are currently available on Sony’s headset based peripheral.

The soundtrack for Moto Racer 4 offers some interesting tunes to play during the menu screens, with the majority of them focusing on high energy tracks to empathise the speed at which you travel during the races. These tracks fade away whilst you are racing, allowing you to hear the authentic vehicle noises with greater clarity. A positive thing to note is that each motorbike sounds different, so the developer has not reused the same sound effect in order to save time on the creation of the game.

Overall, Moto Racer 4 is an enjoyable racing game, but the lack of graphical flare that many racing titles have used in this generation, and the lack of full PlayStation VR integration prevent it from being a truly exceptional title. For the money you are paying, it is definitely worth a look, whereas at full retail price, it would have been difficult to recommend for the experience that the game provides.