MotoGP Ultimate Racing Technology is coming on our PC. Although it has the same name, the license has been repurchased, it is completely different of Moto GP from Namco on PS2 system, THQ is proposing to us a much more arcade and spectacular video game. The motogp game fans can try to beat their records on their powerfull bikes without crashing, whatever their skill level are.
The world championship of MotoGP is very popular with a diffusion in more than 200 countries, it is natural that a video game will be inspired by this category with an official license. After the Playstation 2 and XBox, the series comes into PC systems. The THQ game has everything to not disappoint the fans : official riders, official bikes, official tracks... Everything is official except the injuries when you crash.
Thanks to this MotoGP, we can ride a powerfull bike and fight the other riders of 2001 season of MotoGP class. In this season, the four strokes haven't arrived yet and we'll have to ride two strokes bikes only. The caracteristics of every bike will be limited by 4 parameters : stability, braking, maximum speed and acceleration, those caracteristics allow us to make immediatly an opinion on a bike. The best riders have a lot of points in every caracteristic on their bike and the slower riders stay behind... thats how an arcade game is working. But this is not finished, you can also create a personnalized MotoGP rider with a team colored suit, you can put initials on the suit and make him drive whatever bike you want. You will also have the possibility to put 10 points into caracteristics of the bike. You are now ready, but your driver isn't fully skilled, this is the time to start your engine and to drive into Exercise mode, they are varied and more difficult when you progress, they deal with braking or stoppies, you will also have to fight with Kenny Roberts Jr, when succeeding to those exercices you will also earn new credits for your bike for better performances.
Now you have complete all challenges and you earned every points, you are now ready to start the MotoGP world championship, if you win races you will unlock a lot of bonus like new suits for your rider or a wire mode...
MotoGP URT is easy to play, indeed Climax developpers prefered to make an arcade game but there is a little bit simulation. For exemple the distinction between front and rear brakes is present and usefull in races but it is almost impossible to crash until you don't touch another rider or a wall. For the same reason, the bike is difficult to lean and will need a nice anticipation into the curves. The adherence of the bike is a little bit too perfect even if it rains and it is almost impossible to slide the rear wheel when you push fully the trigger. There is also no settings into the pits like the hardness of the tires but the chicanes are still very difficult to negociate and you can lose a lot of time into them.
Technically, the MotoGP game is correct, the textures are detailled, the bikes and tracks are looking like the real models. The weather effects are very nice, the night, the twilight, the rainy or sunny days, all those combinaisons will make you happy to play. The crashing animations increase the realism of the game. The soundtrack is a little bit repetitive and the engine sounds aren't perfect. There is also a little bit collision bugs but the game stay pleasant to play. MotoGp has a nice Artifical Intelligence, it is difficult to beat the bots, they almost doesn't crash, the good point is that they are always trying to avoid you.