Monster Energy Supercross is the latest game released by Milestone SRL. With bikes a plenty, it's time to pop on a helmet and dive head first into this outstanding racer.
The game starts you off by throwing you into your first game. A stadium packed full of people, bright floodlights bearing down on you and 21 other blaring Supercross bikes lined up alongside your starting position. The initial explosion of sound and gorgeous graphics floods your senses and gives an initial impression of the game. This is going to be intense. However this first race is going to be a challenge and full credit to anyone who wins this. With a distinct lack of tutorials (just a splash screen with some text), it's straight into the deep end.
But it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the game. The team behind this title have put everything into it and frankly it shows. It may not be Gran Turismo or Forza, but the beauty of this game is on par, if not better than the main stream racing games. With the light looking almost natural in the way it moves across the arena to the way each bike throws dirt particles up behind as it tears its way around the track, this is a work of art. The character models flow as the bikes race round and react to every bump, turn and drift. However falling off does seem a little cartoony when it happens, but it isn't a problem. The jaw dropping graphics are met with a great sound, which adds the final layer of immersion.
After your initial race, it's to the main menu. There is an insane amount of content buried into the title, with a wide range of modes and options to choose from. Whether you want to just have a quick race or dedicate a full evening to launching your new career, you're able to craft the game around what you want, even down to how difficult you want the races to be or how much assistance you want as you speed round. There's even a track editor built into the game, which is epic. The level of detail you can choose and edit is immense and gives a great feeling of satisfaction when you complete creating a track.
It all comes to a finish line with the gameplay. For someone who is completely new to the sport, it is definitely a challenge to master the controls of these two wheeled beasts. Unforgiving it may be, when you make a mistake you will pay for it, but the feeling of getting it right is amazing. Making some of the huge jumps, tearing round tight corners and getting to the top podium is phenomenal. And when you're doing it all on custom bikes and with your hand-crafted rider, which both feel unique due to the amount of choices when it comes to customisation, it gives that added cherry to the top of this Dirt Bike Sundae.
When it comes down to it, Monster Energy Supercross is one of the best racing games I've come across. For a first timer to the genre, it's difficult to get used to and it could do with a few actual tutorials, but after a few hours it starts to become second nature. All round, the game stuns with amazing sound and visuals and has an awesome engine to help back up the gameplay. An easy 8/10.