Monster Energy Supercross is a latest game in the long running series by Milestone S.r.L, and focuses on dirt bike racing. As soon you load the game, you are thrown into a race and expected to learn all the controls at once. It can be a rough and frustrating experience, and does not make for a good first impression.
Players are required to create a custom character and select sponsorships before entering into career mode, which follows a fairly standard pattern found in other racing games. While most of your time will be spent here, the well-made track editor allows you to easily create one and share it online. Other modes include single races, timed trials and championships.
I played the game on a PS4 Pro and found numerous issues including audio bugs, lag in menus as well as frame rate problems. Getting into a race is in no way a smooth experience, as the game hitches during menus, often waiting for your created character to load. The overall presentation and look of the game does not seem demanding enough to justify any of these problems.
The AI is incredibly easy to beat, even on harder difficulties. It doesn’t matter if you managed to get a perfect start, you can easily manipulate the physics to get ahead of everyone. This has been a cause of concern before but has yet to be solved. The collision detection also needs some work as I found myself crashing at odd times, after having just survived a more dangerous jump or turn. You can land on people without any consequences, but also needlessly crash when you think you have made the perfect jump.
That being said, the handling and controls work well. Most importantly, it is responsive, striking a balance between realism and arcade racing. Leaving everyone in the dust with your engines revving feels great and the handy rewind feature allows you to make up for any mistakes. Thanks to the in-race presentation, you actually feel like you’re a part of a grand event. Overall it offers a satisfying driving experience. If you were a fan of the previous games, you will enjoy this one.
