We tested the MotoGP 25 video game

As every year, it is the Italian developers of Milestone who have set about recreating the world championship as best as possible MotoGP. After several troubled years for the license, the takeover by the Italian studio, also well known for its World Superbike and Motocross titles, has allowed, over the years, to refine a game that remains of high quality today. The promise is quite simple: total immersion in the world of Grand Prix. And we would be tempted to say that it has succeeded!

While the single-player game modes are generally what you'd expect, with a Grand Prix mode, a championship mode where you can play as the official drivers, time trial modes, and two-player split-screen multiplayer (a welcome addition in recent years, as not everyone necessarily wants to play online), what interests us is the career mode, which has been revised and corrected this year.

Total immersion

After adding transfers between teams in MotoGP 24, some riders can therefore ride for other brands throughout their career, MotoGP 25 goes even further in this aspect. Moto3 and Moto2 riders can thus move up a category, and come and write their own story. This will give dynamism to a career mode that could previously be summed up as a series of races. Here, and some other games could take a leaf out of this book, immersion is pushed, with the integration of pre-season testing sessions and between certain Grands Prix, whether you choose the season with the total number of races, or only 11 Grands Prix to go faster from season to season. This year and for the first time, it is possible to develop the machines between races, and therefore the grid itself will be able to fluctuate from season to season.

With the integration of the dealership system, also used in real life, you will have many more development possibilities if you have a Honda or a Yamaha, than if you have a Ducati. Each bike has its own characteristics, and you can adjust them by requesting developments from your team, to have a bike closer to your style. Your servant having decided to start his career at Ducati Gresini, it is only on the electronics that we can influence a little! But with real changes, which we can observe in tests, by setting up his first bike differently from the second. This allows you to feel more invested in your career.

At the pure rider level, new game modes, which are integrated into the career mode, allow you to stay in character between races. With flat track, minimoto and Supermotard events, it is thus possible to indulge in other disciplines in training, exactly as riders do in real life. Jorge Martín can testify to this, he who aggravated his first injury by falling during motocross training… These additions are fun, short and are welcome to take a breather between the official weekend sessions, which can sometimes be heavy as you get caught up in the game of concentrating on the slightest apex and the slightest modification to the behavior of your machine.

The MotoGP stewards' decisions also influence the races themselves, and once again, the immersion is increased. After a slight contact with a competitor, we experience a few tense seconds, seeing the message "Investigation in progress," which sometimes results in a warning! As always, after five warnings, the race director imposes a long lap, but it can also decide to directly give the maximum penalty if the incident is too serious. It's already happened to your servant, we'll admit it...

Taking care of your relationships…

The driver rivalry system introduced this year may seem trivial, but it isn't at all! Take, for example, fabio quartararo, with whom we had a fight during a race. A small negative message on the game's social networks, and the Frenchman found himself angry with us... and he showed it on the track! More aggressive, wanting to overtake at all costs, the fight against him was more difficult, but this can also be the case in reality, just ask Marc Márquez and Valentino Rossi.

Add to that a new graphics engine, Unreal Engine 5, which notably offers new possibilities in terms of brightness in changing conditions, physics that are still as advanced and demanding, but can be toned down in a new "Arcade" driving mode, and MotoGP 25 succeeds exactly where an official game should work. Only the online games could not be tested due to the absence of players, but there is no doubt that it will still be as well thought out as in the previous installments. In solo, you feel for a few minutes like a real MotoGP rider, with choices to make, rivalries to cultivate, and the immersion is therefore there. The only downside is the adaptive AI, which is better than in the 2024 installment, but still prone to being better on some circuits than on others. You will sometimes have to go back to the old percentage system to perfectly adapt your gaming experience.

MotoGP 25 is available from this Wednesday, April 30 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.