Ride 5 Review (Mr. D)
TLCBATR: Stagnated sequel breaks more things than it improves, will disappoint enthusiasts of motorcycle dynamics with numb controls and flawed physics, will disappoint fans of racing with braindead, cheater AI.
Still the most diverse motorcycle racing series available with excellent models, graphics and sound samples.
Full rambling thoughts:
This doesn't feel very much like a proper sequel to Ride 4, it feels more like a rehash - much is the same, including the DLC.
As evidenced by the short play time, I have bounced off this game. I dislike the changes to the controls, I feel the "stand up" mechanic on acceleration is poorly thought out. The main thing which dictates cornering speeds in this series has always been lean angle, to the point that you can win easily on a low-powered bike if it can lean more than the competition!
So to reduce lean angle deliberately just for appearances is very frustrating. Yes, pro riders stand the bike up on corner exit to increase the size of the tyre's contact patch, but their bodies remain low, keeping the centre of gravity far enough into the corner that the bike still turns - the bike has more grip, and so turns better, not worse. There is no way I've found to disable this behaviour in the riding form.
The controls are still very numb: no feedback as to what the bike is doing. The replays can be quite surprising in terms of how lively the bike looks, because it doesn't come across in a useful way from the cockpit. Braking is a weak point as ever in the series due to the lack of feel and over-reliance on opaque, heavy-handed input assists that cannot be fully turned off. To make things worse, braking distances are increased in Ride 5 over previous games so you'll be spending a lot of time picking gravel out of the fairing. Also the controller vibration is inexplicably broken - it worked fine in earlier games. Ride 2 was the best in the series for feedback, and sure enough it had the least intrusive hidden assists.
Tourist Trophy on PS2 is the standard for immersion, despite the wacky tyre model - the subtle camera and bike movements and controller vibration communicated everything. That was made by bike enthusiasts, and many have commented that Ride 5 feels like an enthusiast never went near it. I would be inclined to think that they at least never had a say in the core mechanics and player feedback loops. I remember the SBK games from the turn of the millennium, also by Milestone, and those were much better in execution as far as exploring the limits of grip and feedback (the assists could be made far less intrusive, possibly completely).
In terms of content, Ride 3 was the high water mark for the series, despite the grind of its innovative but flawed career mode. In Ride 5, there somehow seems to be less of the interesting stuff, limiting appeal and accessibility in a way - both in terms of the bikes and the gear etc. On the subject of accessibility, you're thrown into the deep end on the M1000RR from the cover art as the first interaction, which could be disastrously off-putting unless you use the assists for controlling speed at every point on the track. This lack of preparation pervades the early career as well. There was mention of qualifying somewhere, but it's not there in the early stages and so you have to use the actual race to practice and learn the circuit and bike, then restart and do it for real - otherwise you'd be abusing the rewind feature all the time. This is mostly true of the earlier games as well, but why mention qualifying if it's not available?
The AI are the usual steamrollers. They are useless at the apex and at corner exit, but excel in the braking zones - the very area that the player is most disadvantaged. They run into you on the way into a corner and then get in the way everywhere else - you will lose every time by becoming unseated from the contact.
I feel the sound design and mix still needs significant work - it's impossible to tell how close other bikes are, or if what you're hearing is in front or behind! It's all just a muddy cacophony. Which is a shame, because the sound samples themselves are excellent and would really make the bike feel alive if it weren't buried six-feet under inert controls.
If you don't have a Ride game, get Ride 3 as it has the more interesting range of machinery and diverse career - but being the first bite of the Unreal Engine cherry in the series, the graphics are less accomplished.
If you have 4, 5 is not a worthy improvement unless you really want to try one or two newer machines.