In view of Nacon Connect which will be held on July 6, 2021, Nacon, the subsidiary of the French publisher BigBen Interactive, not only entrusted us with the WRC 10 demo for which we have concocted a preview, but also allowed us to access RiMS Racing in advance. This is again a mechanical racing simulator, this time based on two wheels, expected for the August 19, 2021 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and Switch. We owe this to the Italian studio RaceWard which offers us here certainly to play the pilot of racing cars launched at dizzying speeds, but also to familiarize ourselves with all the mechanical aspects of the most powerful motorcycles and to regulate these with small onions in order to reach the highest steps of the podium.
Live my life as a pilot
Before you jump into the deep end, RiMS Racing offers you a quick and pretty good tutorialé to teach you the basics of the trade. For this, he asks you to make your first turns of the wheels on the Belgian circuit of Zolder begining with follow the beautiful ideal trajectory indicated for you on the track. Accelerator, brakes, cornering, it’s all up to you, but not only. It is indeed also possible for you tointerrupt the race by pausing the game to analyze the many parts of mechanics and electronics taken into account by the software in order to see what can be improved. Once this is spotted and a little tour of the stand later, your performance like that of the motorcycle should be improved.
Be careful from one race to the next to check everything before returning to the track.
The different components being subject to wear and may be damaged by falls, it is therefore better to keep an eye on each of them to avoid wasting precious seconds by a lack of maintenance and follow-up. The career mode also allows you to optimize or replace them by better parts. And be careful from one race to the next to check everything before returning to the track. Brakes, suspensions, tires, electronic system, nothing should be neglected. And if you have to endorse the pilot suit, you also need to take the mechanic’s blue, the engineer or researcher’s white coat and the manager’s suit.
RiMS therefore asks you to intervene at many levels and also wants to be an educational tool intended for all motorcycle lovers. But if the complexity of the mechanisms on which modern motorcycle technology is based, and the detail of the fine adjustments that they require escape you, don’t panic, everything is explained and even a beginner should be able to understand. Rider Motorbike Simulator, since that is the original name of the acronym used by the title of RaceWard, is not just a racing game, it is a motorcycle rider life simulator.
On the road again
Graphically, we will make the same remark as for WRC 10, namely that the NPCs, admittedly secondary in this type of production, turn out to be quite steep and square and the environments are correct but with good effects enhancing the final rendering. The different weather options are indeed rather appreciable. However, the title will not offer no RTX. As for the motorcycles, they are still well made with 6 possible views while driving (distant, close, bubble, handlebars, helmet, front wheel). As of course, these are the last 4 that provide the most sensations of speed and the most immersion with a particular mention to the very realistic helmet, handlebars and bubble views with movement of the fingers and muffled sound in the helmet, while being perfectly playable. Note thata photo mode is also available if you want to create beautiful pictures.
The different weather options are quite appreciable.
Replays at the end of the race offer even more camera angles and are really nice people. We can see in particular that the feet were not left aside animation level. On the other hand, the pilot’s body does not seem to be taken into account in terms of contact with the asphalt. Knees enter it briskly, which explains why only the toe clips rub with, by the way, a very unconvincing noise, but never the sliders. In terms of noise, the noise of the engines, differentiated from one motorcycle to another, is however very immersive and contributes to the feeling of power that one feels on the handlebars of racing cars. The voice that explains how the game works is good localized in French but has a little robotic hints, shame.
In terms of entertainment, we will also regret falls that are sometimes a little too exaggerated, ragdoll effect in support. The version of the title that we had in our hands, however, was only a “Work in Progress” build requiring some adjustments such as the AI or the race penalties. We also encountered several game crashes, some key errors indicated on the screen, and this one was devoid of music, for lack of having finalized the contracts with the partners. The name of the composer behind the soundtrack has not yet been released. Likewise, we will avoid citing any brand here for the aforementioned reason. In any case, you will be entitled to 8 most efficient motorcycles in the world like the Ducati Pingale V4R, the MV Agusta F4 RC and the Kawazaki Ninja ZX-10RR, but also to 10 famous circuits including Zolder (Belgium), Nurburgring (Germany) or Monsanto (Portugal), as well as 5 iconic routes to do both ways, like Great Victoria Desert in Australia and Million Dollar Highway in the United States. Even if the offer is attractive, however, we would not have spat on a slightly wider choice of motorcycles and circuits.
The art of smoothing corners
Career mode asks you to start choose one of the 8 powerful bikes, and this choice is final. To obtain the others, it will be necessary to finish on the podium of the 4 events organized by their manufacturers which you will gradually be able to access as you move through the calendar. Season 1 has over 100 events among which you will also find duels, brand events, cups, the world championship, tasks to accomplish, work cases to test motorcycles in extreme conditions, or even school. The latter is also accessible outside of career mode but only allows you to participate in previously unlocked events in this last. The objective here is tolearn how to configure and control the motorcycle. There are different events that allow you to drive models that you don’t own yet, and that’s pretty cool. And sometimes there are several options to choose from, it is even possible to rest. In the latter case, there will be no wear and tear but no reward either.
You will also have to put your hands in the grease to disassemble and adjust every detail of your motorcycle.
Gold, to improve your machine or ensure its maintenance, you regularly need new parts. If you don’t win them, you will have to buy them, and for that you will need money to be earned by using gum. The same applies to develop the skill tree for engineering, research or management, you need earn team points. It’s up to you to make it progress in the different areas. You will also have to put your hands in the grease to disassemble and adjust every detail of your motorcycle. More than 45 components are accessible (brake pads, discs, tires, shock absorbers, ECUs, suspensions, etc.) in more than 500 official brands. And just as information is provided on motorcycles (history, characteristics, performance), each element is detailed (utility, operation, optimization, etc.). Also remember to resell unused parts because space in your inventory is limited. Finally, note that you can customize your pilot as his mount with a list of more than 200 objects to choose fromr. The title is therefore relatively complete in terms of details and it will allow you to perfect your knowledge in the field of motor sports on two wheels.
As for the ride itself, we appreciated being able to ride on track as on road, this brings a little change. Beside that, we can’t help but draw a parallel with Milestone’s MotoGP. Besides the fact that they play in the same category, the two titles indeed present some similarities, starting with the representation of the ideal trajectory with its color system indicating when your speed is too high and you need to brake. Likewise, we find the ECU can be changed on the fly. On the other hand, it does not offer no rewinding in case of error, the key-key is less permissive and slips are legion. You have to be very careful when taking the angle in the turns so as not to brake or accelerate too hard, just like when landing after a slight take-off. It is quite easy to lose the grip. The fact remains that RiMS is less demanding and will be accessible to as many people as possible. With its 3 levels of physics and his 4 difficulty levels, everyone should find what they are looking for. And if you’re looking for as much realism as possible, you can also resort to separate braking and manually switch the transmission, the rider’s stowed position and pit refueling.
It is quite easy to lose the grip.
The big peculiarity of RiMS lies in its VEM system (Motorcycle Condition Check) which can be switched at any time during the race (except wheelie, stoppie or accident). The game is then paused and you can view each part of your machine to check its condition. Not only do you have statistics on each of the many parts referenced, but a colored icon also shows you in what condition they are for a faster check up. If something is wrong, do not hesitate to check the source of the problem and then come and fix it at the stand if necessary. A great deal of data is available, for example for a tire: its pressure, its compound, its temperature, its tension, and of course its wear. What’s more, real-time telemetry analysis allows you to identify how to optimize your performance and your control of the motorcycle. Messages are communicated to you in this regard. Note that the passages to the stand (where it will be necessary to be as fast as possible, a good idea), like interventions in the workshop, call for QTE and want to be realistic. It is indeed necessary dismantle if necessary all the elements allowing access to the part concerned before you can change it, like the caliper to reach the brake pads for example, then reassemble everything in the correct order before returning to the saddle. We will finish by specifying that apart from the career mode, you can also embark on fast solo games as well as local multiplayer (split screen duels) or online by choosing the conditions of the race (weather, asphalt, time penalty for false start, 1 to 40 laps, 2 to 5 riders with or without wear of the components of the motorcycle and of the rider’s equipment).
4
