If that’s not enough then a couple of the bikes can be race modified and clad in track fairings, or you can wang on a set of slicks for ludicrous mid-corner pace.įinally it feels as if there’s a bike game that nails the old-school Gran Turismo level of progression, but for bike geeks like me. I’d saved up for a Triumph Daytona 675 (a bike I owned and foolishly sold back in 2011), and loved the fact you could then stick a Power Commander on it to get a bit more power from the ECU, or whack track-focused brake pads in for sharper brake response. I managed to find my exact two-piece jacket, helmet and gloves in the game – let’s just brush over the fact the in-game character models are carrying a few less mince pies.
![ride 3 game ride 3 game](https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/759740/ss_4d06bf9e5811c8c6ad5c0893517c8941da694131.1920x1080.jpg)
All the gear you can customise your rider with is licensed from the likes of Alpinestars, Shoei, Rev It and so on. If you’re a biker then you’ll love the fact you can probably find your exact real-life helmet design in the game.
![ride 3 game ride 3 game](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0DwFI3zvgQQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
That might sound like a load of crap, but I’ve never had a bike game give me the sudden urge to tinker with my bike or go for a ride in the dank depths of autumn. Where Ride 3 really excels is when it comes to pandering to a biker’s sense of belonging. The line-up of bikes ranges from 125cc dirt bikes to full-on race bikes, with supernakeds, adventure bikes and more in between This career mode does become a bit of a grind, but it’s easy to bash out a tournament in under an hour so you can dip in and out without getting too exhausted. Tournaments are made up of full-grid races, solo time trials with target times to beat and even the odd night race. Unlike the Forzas of this world that shower you with more cars than you can drive, you genuinely appreciate the extra bike in your garage, simply because it opens up more events for you to tackle. Get a gold medal in each of the tournament’s races and you win a prize bike. It sounds forced, but it gives you a real appreciation of the differences in riding style required by a wallowy 80s muscle bike vs a modern sports 600. You enter six-event tournaments, each of which demands you ride a different type of bike.
![ride 3 game ride 3 game](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/F-UJhvDm_DY/maxresdefault.jpg)
The career mode is laid out as if you’re perusing an encyclopaedia of biking.
#RIDE 3 GAME TRIAL#
With this humble first bike you then have to race, time trial and out-brake yourself to bigger and better things. You start out with a modest budget to go out bike shopping, which will afford you a classic 80s two-stroke 125 Suzuki, a modern Triumph Street Twin or a dirtbike of some description. Because in many ways Ride 3 feels a lot like a two-wheeled Gran Turismo (or Forza Motorsport, for that matter). Warning: I’m going to mention that little Polyphony Digital driving game more than once in this review.
#RIDE 3 GAME SERIES#
And this, then is the third iteration of that series – and it feels like it’s finally right up there with the best bike games. But recently things have been a bit quiet, save for the odd MotoGP game and Milestone’s Ride series.