MotoGP 20: How accessible is it to new players?

The release of MotoGP20 is just a few weeks away now.

Despite the coronavirus disruption around the world, we know that MotoGP won't be impacted and gamers can still expect to race on 23 April.

Racing games can be notoriously hard for beginners, and that is even more true in bike games. Accessibility is something that Milestone have had to consider with MotoGP 20.

With features such as Extreme Realism and Neural AI, MotoGP 20 is walking a narrow path between sim racing and accessibility. How balanced will it be?

Have Milestone managed to weigh their settings correctly?

Extreme Realism

LIKE REAL LIFE: MotoGP 20 is the most realistic game in the series

Extreme Realism is set to take driver control even further this year. Michele Caletti, Producer of MotoGP 20, took us through what players can expect from it.

"If you choose the maximum realism on physics and get to the track, you'll be surprised. The first time you'll squeeze the brakes you'll notice how direct and unfiltered they are this time."

"We analysed all the areas of a
single lap, and put them under scrutiny: we discovered that the braking time
was somehow weaker then the rest. Now there's a much wider spectrum available,
so you have to acquire a new skill to apply the right braking force."

"Too much, and flipping over or
falling while leaning is not an uncommon event. It's easier in practice, to be honest, but it's much more realistic and
challenging."

READ MORE: Everything there is to know about F1 2020

The experienced player will definitely be challenged in MotoGP 20! There's a lot present in what Caletti has mentioned that wasn't in MotoGP 19.

New features

Caletti also went on to detail what
else is new in Extreme Realism for MotoGP 20:

"Another new concept is the
3-zones tyre: like in reality the turns assortment and type determines the tyre
wear in a circuit-specific way, and surely not uniform on all sides. So, again,
a new way to approach tyre management, and races."

"The third big change in
physics is the fuel consumption. While in qualifying you'll be using [a] few
litres, the race is a different affair."

READ MORE: MotoGP 20 - Everything you need to know

"Players will be able to choose
how much fuel [they] use, and to opt for a low-consumption, normal, or
high-power mapping during race. Even topping the tank isn't enough to keep
high-power settings all the time, so strategy becomes important."

There's no beating around the bush here, these are all huge advancements to the series and very welcome changes. The changes to fuel in particular will revolutionise the racing in career mode.

Will MotoGP 20 be accessible to new players?

LEAN INTO IT: MotoGP 20 promises to be a testing but fun game

Will this put newcomers to the
series off though? We posed this question to Caletti as well and here's how he
responded:

"You can reduce or turn off all the [fuel] consumptions, damages, simplify the physics, and the AI. You'll be missing some of the nuances the game has to offer, but we can guarantee some racing fun to everyone. MotoGP as a game franchise has a wide audience, from sim junkies to kids, so we put a lot of attention to keep them both entertained."

That's a relief and something you'd expect from a racing title but it's nice to have it confirmed. Extreme Realism could well be the feature that makes propels the MotoGP video game series into the mainstream for motorsport gamers.

MotoGP 20 will be released worldwide on 23 April on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Stadia.