I’m not a fan of the RIDE series and since playing RIDE 6, I don’t really understand why. I’m a big fan of racing games and cars in general, but I just realized that bikes might be my blind spot.
Ride 6 isn’t perfect, but in many ways it’s a culmination of the best parts of bike racing, and it’s meant to please fans and novices alike. With a variety of control schemes and bike racing types, there’s something for everyone, and everything looks and runs great in the process.
Developer Milestone has a lot of experience with bike racing sims, from the recent MotoGP 25 to the Monster Energy Supercross game, but in some ways RIDE 6 feels like their crowning achievement.
Let’s run like ourselves
We feel the biggest appeal of the RIDE 6 is its multiple race disciplines, which will ultimately impact how the bike handles on different types of tracks.
You’ll have the opportunity to ship across seven different disciplines, including sportbikes, nakeds, scooters, endurance sportbikes, motards, baggers, and maxi enduros. This is the first time the RIDE franchise has actually moved away from Ashpoort, and it’s a huge step forward, and it shows.
Each class feels unique thanks to a variety of mechabinacs and track types. And thanks to RIDE 6’s multiple ways to race, the sense of challenge and reward is rarely lost.
The main event in RIDE 6 is definitely the career mode. Centered around RIDE Fest, Career Mode features a series of races and events set across all seven race categories available, allowing you to compete against the best riders in the sport, including Casey Stoner, Troy Bayliss, and Guy Martin in each discipline, to select the final racer. These showdowns are also pretty cool, with each rider getting their own little presentation and montage before taking on the challenge.
Credit: Milestone
All I’m trying to argue here is that certain areas feel less interesting. For example, playing against a scooter is just as fast and dangerous as it is in the real world, but when compared to something like a sports bike, it simply lacked speed and handling. Here we found more satisfaction by switching to pro handling mode to up the stakes.
The overall progression of RIDE Fest itself feels very natural. Because completing a race in one discipline not only unlocks additional races within that discipline, but also unlocks additional disciplines. In doing so, RIDE 6 encourages players to mix and match as they please, ensuring that it never feels stale or repetitive, and instead feels diverse.
Career mode is also great for giving you access to cash, new bike parts to customize your favorites on the track, and customization options for riders. Some might argue that this is the cause of the mode’s lack of focus, but I ultimately support some diversity.
However, I wish the actual rider customization was a bit more detailed, as you can only choose from a few presets at first. Unfortunately, none of these riders look like me, but there’s a lot to unlock and choose from once you put on the helmet. You can purchase a large number of bikes as you progress, but in earlier races you can sacrifice a portion of your winnings to rent a pre-selected bike.
Credit: Milestone
Besides career mode, players can also take part in quick races tailored to their preferences, or longer endurance races that require a little more time and concentration. Finally, players can race online against up to 12 opponents in cross-platform multiplayer to dominate the leaderboards for the fastest time. There’s also local split-screen racing, which is great.
Career mode and its festival-like approach has the most personality and detail, and is definitely where players will spend the most time. But that’s not a particularly bad thing considering how dense and varied it actually is.
winner’s circle
There are over 280 bikes and 39 tracks available at launch, and looking at the additional upcoming DLC set to expand on these lists is enough to make your head spin. Thankfully, the majority of these bikes all handle incredibly differently and require a specific approach depending on the discipline.
Sport bikes are much faster than other bikes, and usually the key is timing to brake and accelerate in and out of corners with the right touch, but maxi enduro bikes for off-road racing require a little more handling on unstable surfaces. However, Buggers feels much heavier, so you have to be careful how aggressively you steer to create time and space for your next turn or nearby enemies.
Variety is key here, but the gameplay also suits different types of gamers via arcade and pro presets. Arcade-style racing generally feels more forgiving, allowing players to get an idea of the weight and feel of their bikes, and providing plenty of assists to make racing smoother.
RIDE 6 takes a little getting used to for beginners, so this is the way to play from before, but it feels strange that so many of these assists are somewhat unadjustable and require you to switch to the Pro Racing presets to really fine-tune them.
Credit: Milestone
That being said, RIDE 6 makes the arcade controls feel incredibly easy and takes most of the fear out of the different types of bikes and trucks. Even with these assists on, you can still feel the speed and weight of each bike, and it can stumble at times. It strikes a balance between realism and accessibility without being too difficult or too guided.
Going from arcade to pro feels like a real learning curve for RIDE 6, and even after switching over to pro operation, I still felt like I needed to adjust a few things here and there. Depending on the course, balance and timing are even more demanding, and it’s easy to slip on an apex, oversteer and lose control, or simply fall behind the AI. The AI feels very aggressive and unforgiving at times.
I thought it was pretty funny to see the full physics engine on display during one of my first races in RIDE 6 when I was rear-ended by an opponent, sent flying off the track, and tumbling over a patch of dirt. Thankfully, this too can be tweaked and adjusted.
look at the part
RIDE 6 is the first in the series to move to Unreal Engine 5, and for the most part, it looks decent. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is the best looking racing sim out there, but it’s definitely respectable. While some of the real-life Legends character models look a little weird, the real-life bike models have a lot of detail, and that’s where your eyes will go most of the time.
In addition to different weather conditions, each track also includes plenty of variety and memorable moments. The wet road looks great with its reflections, but it’s clear that when you go over the immediate track you lose a bit of detail.
Credit: Milestone
On the PlayStation 5 Pro, RIDE 6 also ran admirably, but I was admittedly concerned, mainly due to Unreal Engine 5’s optimization issues. Even at 4K, RIDE 6 rarely drops below its 60 FPS target, but this feels intelligently handled thanks to the lack of detail in certain places.
This is a great looking game, but I feel like there are better looking games made with Unreal Engine 5. Therefore, you may be experiencing more noticeable performance issues. I think it’s a double-edged sword.
final thoughts
Overall, RIDE 6 offers an authentic, dense and fun experience that caters to experienced and inexperienced gamers alike. Either way, the bikes handle beautifully with speed and weight, and the main career mode and festival-inspired settings, as well as racing against real bikes, make for a fun time.
It’s not the best-looking racing sim, but it’s definitely worthy of praise, with plenty of detail and customizable options to add to both the bike and the rider. The team at Milestone has done what they do best here and have created one of the best racing sims ever.
4 stars (out of 5)
Highlights: Lots of bikes, tracks and different competitions. A cool encounter with a real-life cycling legend. Arcade and Pro modes are suitable for all types of gamers
Cons: Arcade style lacks many of the adjustments found in Pro Handling mode. AI can be a little too aggressive
Developer: Milestone
Publisher: Milestone
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC
Available: Currently
Review was conducted on a PlayStation 5 Pro using an activation code provided by the publisher.
A featured header image is also provided by the publisher.
