Ride 2

There's some fun to be had here, but the number of issues takes the air out of this racer's tires. The sheer number of customizable bikes, licensed parts, and accessories should initially please fans of this genre, but the game's problems begin surfacing shortly thereafter. Naturally, not all the content is available at first, but the huge amount of variety is one of Ride 2's greatest assets. There also are many licensed tracks (mostly European) and modes to choose from, such as Country, City, GP, and more. The best experience with this game is during multiplayer, whether it's a regular open race against up to 12 players or an Online Championship, which lets you participate in a sequence of online races (whomever has the most points at the end of the season is the winner).

But as ambitious as this game is, it falls short in execution in a few key areas. For one, it can be finicky to control, even when "dumbing down" the simulation to make it play more like an arcade game; it's not unusual to wipe out on a corner, even though you'd swear you properly handled the slight turn. The first-person helmet view of the action is a nice addition but becomes disorienting when you get into a turn. Visually speaking, as in the original Ride, the game seems a couple of years behind the likes of other racing games. There are frequent and sometimes long load times. Another beef: The in-game currency system, which is used to unlock new content, takes an awful lot of winning in events and challenges to earn enough money to buy and upgrade bikes. Hopefully there will be a patch to make earning cash more attainable instead of this long and frustrating process. If measured by variety in bikes, parts, tracks, and modes, this game would be a clear winner. But its shortcomings make it more like a weekend rental for those curious enough to take it for a spin.