In a way of premature abject apology, the premise for my initial review of Monster Energy Supercross 2 was meant to revolve primarily around vocalizing the roar of motorcycle engines. As effective as that would be to explain what one could expect from MES2, Milestone S.r.l. brought more than just simplistic Supercross racing to the masses. Sure, MES2 fulfills much of what a Supercross fan is looking for, but does it offer anything beyond revving engines and dirt tracks? This is our Monster Energy Supercross 2 review.
Without mincing words, Milestone S.r.l. knows how to make a racing game. They have well respected racing titles from MotoGP to the Ride franchise. Few companies understand the ebb and flow of racing the way they do. Enter Monster Energy Supercross 2 (The Official Game). Quite literally, out of the gate, realistic Supercross racing is apparent in just about every facet of its being. From the moment you overcorrect mid-air, sending you careening off the track, to when you pump the gas just a little too much, sending your bike into a spin, no argument can be made that the feel of your bike doesn’t convey a sense of pure Supercross adrenaline.
Not every facet of that feeling in my estimation is without challenges. I’m no stranger to racing games, but Supercross is a different animal. Substantial training was necessary for me to grasp how rigid the trails were, and how important it is to have the correct trajectory of your handlebars during a race. Nearly every single instance of a track has bumps and hills. Once airborne, tipping to one side or another could set you up to make a critical pass on a racer in front of you, or it could knock you off your bike entirely, requiring you to start from a dead stop from where you fell. Luckily you have a rewind button that I found myself using quite often, and happens to be more of a staple of current day racing games.
Racing is the main point of the game, as one would expect from a racing game, but MES2 has more than just a few exhibitions and multiplayer bouts for players to experience. I was very happy to see a full-fledged career mode available, complete with a character creator, and full customization of your bike, gear, and decals. I wouldn’t say the character creator is especially robust, and many of the upgrades to your bike and character are extremely expensive to the point that you won’t be buying much of anything after the first several races of your career.
During the course of your career, new opportunities open up to you. Each week you create a new schedule which will give you options to increase your popularity, earn more experience through training, or challenge a rival to a race. You can create your own tracks, which I found to be somewhat time consuming but with a modicum of return on time invested, simply by being able to race a track that you built yourself. You also have a compound all setup and ready to host your own races, or to free ride to your hearts content. With a lot of other options on what you could do, nothing takes away from the primary focus, which is Supercross racing.
My journey was not without some issues though. While the audio tracks were appealing, hard rock and some great jam loops, I had a very annoying buy where, after every promotional day, the sound of you accumulating funds would stick around perpetually. It was quite possibly the most annoying sound imaginable, and the only way to quell it was to exit the game completely. I found this to be problematic as my stints in game were shortened substantially due to having to shut down and restart the game so often. I also comically fell off my bike many, many times. Some of those times seemed a little silly. I would seemingly land fine, but would get a “wasted” rating, despite rewinding, and following through similarly and getting a “perfect” rating. That issue was few and far between, but had I attempted a clean ride without the use of rewinding, it would have been a frustrating experience.
