Review: Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 2 – PS4

Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 2 is a game that throws every part of supercross racing at you with customization at every point. Whether through structured or open events, licensed manufacturers and racers, and real stadiums, if you love supercross, this is the game for you.
After a tutorial to learn the basics, I was ready to use the principles of steering, leaning, proper gas and break, and a rewind for when I ignored them. You can turn on a flow aid to see where to take and land your jumps as well. This and many other options are available in the single player mode for the competitive racer in both the 250 and 450 class. You can choose to tackle a single race, a group of races in a championship, or play in a career mode. No matter what you choose, you can customize it to your liking.

Unless you are playing in the career mode, you can enter the race as one of forty officially licensed racers with their bikes. The manufacturers range from Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, KTR, and Kawasaki. I am not sure the handling is very different from bike to bike, but the appearance and commitment to realism is very nice.
The career mode is your chance to create the next supercross champion and take them through an entire season that is broken into weeks. There are free days that can’t be moved and a race on the weekend. As you complete events, you earn prestige and credits. More prestige can net you new equipment, but it can also open up more sponsors with more money and more objectives. The credits you earn allow you to buy more aesthetic items for customized appearances.
 
During the week, you can train, promote yourself to the public, or challenge a rival. The training puts you on a test track where you can gain experience by completing objectives. The more you unlock, the better you perform on the track. You can choose your character’s appearance, their bike manufacturer of choice, and a sponsor. The sponsor has certain goals they want you to complete, such as placing 11th in a race. You receive a signing bonus and another bonus if you complete the objective. Promotion ranges from time with journalists and fans to promoting your sponsor’s products. The events aren’t drawn out, but it’s another nod to realism.

Of course, nothing matters unless you can race. Once you hit the weekend, you are automatically taken to the race location. There are many tracks and real arenas with a pyrotechnics and fireworks show. The real announcers, Jeff Emig and Ralph Sheheen, lend their voices as they talk about the upcoming event. There are flashes of you making your way to the starting line, and they discuss your performance after the race. It can be a little generic sometimes, but, overall, the presentation in Monster Energy Supercross 2 is pretty good.
The racing is the real meat of the game, and it’s decent with some caveats. You can run your bike hard to make it off the line first, and then it is a chaotic jumble of people as you race to squeeze into that first turn. As you move through the track, there are more turns, jumps, and bumps to keep you gripping your controller tightly. After a few laps, you will jump through the finish line in a slo-mo rise with your wheels in the air. Multiplayer runs the same, except with some real and some AI racers on the track.
 
When you start to see some improvement, it can be exhilarating to hit that big jump, position yourself correctly, lean just enough, and land it to take a turn perfectly. The problem is that some of the physics seem a little floaty. There are two options for physics, a more forgiving mode and the advanced. I just didn’t feel like my bike had enough weight, so I switched it to advanced. It felt better, but it still seemed a little off. I would “feel” light as I moved back and forth. I also crashed a lot more, but, with a few exceptions, that was the fault of my custom racer, Jake Stone. That guy is probably going home after his rough season.

More annoying is the zone for where you can turn around a corner. If it’s just a tiny bit sharp in an undefined area, the game will put you back on the track to make the turn again. It doesn’t like cheaters, even when they aren’t trying to cheat.
I had a couple of issues with the sound. While playing, the bikes seemed to sound relatively similar. Maybe I can’t tell the nuance anymore, but I expected a bit more variety. I also had the bike engine sounds cut out entirely for the game’s punk rock soundtrack. I’m not sure exactly why. The music is licensed from bands like NOFX and fits pretty well.
The visuals are also fine. The racer’s faces and outfits look OK, but the bikes look much better. The emphasis was prioritized correctly in my mind. The variety of real stadium locations are nice, but they start to blur together a little visually. On the plus side, the dirt texture is mostly great. The muddy track in the rain can start to look a little like lines in pudding during some parts, but it was still my favorite weather for the visuals alone.

 
The real selling point in Monster Energy Supercross 2 is how it puts the player in control of the game with customization in almost every part. If I choose a race, I can choose all the options from rider and bike to weather to physics to time of day to condition of the track. I can choose several categories to modify the bike to meet the specific demands of the track. I can change the colors of equipment. There is almost a granular level of control that the game gives to players, and it’s excellent.
To further drive that home, the game has two free play modes. The first is called the Compound. It’s a rural farm where you can jump ramps and drive fast without the restrictions of a track. Unless you run into the domed boundaries, you can do anything you want. It’s an ideal playground.
Customization continues with the built-in track builder. If you’ve seen it in the game, you can build it. After finishing the track of your dreams, the game will validate it works with an AI rider, and you can share your creation with other players, offering the potential for more tracks in the future. You can also test your unvalidated tracks to create a stunt arena.
Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 2 is a game with a lot of content, so much customization, and the potential for you to make your own tracks and share them with the world. It’s a game that will probably only appeal to the hardcore supercross fans, and it has gone to great lengths to give them everything in one package.

Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame 2 PS4 Review

• 6.7/10
  Overall - Good - 6.7/10

6.7/10

Summary

If you like supercross, Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 2 was made for you. It has licensed racers, bikes, locations, different modes, and the decent presentation will put you everywhere you have seen on TV. The options for customization are everywhere, and you can tweak the game to your liking. You can even create your own tracks.
The racing does seem to lack weight at certain times, the game enforces some boundaries a little too strictly, and the sound may change unexpectedly on you. If you are a fan, that won’t matter. This game was made for you. If not, I don’t know that you’ll have any interest here.