SBK 2011 - Review - Dazraz's Blog

Dazraz's Blog

SBK 2011 - Review

Posted on May 18, 2011 at 04:03 AM.

(0)

Once again I'm here throwing out a little review of a one of those games that may have slipped under the radar of many gamers.

Black Bean return once again this year for their latest SBK offering looking to be the go to racing game for fans of 2 wheeled motorsports.

SBK 2011, likes it's predecessors, is not a game that'e going to appeal to many people who don't at least have a passing interest in the sport. After all, the 360 & the PS3 are not exactly short on racing games, nearly all of which look far better on screen than this game does. It's the visuals that really are the achilles heel to this game. SBK 2011 has to be, graphically, one of the most inconsistent games currently out there. High detail bikes/riders racing around sparsely detailed circuits are the order of the day here. Lighting is poor with little sense of depth. Framerates are, at least, pretty stable. Still beneath many a ugly face lies a great being. Go beyond the bland graphics & SBK 2011 is not that bad a game.

In addition to the teams & riders from the current SBK campaign you also have the chance to race in the WSS & Superstock 1000 series as well as a selection of SBK legends to race against. There are 16 tracks (2 require unlocking) on offer. A multitude of modes compliment the game. A career mode whereby you create a rider, start in the Superstock series & work your way up to Superbikes. Nothing massively innovative here but it does the job. Alternatively you can race a Single Season as any rider in any series. There is also a Race Weekend Mode, which is basically a single race. A nice option this year is the ability to determine how lengthy the race weekend is. If you'd rather not plough through the many Practice & Qualifying sessions you can now opt to simplify this with a single qualifying session followed by the race. New to this year is the Superbike Tour mode. This is where you can take your created rider to different locations to complete preset challenges to move to the next level. The modes adds variety to the game & may appeal to someone looking for a quick challenge rather than a complete race.

For as dull as SBK 2011 looks it actually does a solid job on the track. There are 3 simulation levels on offer from low (all assists on) to full (all assists off). This means players from all different abilities can get into the game. Strangely there is no option to switch individual assists on or off this year. In addition to the 3 simulation levels there are a number of difficulty levels so most players should be able to find a setting to be comfortable competing on. For budding engineers there is an extensive bike set up mode with telemetry from your practice laps to pour through until your hearts content if that's your thing.

When racing, AI riders appear to act quite intelligently. There is certainly none of the excessive on track collisions as there are in other motorcycling games. That said, with all assists off, you need heaps of practice & high levels of concentration to keep yourself from coming off regularly. If damage & health is switched on you could find yourself not finishing the race if you have a big crash. As with many other racing games though, it appears other bikes don't suffer from the crashes anywhere near as much as you do. With the damege/health switch on you will struggle to remain competitive in the race after a couple of offs while other bikes who may have crashed roar off into the distance. 'Evolving Track' is once again present. This realistically sees the track evolve across the race weekend as more rubber is laid along the racing line on the tarmac. This can be seen visually but most impressively can be felt as the grip improves on these areas.

Sounds are far from breathtaking although there are at least noticeable differences between bikes.

Contender for naff videogame moment of the year has to be SBK 2011's podium celebrations. Finish in the top 3 & you are 'Awarded' with a cut scene of a podium sequence which would have been heralded as a nice touch about 3 generations of consoles ago. Race highlights are another of those nice ideas poorly executed. Black Bean have somehow managed to make every replay sequence look benign & repetitive.

As much as I enjoy playing SBK 2011 it is a hard game to recommend. Even fans of the sport who own last years SBK X will have a job justifying buying this years games as the changes really are minimal. For those looking to try the game for the first time, if possible, rent first. Some will get put off by the graphics straight off. But persist a little & you will find that this a quite a good little racer that you might enjoy a little more than you think.

*Due to my somewhat erratic online connection I have refrained from commenting in regards to Online play.