Review | TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3

TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3 Review | In the real world, there is an annual motorcycle race that takes place on the Isle of Man known as the Isle of Man TT and/or Tourist Trophy which is known for its narrow roads, tight corners, and dangerous nature – claiming numerous lives since it first began. However, for those who realistically can’t take part or experience the real event, we have been given the best alternative with the release of TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3 to put us straight into the menacing driver’s seat. Developed by NACON Studio Milan and published by NACON, TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3 allows us to explore the island in a free-roam setting while participating in different events to gradually progress towards the main event and apply upgrades to our motorcycle along the way, giving you an advance against the competition. Let’s see just how life-like the game truly is.

What we Liked!

• Upgrade opportunities | As you progress through the game, you will obtain points that can be spent on upgrading different parts of your bike, depending on what you feel will work to your advantage and improve your chances more. For example, if you’re struggling with the quality of your brakes, you may want to upgrade these first. Eventually, you’ll be able to upgrade every aspect to the max the more races you participate in and the better you place in them. It should also be noted each part can be upgraded multiple times. It’s certainly worth checking whether you can upgrade often and forgetting may cost you that podium place. Even the smallest improvements can make a world of difference.

• Precision driving | Due to the roads and racing lines often being incredibly tight and narrow to manoeuvre around, you have to be more precise with your driving compared to other racing games. This tests everyone, both newcomers and veterans of the genre, to really watch and pay attention to every little detail. Otherwise, you may just find yourself clipping corners and crashing in the most unfortunate circumstances. I often found myself hitting the curb because I pathed too wide, which was frustrating but self-inflicted, so I can’t complain. A true test of whether you can handle TT Isle of Man and all its challenges – It certainly makes me appreciate those who attempt the races in real life.

• Audio and sound effects | For those of us who enjoy the sound of engines roaring and motoring sounds, as a whole, TT Isle of Man has the quality and thrill we thrive off. The sound of the motorbike itself was heavenly and got my adrenaline pumping immediately, along with knowing the challenge ahead would be like none I’d faced before. The cheering from the supporters standing by the edge of the road was also encouraging to listen to as I zoomed past, giving the game a little extra depth and positive energy. The music found within the game always provided high energy and often consisted of rock music that matched incredibly well with the intensity of the gameplay itself. I certainly found some decent songs to add to my Spotify – that’s for sure! I’ve got no complaints about the audio; everything has been included to an accurate and suitable standard.

• Custom races and multiplayer | | It should come as no surprise that TT Isle of Man includes the option to participate in multiplayer races and create custom races if you want to although it’s not essential. Hence, it caters to both solo and multiplayer players. I didn’t get a chance to play the multiplayer as I couldn’t find a race to participate in. Still, I would assume it is incredibly similar, if not identical, to the solo play except for the AI being replaced with actual people. As for the custom races, you can configure plenty of details to make the event personalised to what you’d like to try. From the weather conditions to the AI difficulty, tyre wear to competitors – it’s all in your hands. This can be great if you want to try something different which isn’t a mainstream event.

• Informative journal | I’ve always been one who enjoys exploring the lore in video games as it gives me the chance to feel more connected and knowledgeable about what I’m playing. I didn’t expect there to be any in TT Isle of Man but once I came across the discovery challenges and journal entries, I was positively astounded. There is so much to be learned! There is tonnes of information about the history of the Isle of Man, the riders themselves, the Tourist Trophy, and tutorials should you be interested in learning more about everything that surrounds the game and real-life events. I thought this was a brilliant addition and allowed those of us who desire more knowledge to be well-fed.

• Fluid gameplay |  I’m pleased to say I didn’t encounter any bugs or performance issues when playing TT Isle of Man; a huge sigh of relief. Navigating the map and menus is easy enough as everything is laid out neatly. The driving was top-tier with the controls feeling lightweight and extremely easy to get used to. There wasn’t any stuttering or issues with frame rate, therefore making the general flow of the game incredibly satisfying to partake in. Additionally, both free roam and the events also had no issues. Yeah, smooth sailing (or driving in this case) all the way through which will be music to many peoples’ ears.

Mixed Feelings

• Hit-and-miss graphics | We all love a video game that looks good from every angle, right? Well, I’ll start with the positives. The bikes and riders stand out amongst the crowd by a mile. The reflecting light, attention to detail, and use of shading all make up the eye-catching view we will see all game – unless you drive in first-person – and good luck to anyone who can achieve that. The animations are also well designed when leaning to control your bike’s weight distribution. Then you have the environment and all its beauty. The Isle of Man looks gorgeous with foliage, built-up areas, cliffside views, and confined roads. With the inclusion of photo mode, there are plenty of opportunities to capture some amazing screenshots. Now comes the negatives – the poor rendering of this beautiful world while at any sort of speed. It’s impossible to miss and not notice but I guess it’s somewhat lifelike as still details are blurred when driving fast. The other thing is the people in the crowds – they looked atrocious and were poorly animated. This was definitely not a priority for the developers and it shows. 

• Different categories and events | Let’s get into the playable content side of TT Isle of Man. The game is divided into two seasons – each consisting of qualifying events, the Tourist Trophy, temporary challenges, custom races, multiplayer, task challenges, discovery challenges, time attacks, and face-offs. Just take a second to let that all sink in. The main ‘story’ of the game has you tackle a series of qualifying events that all lead up to the main event. Then, everything else on the map is optional and can be done at your leisure; the majority reward experience and points to upgrade your bike if you succeed. This makes each event worthwhile to complete. However, some of the races are exceedingly long so I hope you’re ready to sink some time into these. I much preferred the straight race/time events as opposed to the lengthy full circuits that sometimes require multiple laps. If you’re someone like me who hates to lose, you may find your patience wearing thin; I’ll admit mine did on multiple occasions.

• Accessibility and customisation | There are quite a few accessibility options when it comes to setting up your game. The HUD for one lets you hide or show pretty much whichever elements you would like which makes it great for minimalists and people who want to see every detail possible. I will touch upon the mini-map though as I disagree with how it portrays the position on the road; it’s sometimes incredibly inaccurate. Depending on your skill level, there are physics simulation levels and AI skill options you can decrease or increase to suit everyone. I always expect these in racing games and was pleasantly surprised to see they weren’t missed. Also, other than customising your bike’s racing elements, there is no way to change the colour of your bike or rider. This is most likely down to TT Isle of Man having licensed drivers which are set in stone but I always like the ability to customise vehicles where possible so it was a tad dissatisfying for me.

• Replayability value | The game consists of two separate seasons – superbike and supersport – along with all the optional events. They are separated and are both required in order to get the completion. You can replay the season(s) at any point but if you manage to win everything, I don’t see much point in returning again unless you find yourself quite fond of the game and want to try perhaps in a harder, more realistic setting. You then have the different events of which some are permanent/replayable and others have a set time to be completed to be in with the chance at earning some rewards. This adds to the replayability factor but not greatly all things considered. In my opinion, once you’ve successfully won everything there is, I don’t see much reason to return to TT Isle of Man.

What we Disliked

• Patience and persistence | To reach an acceptable standard of racing in TT Isle of Man, it’s essential to take your time learning exactly how your bike rides and feels in different scenarios. You could be approaching a sharp bend or a simple straight section of road; either way, your handling could be the difference between 1st place and last. To do this, I had to be quite patient with myself and my ability to ride the bike as efficiently as possible. Persistence goes hand-in-hand with this as you’ve got to stick with the learning curve if you are to stand any chance at beating the competition. I wasn’t great with this and do think people may be demotivated by the inevitable early failure unless they can push through the early stages of the gameplay.

• Difficult for beginners | Leading on from my previous point, I do believe the game is much harder for those who aren’t used to the racing genre. With its already-known dangerous nature and hard difficulties from what we have witnessed in the real world, I wouldn’t expect the game to be easy. However, saying that, even with its beginner physics simulation and the AI difficulty set to 40% (Original setting when starting the game), I struggled to make successful progress but refused to make it even easier as I wanted to give myself some level of challenge. This may put people off within the early stages of the gameplay which would be a real shame but as this happened to me, I can see it happening to others. All I can say is I hope you’re ready for some steep learning curves and testing gameplay.

How long to beat the story | Approximately 20-30 Hours
How long to achieve 1000G | Approximately 50-60 Hours
You’ll love this game if you like these | MotoGP, RIDE 4

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