24-Hour Races, Over 200 Career Mode Events: RIDE 5 Has Launched

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Motorcycle racing fans are not exactly spoiled with quality simulations - RIDE 5 aims to change that: Milestone's latest bike racer comes with a deep career mode, tons of customizability and even endurance races. The fifth iteration of the franchise is out now for PC via Steam and Epic, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Image credit: Milestone

While the career mode is not too different from its predecessor, it does offer significant depth, sporting over 200 events that your custom rider you get to create when starting the mode gets to compete in. Players will also encounter rivals that add another layer to the gameplay in career mode. Events are split into two categories, with primary events being necessary to advance your career path, and secondary events being high-risk, high-reward in nature to secure optional bonuses.

Also new is the Sky System that features accurate simulation of time of day (and night, of course) and an in-depth weather system based on dynamic volumetric clouds, taking into account their density and the air and track temperatures to realistically portray changing conditions.

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Time of day, in-depth weather calculations, endurance races - RIDE 5 aims to take the next step in motorcycle racing sims. Image credit: Milestone

Race Around the Clock​

This ties in nicely with the Endurance races that are present in RIDE 5. Events can range from 20 minutes up to 24 hours, and an in-game save system coupled with rewinds make the lives of players who want to take on the challenge of long races a bit more pleasant.

Meanwhile, the revamped physics aim to immerse players in motorcycle racing even more. Visual and physical tire degradation is now present in the game, and the suspension system has been revised as well. At its core, RIDE 5 is still a simulation, and for those who struggle with it, numerous assists are on board as well to help them learn the ins and outs of racing a bike.

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Simulators can be hard to learn, but luckily, RIDE 5 includes multiple assists to teach you how to ride properly. Image credit: Milestone

RIDE 5 includes crossplay in multiplayer, too - but only on consoles. It is listed for PC as well, but only means that players who bought the game on Steam can compete with those that got it via Epic and vice versa, ruling out crossplay with console racers. At least the local split-screen multiplayer makes its comeback.

Content-wise, bike fans will likely find their Nirvana, or at least something close to it: Over 270 motorcycles from 20 manufacturers are waiting to tear around 35 circuits, including locations that are rarely seen in racing games outside of mods, such as Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport) or Sportsland Sugo.

RIDE 5 - Track List​

  • Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
  • Autopolis
  • Blue Wave
  • Brands Hatch
  • Cadwell Par
  • Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
  • Circuito Costa de Almeria
  • Circuit des 24 Heures de Mans
  • Circuit Ricardo Tormo
  • Daytona International Circuit
  • Donington Park
  • French Riviera
  • Imola
  • Interlagos
  • Kanto
  • Kyalami Racing Circuit
  • Laguna Sega
  • Magny-Cours
  • Monza
  • Mugello
  • North West 200
  • Nurburgring Nordschleife
  • Nurburgring Grand Prix
  • Okayama International Circuit
  • Oulton Park – Europe
  • Road America
  • Road Atlanta
  • Sonoma Raceway
  • Southern 100
  • Snetterton
  • Sportsland Sugo
  • Suzuka Circuit
  • Tsukuba Circuit
  • Ulster GP
  • Utah Motorsports Campus
  • Virginia International Raceway

Additionally, customizablilty is going strong in RIDE 5, which allows players to set up tons of combinations of events in the Race Creator, edit their bikes, suits and helmets, and share their creations online.

Want to get a better impression on the game? Jonas "ChampionJoe" Schulz has already taken a closer look at RIDE 5 for OverTake - check out his review below!


Your Thoughts​

What is your first impression of RIDE 5? Are you looking forward to giving it a go? Let us know in the comments below!
About author
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

Comments

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It's hard to believe, but it was only through Ride2 that I discovered my love for the Nordschleife.
Up to this point I hated the track. Even Grand Prix Legends couldn't change that.
Practiced the Nordschleife for days with a 250 Honda.
But then I stopped riding two-wheelers after Ride3.
I need 4 wheels and a protective cage around me.
I still don't like the modern Nordschleife,
but the '67 variant is now one of my top tracks in Assetto Corsa.
With more than 270km/h through the green hell into the sunrise...
I'm raving.
This is the playseat for Ride.
 

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I stopped here immediately looking for my Steam wallet :D

However, at Steam GPBikes is not tagged with VR Support?

I can live with a workaround like e.g. CrewChief VR plug-ins for various bedated sims. Until then I put up with playing Skid within my Quest 2.
The game has full native VR support, I've nearly 800hrs of VR awesomeness in it. A new beta has just come out which means a lot of the mods need updating but otherwise it is good to go.
 
GPbikes is soooo good. It has VR support too if I remember correctly. Sadly, the biggest problem I have with it is the same problem that other bike Sims have for me. That problem being that real life riding and Sim riding feel nothing alike to me, and it never will using a controller, or even dare I say, a custom bike controller. I don't want to say riding a motorcycle on track is easy perse, but it's far more natural feeling, and easier in my opinion than in a simulator.

I do love all the control options you have in GP bikes. It's just a tad odd trying to manage all of those options using a controller with your hands, compared to using your full body on a bike. I should give it a go again.
A number of people, including a good friend are building bike rigs now. The one he has made has hydraulic brakes with pressure sensors, rearsets with gear shift, clip-ons mounted to a dd wheel, clutch lever action, e-bike throttle. Combine that with VR and you're getting pretty close. Next step is to implement some basic movement, initially yaw and pitch.
 
A number of people, including a good friend are building bike rigs now. The one he has made has hydraulic brakes with pressure sensors, rearsets with gear shift, clip-ons mounted to a dd wheel, clutch lever action, e-bike throttle. Combine that with VR and you're getting pretty close. Next step is to implement some basic movement, initially yaw and pitch.
I guess the problem is the simulated reality will actually be more physically tiring than actual reality at that point. Once you don't have the wind lift factor climbing all over your bike will soon get tiresome. I suppose you can just go Hailwood style and stay in the saddle though.
 
Defo looks good, but as per usual I'm not happy with the pivot point. I just don't understand why the pivot point isn't the wheels (as it should be in reality), the Milestone games always seem to pivot from the MIDDLE of the bike, that was the single biggest hurdle I had to overcome in getting "into" Milestone games. It still mucks me up now though, when I'm right on the edge of the track and lean in and my back wheel moves OFF the track as I lean in...so weird and such a daft design decision IMO.
 
I guess the problem is the simulated reality will actually be more physically tiring than actual reality at that point. Once you don't have the wind lift factor climbing all over your bike will soon get tiresome. I suppose you can just go Hailwood style and stay in the saddle though.
It will (most likely) never fully replicate real life, there is just so much going on that is hard to simulate. But, it's pretty damn good for those cold wet nights when you can't be arsed riding but still want to thrash some laps out. We are still working on the best riding position. One thing of interest that we have noted (especially with VR) is that you don't need to actually replicate the physical layout, you just need to replicate how it feels. This means you don't need to have so much pressure on your wrists (or in my case, wrist ha) by being tucked fully down as it feels like you are regardless of actual position when you are in the game.
 
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Defo looks good, but as per usual I'm not happy with the pivot point. I just don't understand why the pivot point isn't the wheels (as it should be in reality), the Milestone games always seem to pivot from the MIDDLE of the bike, that was the single biggest hurdle I had to overcome in getting "into" Milestone games. It still mucks me up now though, when I'm right on the edge of the track and lean in and my back wheel moves OFF the track as I lean in...so weird and such a daft design decision IMO.
This 100%
 
A number of people, including a good friend are building bike rigs now. The one he has made has hydraulic brakes with pressure sensors, rearsets with gear shift, clip-ons mounted to a dd wheel, clutch lever action, e-bike throttle. Combine that with VR and you're getting pretty close. Next step is to implement some basic movement, initially yaw and pitch.
Someone needs to make a commercially available product and they have themselves a business!
 
Someone needs to make a commercially available product and they have themselves a business!
It's really hard though, chatting to Doubledragon (who is a one man army of IA systems) It's such an uphill battle. His rigs costs a fair whack but I've been using one since April and as someone who hadn't ridden a real bike since 2004 It's brilliant to wring that throttle so worth every penny IMO. But it's a niche within a niche within a niche (racing sims/bike sims/wanting a proper controller) so the prospect of making money is slim.
 
People here are really creepy. They want a bike game to feel like a real bike, playing it with a controller, oh my god.
Creepy. Strange choice of words. Most people are simply saying you can't really translate it to a controller and it doesn't translate as well as it does for cars if you use controllers.

Creepy for me is maybe being a stalker or something not complaining about bike sims. Each to their own I guess.
 
GP Bikes has better physics than Ride, that's just a fact sorry bro.
Sure bro, its also a fact that i am not your bro, and that talking about physics when you are not even sitting on the bike is pointless , because any bike sim at this point obviously simplifies the rider inputs, wich are done with the whole body, to simple lean and/or handlebar inputs, but cool story bro.
 
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