SBK08 Review

Okay, I bought this game a couple of days ago on recommendation from a friend so thought I’d have a bash at a bit of unbiased reviewing so here goes……

SBK 08: Superbike World Championship 2008 is a new motorcycling game from Milestone and the first for the developer on the 360. Milestone appear to have quite a history of making these games, even producing the first EA Sports superbike game on the PC.

The first thing that strikes you about SBK is the amount of options you are greeted with on the front end - there’s loads. Options include the usual quick race and single race options as well as the championship mode, but also includes things like a challenge mode for you to beat certain scenarios and a time attack mode as well.

SBK also features a comprehensive control tweaking system so you can adjust how forgiving you want the game to be. You have ‘basic’, ‘arcade’, ‘simulation’ and ‘extreme’. As well as these you can also create a custom setup which is very useful.

Now I feel it’s only fair to point out that this game is a proper simulator. Even with the arcade control setting switched on this game is tough and I mean very tough! This effectively means that if you’re the sort of person who likes their racing thrills arcadey or on four wheels you will probably hate this in all honesty. However I personally like a tough challenge and the unforgiving nature of the game just makes hitting the perfect apex of a corner all the more satisfying!

For real two wheel addicts it’s all here – you can control front and rear brakes, shift your riders weight, tuck him behind the screen (which you can see in helmet cam for the real purist) and make him sit up for braking. There are 7 different viewpoints for you to choose from although I always choose the riders eye view for extra thrills. The bikes are also fully adjustable in the pits with nearly every aspect of the bike setup being available for your tweaking.

Graphically the frame rate is smooth and while the tracks are solid they never really blow you away. The bikes (all of the bikes from the SBK season) however look great, adding to the immersion.

A particular mention must go to the sound. There may not be an awful lot of sound (the usual are all present with crowd noises etc) but the engine noises are spot on, exactly as they should be!

The game features all 12 of the circuits from the SBK season including tracks such as Donington, Brands Hatch and Phillip Island.

The multiplayer service runs well with very little to no lag so far and supports 8 player racing.

It seems this game will be massively overlooked though which is a shame. This is the closest game I have played to the feel of a real motorcycle and for that reason Milestone should be applauded. It may be for the hardcore but it really deserves some recognition. If you love bikes and love racing you will be more than satisfied with this game and is already available at a knock down price despite only being available for a few weeks. It is now available from shopto.net for £27.99 delivered. Well worth the money.

Graphics 7 / 10
Sound 7.5 / 10
Presentation 7 / 10
Gameplay 8.5 / 10
Longevity 9 / 10

Overall 9 / 10

Many thanks Huzz.

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