What started with a single game has grown into a series with an annual rhythm: After 2018 and 2019, the development studio Milestone is already launching the third episode of Monster Energy Supercross. As with every sequel in this frequency, the question naturally arises as to whether the game has enough and, above all, appealing innovations to convince the owners of the two predecessors to buy. The short answer is yes and no. For the longer version of the answer we have to go a little further.
To argue that Supercross 3 is not that different from its two predecessors would be too superficial. At first glance, the statement is not so wrong: As always, everything revolves around demonstrating your own skills with various riders and motorcycles in the context of the American AMA Supercross Championship. In particular, the driving physics and the driving experience always came across well in the two predecessors, and luckily Supercross 3 is no exception.
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Especially the feeling for speed and adrenaline come across very well. In addition, the handling of the various motorcycles is now a bit easier, which is particularly noticeable in the most spectacular actions during the jumps. Only the problem with the not always completely understandable falls has remained and can be a bit annoying at times. Fortunately, there is still a kind of rewind function that can be used to quickly iron out mistakes.
Compared to the 2019 offshoot, Supercross 3 has gained something in terms of features and content, but this is not always as great as it may sound at first. So you can get on the saddle with female bikers for the first time in the history of the series. Another new feature is the possibility to join a team during the career mode and in this way to take part in special events. In the first moment that sounds like more variety, but unfortunately it quickly turns out to be just a staffage. Yes, there are some special events. Unfortunately, however, these are neither particularly innovative nor substantial.
Not much help, but fun anyway
The team at Milestone is breaking new ground in the tutorials in Supercross 3 and is trying to introduce you to the game more smoothly than before. However, this does not work very well, since, for example, the introductory practice race hardly gives any real help. Notes appear on the screen, which buttons you use to perform certain actions and how you ideally behave in some situations. But the actual handling of the motorcycles is then somewhat more difficult and therefore not so easy to learn. For example, we would have liked specially tailored training units for this. Too bad.
It's also a shame that in Supercross 3 you don't have the current, but the past AMA season at your disposal. The remaining microtransactions are also negative. Of course, each player can decide whether to get an XP boost for about five euros or not. But the offer of such Pay2Win benefits alone leaves a bland aftertaste. We find the loading times, which were much too long, similarly stupid.
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But enough of the reproaches, because Supercross 3 has done some things really well compared to its predecessors, which of course we do not want to hide from you. A prime example of this are the online games, which are as entertaining as they are absolutely delay-free. The Milestone team has finally decided to switch to a dedicated server system, which is noticeable from the first second.
The graphics have also increased again and, despite some strange-looking animations, looks quite realistic. We also really liked the much larger training area: there you have a lot of space to let off steam – optionally even with up to four players at the same time thanks to a co-op mode. If the given content is not enough for you, you can let off steam with the extended course editor, which (thanks to a good tutorial) is now easier to use.