Now this is a total surprise. Today French publisher Microids announced Moto Racer 4. The Moto Racer series was a cult hit arcade racer back in the Playstaion era, successful enough to garner two sequels, last released in 2001 but has never made the transition to the next generation of consoles. Moto Racer 4 is developed by Artefacts Studio but still supervised by its original designer Paul Cuisset, harnessing the power of the Unreal 4 engine to provide the blistering arcade racing experience with a promised 60 fps.
Both superbikes and motocross make a return, with up to 15 different modes of play, including odd ones like King Of The Hill (the hill here is being in first place, first to hold the lead within a determined duration of time wins), Wolf Pack ( player begins in a head start and must not be overtaken within the time limit) and Golden Helmet (grab the golden helmet in the first checkpoint, opponents can steal them by knocking the person holding it).
Moto Racer 4 will also include split-screen multiplayer as well as online up to 10 players, vehicle and rider customisation, and the possibility to play rough by knocking on other opponents while weaving through traffic. No word on the track editor- introduced in Moto Racer 2- and the very 90’s soundtrack from that game will reappear though.
Interesting to see more arcade racers coming in the new generation of consoles, like what another French publisher just recently did. However, the track record behind the game isn’t as strong, and we have no proof of the game will be as good as we remembered the past titles. Hopefully it’s not as horrible as Motorcyle Club. That’s a horrible racer in any way you look at it.
Moto Racer 4 is scheduled to be released on 16th October of this year for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.