There is a phrase that is often batted around when it comes to failed attempts at “innovation,” and I’ve found myself using it more and more recently. Reinventing the wheel isn’t an enviable task, though some seem to undertake it, either literally or metaphorically. If you have a first-person or third-person game, we’ve established fair and well that the right analog stick is for the camera, we all agree on this. Well, most of us anyway. Milestone S.r.l., the developers behind Monster Energy Supercross 5, don’t believe in such ponderance. Instead, they’ve made it one-half of the weight distribution system for the game.

Supercross was a thing I had zero interest in before playing this latest addition to the series that passes by a majority of the world unblinkingly. In fact, the first question I had during my short-lived research prior to playing is self-evident of the type of person I am: “Do you reckon they take that dirt everywhere they go, or is it stored somewhere?” We were not off to a great start. Nonetheless, I powered through having attempted to understand it to see where the excitement comes from. I wanted to know why such a thing seemingly garners enough attention to fill stadiums across America with people.

I say I tried, but I was alone in that venture as the tutorial seems to concentrate entirely on watching you do scrubs, watching you whip, and watching you nae nae. Shut up, that’s a great joke. Sure, the most impressive thing about Supercross is the stills of a rider in mid-flight whipping the tail end of the bike out, looking like the sassiest little sponsored billboard, and making it look easy. However, it is not practical, at least in-game. If Supercross was scored like Robot Wars, I’d agree with it, but you aren’t ranked on damage, style, aggression, and control.

The very first race out the gates, I attempted all this scrub and woopies nonsense you are instructed to do. Color me shocked, it didn’t matter. I got 8th place with a slow time. It was a bit odd, constantly crashing and careening head-first into the third row of seats at AT&T stadium. So, I did the sensible thing and I slowed down a bit. I used a bit more throttle control, I used the balancing tools sparingly, and I came first with seconds in hand. It is almost as if it is better to stick to a racing line and understand actual racing than attempting to tickle the underside of Noel Sharkey’s chin.

However, that theory really only works for the first round of qualifying, which doesn’t actually matter the same way qualifying to place higher on a grid. You can hook up the best lap of your life in the qualifying race of any motorsport. However, as Checo Pérez found out in Saudi Arabia, it is the entire race that matters, not the one special lap from the gods. My point is that racing for several minutes on bikes that will play bucking bronco on you anytime you land squirrely, with racing that isn’t the most exhilarating. I don’t think I am mistaken in believing the idea of gamifying some of this would be a good idea.

Even making the game more accessible seems like a scribbled idea on the back of a discarded post-it note, sitting somewhere in the realm of “well we’re not going to tell you about this.” It was after the initial race in the career I found out what the difficulty settings meant at the start, which are tiered on three difficulties. One offers the races alone with a collection of assists, another is a bit more “realistic,” and the third is insufferably long-winded if you are like me and this was your first experience. Though, it doesn’t matter how many assists you use or if you put the physics engine to baby’s first supercross, it is all the same dull racing.

In fact, the hot-lap qualifying was the most interesting aspect. It is too bad you can’t turn off AI from being a distraction that gets in the way sometimes. Once again, the tutorial was a joke at actually explaining what it has to convey. I use this as the yardstick often, but that’s because it works. If the sports game I’m playing can’t convince me why this is interesting, how is the game supposed to achieve one of its main goals? Make no mistake, Monster Energy Supercross 5 is advertizing something, I just don’t believe it is the motorsport itself.

Yes, it may fill a stadium or two across the continental US, however, it is still a niche. This demonstration of the motorsport itself isn’t going to garner a larger or more comprehensive audience other than the core demographic. Beyond that, Supercross 5 is never going to convert someone into a fan, especially if they are stupid enough like me to listen and do a couple of scrubs and whips. Following the rather basic yes or no assists, the sensitivity of the weight distribution system feels rather light and arcade-y. Not as if I’m thrusting 100kg between my legs at all.

In fact, the comparison I’d draw would be the old Evolution-developed WRC games on the PS2, making dirt, gravel, and even tarmac feel like Disney’s Cars on Ice. Despite the bikes themselves being heavier than the rider, which I found out after a bit of Googling, the game would make you believe otherwise. It isn’t difficult to throw the back end of the bike out and land so as to break your leg and decapitate several other riders. Yet surely it should be a little more difficult to do than slightly pushing both sticks in a direction and instantly becoming a skid mark coming down a small hill?

As a racing game, Monster Energy Supercross 5 isn’t an exemplar of the genre, as it is rather dull in actual fact. With the focus being on control of the bike, while it is so easy to wipe yourself out, actually racing other riders becomes an afterthought among the chaos that is Supercross. It makes the idea of progression an uphill climb that isn’t enjoyable when you know the landing on the otherwise will plant a dirt bike halfway up your rectum.

As a simulation, sure, I would end up committing hari-kari if I did all this myself, probably breaking my neck first. However, it is a game. Even when you put all the assists on to acclimatize you to the world of Supercross, you’ll be left frustrated by AI, tutorials, and quite dull racing.

A PS4 copy of Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 5 was provided by Milestone S.r.l for the purposes of this review.

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Monster Energy Supercross 5

$49.99

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• True to the nature of being niche.
• A decent photo mode.

Cons

• Unflinching AI in the face of a bike landing on their neck.
• Assists that do very little to help matters.
• Tutorials that assume you know every detail of Supercross.
• Something there if you are a fan, but not otherwise.