The MotoGP series has been well respected in the past amongst racing fans for its faithful reproduction of the official championship. With the license for the game having recently changed hands from THQ to Capcom, the new management have had a few plans for the series, which have manifested in the newest instalment, MotoGP08.

Amongst these new plans, branching out from the PC and Xbox 360 as core platforms for the franchise has been at the top of the agenda, with the game now available on the PS3, which is the version that is covered in this review.

Other changes to the series sees a shift in developers – with the latest iteration of the game handled by Milestone software, whom have had a lot to live up to following the previous titles in the series, which were handled by Climax Studios.

MotoGP08 retains the great depth of its predecessors, and motorbike racing fans will hail the welcome return of the 125cc and 250cc classes to the game. The mainstay of the series, the MotoGP class is also present, as you would expect. The game is broken up into multiple modes, and these include career, quick race, time attack, and championship. Each mode can be played using any class of bikes, riders or teams present in the official MotoGP08 line up, which allows gamers to play as their favourite rider.

Each team and rider is unlocked as progression through the career mode is made – with only 125cc available at first. At the conclusion of each season throughout the career mode, you're given the opportunity to switch teams, bikes or move up to the next class, all dependant on your performance. Other elements are able to be unlocked, which can add a bit of custom flair to your rider. A number of different helmet designs are present, and as you progress, you'll find yourself unlocking several throughout the career mode.

As you progress through a racing season, you'll also be given the opportunity to upgrade your bike as you gain championship points, with upgrades able to be placed in either acceleration, maximum speed, traction or braking. These seem like a complete novelty, and can lead to large increases in bike performance – for instance in 125cc racing, a maximum speed boost from around 215km/h to just above 230km/h is achievable. This feels like a disservice to the franchise, as major bike upgrades mid-season don't seem to be in line with stringent motor racing rules and regulations.

For those that want to get straight into the “upper class” racing, each of the bike classes are available right from the start in the championship mode, which sees you play through a single racing season as any rider you choose.

In addition, a series of fifty challenges is also included, with objective based time attacks or a myriad of other goals. Completing these challenges unlocks a photo gallery of images captured throughout the MotoGP season, and are able to be completed on any of the physics modes, which are comprised of arcade, intermediate, and simulation.

Finally, when racing, four difficulty levels are present which controls the aggression and performance of other riders on the track – these vary from “too easy” to “my god, he's breaking the lap record each lap”, and offer plenty of options for gamers to be able to find an accurate level that is challenging and engaging on an individual basis.

Thus, MotoGP offers great depth, with three classes of bikes to play, and three different levels of physics fidelity. As expected, the bikes behave very differently under each mode of physics. In the arcade mode, aggressive acceleration and braking through corners goes unpunished, with the rider seemingly cemented in his seat. In this mode, the only thing set to dislodge you is a direct collision or exceptionally hard braking through corners.

The intermediate racing physics offer a little more realism – though still feel pretty “arcadey” - collisions and high speed cornering are then prone to dislodge the rider from the bike, though it is still fairly easy to remain in control of the bike. Finally, simulation mode offers exactly what its name implies – any aggressive acceleration or braking through corners will see the rider flung from the bike, and the importance of shifting the riders’ weight on the bike along with even application of brakes comes into play, making for a challenging gameplay experience.

Online multiplayer is also included with the overall package, which grants the game an incredible number of ways to speed around tracks - alone, or together with up to eight friends. Offline, there is no shortage of content and levels of customisation, including numerous camera options (including various chase-cams and first person), but the outstanding depth of the game is let down by some nagging flaws.

While MotoGP08 is an outstanding representation of motorcycle racing, and is sure to provide hours of enjoyment to fans of the sport, it is not without its shortcomings. These are first and foremost manifested through the graphical engine used, which looks awfully dated. Trees and the crowd are rendered using a close acquaintance of the gamer – static sprites, and obviously two dimensional, making them look out of place amongst the finely textured riders. In addition, the sky is disappointing, with seams in the sky box visible and distracting upon close inspection – along with some jpeg artefacts that scream development short cuts and overly-aggressive texture compression.

Track side details are sparse and inconsistent, with the Qatar track in particular an incredibly monotonous experience. Tracks such as Laguna Seca raceway and Indianapolis are more detailed, but in comparison to their appearances in Race Driver: Grid, the modelling and texturing of tracks looks and feels old and incredibly dated, which is disappointing given the quality of racing action present, which is punctuated with decent AI opponents and a myriad of different racing conditions, including rain.

The graphics tend to look a little bit better whilst it is raining – with specularity present on the tracks, though any refraction or advanced reflections are not, which gives rain in game an unrealistic appearance, exemplified by what appears to be only a post-processing filter, with rain not offering much of an effect on bike handling.

Lighting is mostly static, but on the Qatar track (while it lacks environmental details), Milestone demonstrates that they are capable of more advanced lighting effects – with the track side lighting casting multiple, stencilled, nicely aliased shadows around each bike which is an technologically amazing feat – especially when there can be up to thirty five bikes on the track at once.

While racing, the interface is thankfully non-intrusive for the most part, and you are able to customise it completely if a particular interface element is found to be annoying. Unfortunately, you're not able to relocate individual HUD elements, which can lead to some frustration if they are distracting. An example of this could be illustrated by the map – which is located in the top centre of the screen.

Audio, like the graphics and other small gripes with the title, is less than pronounced, with a lot more potential for depth and rumble from the racing bikes. Each of these small shortcomings add up, and you tend to notice a new one just as you're completely immersed within a moment of racing bliss. These don't destroy the game completely, but they indicate that the game lacks some measure of polish and tender, loving affection.

Motorcycle racing fans will be able to ignore these, as a faithful reproduction of the 2008 season is present, but as an introduction to a “new age” for the MotoGP franchise, the game is somewhat disappointing, especially given the quality of its predecessors. Hopefully, Capcom will be able to provide support to Milestone in order to deliver a truly next-gen motorbike racing experience in the years to come, but early indications give only slight promise for the franchise's future.