TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge Review

Also, due to the incredible difficulty, it took me hours and hours of racing before I even qualified for the main TT, by which point I was pretty much done with the game anyway.

Multiplayer:

IoM TT offers up the ability to play online with eight others, but when most of the game revolves around time-trials, it’s not the most compelling online experience I have ever encountered. Coupled with some very basic matchmaking and a limited online population, and I wouldn’t recommend buying the game primarily to play online with, unless you have a very committed group of friends.

Presentation:

I’ve heard some people criticise the way that Isle of Man looks, but on the Xbox One X, I can’t agree with them. It looks blooming fantastic. The Manx hillsides drift away into the background, showing off some fantastic scenery, and there’s some great dynamic lighting, mist and weather effects. Crowds and even the bikes are pretty functional, but when blasting through country lanes at 100 miles an hour, you won’t notice, especially with the impressive sense of speed the game has.

I wish the same could be said for the sound, which is pretty basic. The bikes make riotous noises, with huge pops and bangs seemingly exploding from the exhaust pipes, but there’s barely any other sound in the game. Music – nope. Ambient effects – nope. Commentary or broadcast style introductions to races – nope.

Conclusion:

It’s really nice that Isle of Man TT exists as a game, even if it’s been designed for a few people rather than the curious many. Both from a course and handling perspective, this is by far and away the most demanding bike game I’ve ever played, and there were times when I felt like throwing away the controller and putting down the game for good. However, if you can persevere past anywhere between 5-10 hours of mercilessly unrewarding grind to actually get good enough to compete, then Isle of Man TT can be incredibly rewarding. Despite this, the basic package and presentation still ensure that only the most dedicated will be able to extract some fun out of the game.

Despite all of the flaws, I’d be really interested to see what a sequel could hold.