Monster Energy Supercross Review

Entering its fourth release in the franchise, Monster Energy Supercross 4 finally has the access to next-generation hardware. Much like MXGP 2020, the hardware provides an overall better racing experience out of the box. The fourth game in the Monster Energy Supercross series features the 2020 season that comes complete with fan favorite Ken Roczen and 20+ official teams and riders ranging from both the 250SX East and West classes along with the main 450SX class. While the MXGP series seemed to take proper steps with its release on next-generation hardware, the overall experience with Monster Energy Supercross still feels lacking. While it still offers the pizazz of the Monster Energy Supercross racing series, the fourth release equates to more of the same.

Milestone sells its features for its racing games every year, and tends to back that up with an on-going, improving experience. While the teams and racers still lack a year behind, everything that you see in that season is present. Monster Energy Supercross 4 sees the return of the popular modes with the track editor and the Compound. The track editor is more accessible than ever and allows users to create, share and download custom tracks from various locations. Milestone has added even more components this year for customization, but outside of that the mode ultimately remains the same in regards to the process.

The Compound has been redone to take place on the Maine Coastline. The landscape features a lot of elevation changes with the ocean in the distance and a wooded terrain. There are even day-to-night transitions. When the location gets darker, however, it becomes harder to see obstacles. There are five additional tracks that have been added to change things up and with the available spacing in the area, which is a nice change of pace to experience from the traditional racing. You can race with online friends and complete challenges that will add to your overall XP in the game and also unlock new gear. The overall premise remains the same for Monster Energy Supercross 4, but Milestone has added a new coat of paint. A ton of customizable gear is offered. There are 110 officially-licensed brands in the game that provide cosmetic items or performance parts. The more you play, the more access you’ll gain to all the items. Over time, you can achieve your ultimate, desirable look and load out for your bike. These licenses also help to provide the overall look of a race with proper advertising on the tracks.

The biggest change for Monster Energy Supercross 4 comes with the Career Mode. This is the deepest Career Mode that the series has seen, adding depth to the single player experience. While there’s access to competing in the 2020 Championship as a standalone option, the better experience is no doubt with the Career Mode. You’ll start off in the Supercross Futures league and eventually move on to 250SX and 450SX. You earn points to put towards your skill tree that will improve your performance in various areas. The skill tree is straightforward, however, and you’ll eventually just unlock each one. You can compete in specific events to gain more XP and participate in training exercises. Getting through the Supercross Futures league is quick and while this is the deepest Career Mode in the series, it’s still shallow in comparison to other racing franchises. Regardless, this is a step in the right direction.

The biggest hindrance in the game still remains the racing. Whereas MXGP 2020 turned a corner, Monster Energy Supercross 4 still contains a lot of the same issues. The collision detection is still awful, even if the rumble from the DualSense helps. The AI will bunch up and the physics force you back to the point that you can’t catch it, while jumps have to be executed perfectly with the right amount of speed. It just looks bad and feels unnatural. This may be the big difference between the two franchises as tracks on MXGP feel more spaced out while the tracks in this game are more condensed. The Adaptive Triggers work the same as they did in MXGP 2021 with initial resistance on accelerating and braking, so it does improve the experience. There still isn’t a proper way to train newbies on the best way to race or on how to approach jumps and situations. Even the events in Career Mode have you attempting to pull off moves, and if you don’t know either how or what they are, there’s no chance. Riders will fall off bikes if they wreck, but they just disappear from the track and there still aren’t DNFs. You will still land on other rider’s heads and nothing will happen and still hit barriers on the edge of the track. The bikes also don’t maneuver as well as they do in MXGP 2020. They feel heavier and if you try to do a hard brake and cut the bike into a sharp turn, upon acceleration the bike will careen in another direction. You can adjust the bike placement while in the air and lean into corners, but you ultimately lack the momentum of what the AI is doing. The AI also doesn’t acknowledge you on the track. Some of the compound tracks are even worse due to the smaller size and scale.

The PlayStation 5 version of the game accomplishes the same feats with the visuals that we saw in MXGP. The game runs at a dynamic 4K resolution while maintaining 60 FPS, which is a game changer. The colors pop on all the items and the lighting has been improved across the board. If you race at a Stadium like Phoenix, you can see natural lighting coming in through the roof and it looks good. You’ll even notice the rider jersey rippling while riding. The Compound is a nice backdrop, but it looks bad once the draw distance comes into play. Low-detail textures and pop-in hurt what would otherwise be a scenic view. The pre-race and post-race cut scenes are the same, but the player and bike models look the best on this version. The game still runs on the Unreal Engine, but the engine is dated besides the improved assets.

As for the audio department, Monster Energy Supercross 4 still gets the job done. The bikes sound like they should and vary based on class. The crowd is still lively with a PR announcer heard faintly while racing. While Ralph Sheheen and Ricky Carmichael are the commentators in the game, they continue to have limited dialogue that only occur before and after a race. The soundtrack remains a mix of rock and country and is turned on by default during a race. The rest of the sound effects still leave a lot to be desired. The online portion also remains unchained. The Race Director retires and you can race with friends in The Compound or just hop in a lobby to race. There’s still no depth here. Basically, everything for the online experience carries over from last year. With the generations being split, however, finding people to play may be an issue.

Closing Comments:

Milestone delivers on its slate of upgrades introduced in Monster Energy Supercross 4, but the racing remains frustrating and unapproachable for new players. The Career Mode is a welcome addition even though it may not match up to other franchises that are out there, while The Compound gives players a new location to free roam around in, but is ultimately the same thing outside of the location. The PlayStation 5 version allows for better visuals and the inclusion of the DualSense Controller, but the engine that everything is based on is old. Those that are hardcore fans of the series will enjoy these additions if they continue to overlook the legacy issues. The next-generation version is basically an improved version of the previous-gen version by default due to the hardware, and outside of the Career Mode, Monster Energy Supercross 4 is more of the same.