Bikes look great, rider models are okay and should you be able to ignore the rather dodgy ragdolls that roll around every time you drop the bike and go rolling down the road, you’ll be relatively pleased with what is in place. It’s super confusing to navigate through these and even though Raceward have implemented some ‘fun’ – term used super loosely – mini games into the equation when it’s time to switch up parts and wotnot, it soon becomes an experience you’ll want to gloss over quickly. However due to the depth it brings there are a significant amount of menus, sub-menus, text boxes and stats to gaze over. The technical stuff is well detailed, and every little part on the bike, and that which powers the main career, looks decent enough on Xbox Series X|S. There are good bits though and I have been fairly impressed with how RIMS looks. Throw in the utter despair that is had when you purchase an item that can’t be used or fitted to your bike, wasting time, energy and in-game cash because you misread the situation, and the whole mechanical side of RIMS just feels like a slog. Silly little button holding/mashing, thumbstick twirling mini games have been put into place to make you feel like even more of a mechanic – or at least in an attempt to remove some of the boredom – and whilst these are much better than just hitting some old confirm and upgrade button, it’s not long before they feel old hat. In fact, you’re constantly left to check, double check and triple check every last component on your bike, whipping out old worn gear, buying new stuff and hoping they’ll give an advantage when on track. There’s more reading here than a visual novel and more features to keep a check on than your standard RPG. And yes, yet another skill tree is present for this.īut whilst the ideas behind RIMS, and this intricacy it brings is welcome, the way it has been implemented is nothing but confusing. Changing up your bike components and performance levels, tuning near on every little element and keeping a track on your engineering team are all things you need to consider. It’s this motorbike stand which is where RIMS Racing differentiates itself from every other bike racer (read: every other racer), providing in-depth access and knowledge to the nth degree. The career will also let you make the most of earnt team points, invested through a management skill tree to provide helpful add-ons, across similar research based skill trees which will ensure you’re kept in the know about various events and conditions, and in the motorbike stand. With each coming with their own unique objectives, and the chance for the player to sit astride some of the fastest bikes in the world from BMW, Aprilia, Kawasaki, Suzuki and more, there’s certainly a decent amount of variation in what you’ll be subjected to. Extremely detailed (we’re going to say it’s too detailed,) it allows the chance for you to work your way through an entire calendar of events from specific brand races, through academy showcases, 1-on1 face-offs, cups, championship races and more. The career though is an altogether different beast. There’s nothing overly fancy here and will be of standard fare to anyone who has jumped onto a racer in recent years. The latter of these kicks around just like in every other racer, letting you choose the motorbike of your choice (from a mere 8 in all), any of 19 circuits or tracks, through a variety of weather and track conditions and with all the rules you could ever need. The single player is the most prominent of options on RIMS, and whilst detailed Racing Tutorial, Private Testing and Academy products let you hone the skills you need, for most players it’ll be the career or single races which will mostly appeal. And even then, it goes into such detail that confusion reigns and boredom kicks in. But whilst the former will be what 99% of gamers are looking for, RIMS focuses too much time and effort on the flip side of the coin. There are two distinct elements to RIMS: the racing out on the circuit and the ‘behind the scenes’ faff that keeps a race team ticking. For the layperson, that’s going to be a serious issue. In fact, it verges on the fine line between being a racing simulator and a bike mechanic’s ‘how to’ book of knowledge. It rarely lets you forget about the best bits of bike racing – hitting the straights at speed – and is more concerned about trying to teach the player everything they need to know, and lots that they don’t, about how a motorcycle goes together. I’m not sure how to put this other than to state it in the most simplest of terms: RIMS Racing rarely allows for proper enjoyment. There’s absolutely no debating that NACON and Raceward Studio know their stuff when it comes to the subject material, but for all the depth and intricacy that they have allowed in RIMS Racing, they’ve forgotten the main reason we game.
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