Moto GP '07 - hands-on

In the extreme mode, bike customization is the big new addition. Since the bikes in the extreme mode are complete fantasy machines, you can slap decals, tune the handling and change their looks completely. Once you're satisfied with your bike, you can take it online and engage in pink slip racing, the online first for the series - putting your money where your mouth is, so to speak.

Of course, tweaks to the loading, animation and big fixes to the behavior of the competition have been promised as well. We weren't able to do a side-by-side comparison with last year's model, so with only a brief chance to try this one out, we make no promises that the leaps are as big as THQ suggests. Still, keep your eyes peeled for advances in those regards. Finally, you'll be able to race as real, licensed riders in the GP mode; this is a first for the series, which relied on create-a-driver in the past (which you can still do, if you'd rather go your own way.)

In short, the game looks to be quite a reasonable upgrade for one year, and since it's not coming out till September, we were pretty happy with its performance (the game still ran a little slow, but they have months to iron it out; otherwise, it looked pretty money.) If you've been following the series, you should be pleased; if not, maybe it's time to jump on the MotoGP train. We'll certainly have more on its progress in the coming months.