2022 Update: I have since found the game MX Bikes by Piboso. MX Bikes is the most realistic mx game by such a huge margin. Nothing else compares. That said, it is HARD. Takes actual practice. If you want true realism, go with MX Bikes. MXGP is a fine substitute if you lean more arcade though.

Here are my first impressions as someone who has played nearly every single motocross title in gaming history...

Milestone has fixed the resolution issue with a hotfix
Bug: "Skipping sessions causes unintentional skips later on"
Workaround: Use the "Skip Time" button instead of outright skipping

Verdict: Best motocross game to date, but still not the realism I'm looking for. Clutch, manual transmission, good ground physics, good-enough air physics, track deformation is pretty great.
Essentially a much-improved version of it's predecessors.


Pros

• Scrubbing works well, takes practice
  
• Difficulty scales nicely, providing bonus payout for increased laps, heats, and AI difficulty
  
• AI COLLISION IS FIXED. You just kind of push AI out of the way. They can cause you to slide out if they get the inside line but you dont get insta knocked-off like in MXGP1&2
  
• No more stutter like in MXGP1&2
  
• Somewhat forgiving track boundaries
  
• Keybinding options other than RB being locked
  
• First person is good
  
• Very good bike customization
  
• Good AI, nothing award-worthy though
  
• Mud and rain feel pretty accurate and pose a fun challenge
  
• Track deformation works well, looks good, and varies based on dirt type
  
• 2 Strokes

Cons

• Race start is poorly designed; it has no HUD and doesn't let you shift into gear until the gate drops
  
• Engine Sounds are still bad in my opinion
  
• Bike setup doesnt seem to make any difference (excluding gear ratio which does)
  
• Only 6 characters allowed on the back of your jersey
  
• Music is super generic dubstep all the time
  
• A lot of repeat tracks from the past, some good changes though
  
• Cant Rebind RB because its locked to "Rewind/Push to Talk"...neither of which I plan on using.
  
• FPS capped at 120
  
• No supercross tracks, big dissapointment personally added as DLC $5 for 1 track
  
• Still no multiplayer freeride
  
• Not very good graphics (disabling AA and Motion Blur helps)

I update this review regularly, feel free to leave a comment!

MXGP (1) was meh. MXGP 2 was a step in the right direction. MXGP 3 was a HUGE LEAP in the right direction. I've been playing motocross games all my life as well as racing motocross IRL all my life. This is by far the best (arcade) motocross game I have ever played. The realism and fun factor are the best I've ever seen in a game like this. In my opinion they mixed simulation and arcade perfectly. Not to mention it looks absolutley beautiful! The rider body movements flow and seem real. The AI choose multiple line choices and give you a run for you money at times. You can actually hook into the ruts that the riders make themselves on the track! (not just the premade little berms). You have more control over the whips and scrubs (When, how much and how long). It is simply the most immersive motocross game thus far. I give it a 9/10 because they obviously still need to work an a few small things like bike sounds and the physics could use some touching up. But over all I am so excited this game is what it is and it makes me even more excited to see what milestone has in store for their next game.

Oh btw the way the 125's are an absolute blast and great perk of this game :)

Good game. But many features are "phoned in"

PROS:
-Looks good
-Improved physics (now it actually feels good and matters to use the corner ruts)
-AI are a bit smarter than previous versions (when on pro)
-Bikes sound much better than previous games, now you can actually panic rev
-2 Strokes!
-Whips and scrubs feel much better

CONS:
-many features / visuals are copied and pasted from mxgp2
For example: the menus look exactly the same, Almost all bike wraps / liveries are the exact same, Even much of the gear is unchanged.
- Lazy implemantation of certain features. For example sponsor vinyls are mirrored to the other side of the bike. Meaning all writing is backwards (not that big of a deal, but adds to the feeling of cutting corners in order to get the game out)
- Lack of difficulty. I can land on an opponents head and neither of us will crash, tee-bone them in the corners, and generally contact anything without consequences. I don't want to fall off my bike every 2 seconds, but I would like the challenge and reward of actually setting up and executing smart passes. making every pass and win more of an accomplishment.
-Multiplayer is still awful and a ghost town (invest in real servers please)

IN CLOSING:
I definitely enjoy this game. It looks good and plays pretty good too. As a former motocross racer I enjoy that there'sa decent MX game to play. And other areas are very disappointing. recycling a lot of gear from the previous game to the new one just feels very lazy. And no workshop support??? I hope these all get changed with free future updates.

Using a Intel i7 6800K and a GTX1080 I Can not get a stable 60fps not even on the "press the start button screen" Even on 720P with lower than low graphic settings i still can not get a stable 60 fps

Also some very strange graphical glitches with the rain, lights and the other riders.

There is also 0 online connectivity, It is broken or something, Also for the Windows version.

I really hope all of these problems get fixed, because it looks like a great game, It is just unplayable in this state on Linux

This might be the worst Linux port i have ever seen. I adore that Milestone supports Linux, And i will buy their other titles if they keep this up. But I can not believe they thought this performance was acceptable, And surely they can not expect Linux users to buy the game in this state.

I included a video of some gameplay, and no i did not edit the audio :P

https://youtu.be/NmdAUprTzFw

First MX Game I have played in a while. This is really good but once you finish the career not much to do other than fang around in Time Attack or run 20 lappers in the rain.

terrain deformation is great and hooking into ruts can be really satisfying but it seems like there is a limit to the degredation don't notice much difference from lap 10 to 20 for example...

My biggest gripe is floating bikes, its really noticeable, add some roost to the rear wheel or something. I love how the game looks and it plays really well but those floating bikes, oh man.

Looking forward to some DLC, this would be an awesome game to allow user content but I guess that wont happen, lets just pray for a good selection of DLC tracks.

8/10 would reccomend to MX fans

Graphics are good and physics are pretty good, this game series has a ton of potential! Milestone seems to be heading in the right direction with this. Game could use some more official brands and newer products for customizing rider and bike also some different tracks to change up from the tedious GP style racing but overall this game is seriously fun.

Pros:

Track deformation is very cool, using the ruts really makes a difference.

Gameplay is very responsive.

Sounds are very good, the bikes sound great (Compared to other games)

Cons:

Track deformation does not work off the main tracks, and does not work on some jumps. (Ironically the part where the most deformation would occur).

The bike models need some work. The 125 two strokes have 250 expansion pipes on them, and the front sprockets on the ktm bikes are completely screwed up. They look like miniature sized rear sprockets.

The wheels on the bikes have a very poor spinning animation. They spin very slowly regardless of what speed you are going and makes it look like the bike is floating over the ground.

No roost. Not very satisfying.

The clutch does not work right. If you are in gear, rev the engine, and drop the clutch, the bike sputters and bogs down and just barely moves. This happens on all bikes, all the time, regardless of the terrain or anything else. However if you rev it in neutral and drop it into first without the clutch, that seems to work okay. I don't know how they thought this was okay. The clutch doesn't even really seem to serve a useful function.

The angle at which your rider turns the bars around tight corners is extremely sharp, and makes it look like the front wheel is skidding. If you turned the bars that sharp irl you would eat it.

The two stroke bikes have lower stats than the four stroke equivalents. This is completely unrealistic and probably my least favorite part about the game.

I will admit that in real life, a different brand of exhaust may have better performance than another. But in a game, it should not be like this. I would really like to put a FMF pipe on my 250 2t, but in order to get full performance you have to put a Scalvini on it. I don't really understand why they made it this way.

You cannot remap the r1 (or right bumper) button. It is forced as the button to activate "rewind", a feature which lets you pause and rewind the race if you crash or screw up. I immediately turned this off as soon as I saw it, only to find that even when its off it still does not let you use r1 for anything else, it just sits there a useless button, even though I would very much like it to be my rear brake...

The AI opponents are not very challenging. You can easily win pretty much every race on realistic difficulty and pro physics no problem.

Crashes are not realistic. You can land directly on someones head and they wont be phased, they'll just keep on riding. You can do a complete front flip after you case a jump, and somehow stay on the bike. In fact, most of the time you do stay on the bike.

Crowds on the side of the track and in the stands are the same generic models over and over. I thought we were past that kind of stuff? I mean Come on this is a current gen $50 PC title.

There are no free ride options. I refuse to acknowledge the compound because it is ONE level and you can ONLY freeride on it. You cannot do any actual races on it. You should have the option to freeride on any and every track/level in the game. Period.

There are very few tracks. For $50 it should come with a lot more. I understand DLC and am fine with it but you shouldnt run out of different stuff to race on in one day.

Despite all the negatives I am still having fun playing this game. I don't know how.

I've played this series a bit out of order, so I'm in a relatively unique position to compare it to itself. MXGP3 is probably the peak in the series. Giving both a realistic modern feel that yet remains approachable.

Physics.
MXGP3 seems more forgiving than PRO. The physics are pretty good. The differences between hard compacted dirt and muddy soppy wet muck is quite noticeable. However, track degradation is mostly cosmetic. While the ruts created from the bikes persist through the race, you're able to smash through most corner ruts as if they aren't there. Like you're creating a new one every time you arrive. Scrubbing seems less effective than simply monitoring your throttle in order to hit ramps and declines appropriately — that is to say that scrubbing seems to have little effect at all. I think PRO does this better.

Career mode is mostly the same, you'll get sponsorships which will get you team objectives applied to the races. Finishing in certain spots or getting a holeshot, for example. Difficulty options are largely the same as well. AI, joint brakes, how much the AI controls shifting the rider weight, etc. These will net you more MX credits which allow you more customization of the bikes you own and your rider.

The compound is also available to free ride and practice.

THE GIST:
You'd likely not going to go wrong getting MXGP3 or MXGP Pro, MXGP 1 feels a bit dated, but that might be exactly what you're looking for. I've not played MXGP2 but given the sheer number of these games conflated with how similar they are, I feel it's a moot point. The reason I'd suggest MXGP3 over PRO is simply because PRO is slightly less forgiving. But, that's really contingent on what you're looking for.

MXGP 1 review for reference here.
MXGP PRO review for reference here.

If you've read this far, consider following my curation — Station Argus

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2040354772

I could write a detailed review about this game and the developer "Milestone", but after all these hours of reporting bugs, arguing with the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ community manager and playing this ♥♥♥♥♥♥ game, I will just write: Do not buy this game or ANY other game of Milestone! Milestone is absolutely ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and is not able to develop a game. Cheap console ported game, same bugs for years, stupid and slow AI. Big NO!

I have been playing motocross games since the original Motocross Madness. Let me just say that MXGP3 is the most realistic feeling and looking game by far. The Unreal 4 engine really has allowed them to create the best playing motocross game to date. On the down side, it's the same MXGP tracks with some updates. Some are good and some are bad. The KTM bikes seem to be better than anything else in the game (not just stats, but actually handle and faster than the others). The first DLC was a massive disappointment as it was simply one track and updated Honda models that only play on this track. Milestone really needs to get back to work and include more content if possible. I think the problem is the MXGP name of the franchise. Milestone doesn't seem to want to go after more content and it's going to be hard to survive on these tracks alone.