What was the best motorsport game released in 2022? · RaceFans

As the end of another year approaches, there’s no better time to look back at another swathe of motorsport racing games released over the last 12 months.

As ever, Codemasters and Milestone served up another entry into their annual game franchises for Formula 1 and Moto GP, respectively. Kylotonn also produced their final World Rally Championship game, WRC Generations, with the WRC licence now in the hands of EA and Codemasters as of next year.

There were some new titles released that saw the Dakar Rally and World Superbikes represented virtually for the first time in a long time. Frontier Developments released F1 Manager 22, an eagerly anticipated management game that was the first of its kind in 20 years. Also, PlayStation’s flagship racing franchise Gran Turismo released its first mainline entry for nine years with GT7 arriving in the spring.

But what was the best motorsport game released in 2022? Review the main contenders here and then have your say in our poll.

Dakar Desert Rally

Saber Porto – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S|X, PC

Based on the famous annual off road challenge considered as possibly the most gruelling and dangerous motorsport event on the planet, Saber Porto released the first official Dakar game in four years just a few months ago.

Spanning over 20,000 square kilometres of virtual Saudi Arabian terrain, Dakar Desert Rally is easily the largest game on this list by scale.

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F1 22

Codemasters – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S|X, PC

Codemaster’s official Formula 1 game franchise shows no signs of stopping after the developers were acquired by industry giant Codemasters. As ever, the new game features all the teams, drivers and circuits from the 2022 season, with physics changes to reflect the major rules changes for this season that saw heavier cars, larger wheels and ground-effect aerodynamics.

Introducing VR as a supported mode on PC for the first time and adding driveable supercars to the game, Codemasters even patched in the Algarve circuit and Shanghai into the game after release.

F1 Manager 2022

Frontier Developments – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S|X, PC

A unique game on this list as, unlike the other, there is zero driving or riding involved. F1 Manager 22 instead focuses on how Formula 1 championships are won at the factory and on the pit wall by allowing players to become the team principal of any of the ten teams on the grid.

Making impressive use of Unreal engine, F1 Manager 22 was the first officially licensed Formula 1 management game for decades and earned plenty of attention when it was released midway through the 2022 season.

Gran Turismo 7

Polyphony Digital – PS4, PS5

One of the best selling racing game franchises in history returned with its first main entry for nine years in 2022. Gran Turismo 7 followed the online-focused GT Sport and provided players with the kind of accessible physics, vehicle collecting and tuning gameplay that many have come to expect from the series.

Ditching the traditional championships grind with a new ‘menu’-based progression system proved divisive, as did the game’s early economy and ‘legend cars’ dealership. However, the game took the ‘Best Sports/Racing Game’ award at this week’s Game Awards to the delight of publishers Sony.

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GRID Legends

Codemasters – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S|X, PC

Codemasters’ other main circuit racing franchise, the arcade racer GRID, returned with a new entry in 2022. But in an interesting new twist on the series, GRID Legends introduced an extensive story mode into the game where the narrative played out through a ‘Drive to Survive’ style documentary featuring live action actors.

Introducing new vehicle classes, race modes and original circuits to the series, GRID Legends unapologetically aims to provide arcade style thrills above all else.

Monster Energy Supercross 5

Milestone – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S|X, Switch, PC

With no MXGP title for 2022, motocross fans had only the fifth instalment of the official AMA Supercross game to enjoy this year.

Featuring all the riders, teams and courses of the real-world championship, an extensive career mode, an open playground to ride around in at players’ leisure and a track creator, Supercross 5 was, on paper, the most comprehensive AMA Supercross game to date.

Moto GP 22

Milestone – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S|X, PC

Milestone’s official Moto GP game franchise has continued to evolve with annual new entries to compliment each new season of motorcycle racing’s world championship. Moto GP 22 was no different, with the game again featuring all the riders, teams and circuits of this year’s Moto GP season, including the new Mandalika track in Indonesia.

One interesting new addition for this year’s game was the ‘NINE Season’ mode. A kind of playable documentary mode that covered the exciting 2009 championship battle that provided Valentino Rossi’s final world title. Featuring all the circuits, teams and riders from 2009, it essentially meant the game included two season’s worth of Moto GP content for the price of one.

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NASCAR Rivals

Motorsport Games – Switch

After the release of NASCAR Ignition was panned by critics and players alike in 2021, there was no official NASCAR simulation game released this year as developers Motorsport Games focused on making the next entry into the series a more acceptable one.

Instead, NASCAR fans did get a new release in 2022 – a Switch port of the previous NASCAR Heat series called NASCAR Rivals. Including a career mode, the next-generation Cup car and an extensive challenge mode, NASCAR Rivals is very much designed to provide the kind of bitesize gameplay that the Switch is well suited to.

SBK 22

Milestone – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S|X, PC

As well as producing the official Moto GP game for this year, Milestone also treated fans of the World SBK World SBK game championship by releasing SBK 22, the first official game of the series in a decade.

Using the Moto GP game as a base, SBK 22 includes almost all of the same features of its Moto GP sister title, including a career mode that is eerily similar in format and presentation. As to be expected, the extensive customisation options of the Moto GP game are also present.

World of Outlaws: Dirt Racing

Monster Games – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S|X

Dirt track racing is one of the most popular forms of motorsport in the United States and the World of Outlaws series has certainly been well represented over the generations. However, it has been a while since World of Outlaws fans have been able to buy a game dedicated to the series, rather than simply race the vehicles of the top level dirt series on platforms like iRacing.

Fittingly enough, iRacing has played a major part in this console-exclusive racer, as the platform published this game which uses many of its own car and track assets. With iRacing influenced physics and handling too, this new title was a dream come true for fans.

WRC Generations

Kylotonn – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox S|X, Switch, PC

The final game on the list is also the final WRC game that will be released by Kylotonn before the WRC licence moves to EA from next year.

As a result, WRC Generations is not just a virtual simulation of the 2022 WRC season and the new hybrid Rally1 cars, but the game serves as a celebration of the series as a whole, featuring cars that span multiple eras of the sport and including many playable rallies that were not even featured on this year’s calendar, including Wales Rally GB, Rally Mexico and Rally Deutschland.

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