Le Tour De France 2015 (Xbox One) Review

 

Le Tour De France is very exciting to follow especially in the last legs of the race. To see anyone remotely close to a top ranked position really attacking and pushing themselves in the final hour or minutes of the race. The agony the racers go through especially at the end shows how much they want it. It shows their passion, their determination, their love for biking. Did this translate to the video game version of Le Tour De France? Not so much. It’s fun at times, but after a while the novelty goes away and we are left with a game full of 198 racers and a game of all the official stages in a real Tour De France race being untouched.

 Le Tour De France 2015 is intriguing at first. The learning curve is quite high, but once you overcome that hill in difficulty your next obstacle is the 198 riders going through each race with you and your patience to stay the course of the race or even the game. There is a lot to keep in mind as you trek through each leg of a race and I was learning all of it as I went along. Do not attack the leader so early in the race; you will lose your health and energy quite quickly. Note that there are two items to consume for energy or health loss as well as an item to use for freshness to keep you alert and riding strong. Besides the items you consume or the riders you must beat there is also no actual physical damage or whipping out in Tour De France. There looks to be a bubble around your rider to protect you from the early on cycling where you cannot fully collide with another and fall. You also cannot really crash into any walls, once you do you just seem to slide off of them and lose your speed a little.

 There are limited game modes in this year’s Tour De France. You can take on a full or shortened race in the Tour de France or be part of a ‘Pro Team’ in the self-titled mode. There are also timed challenges which are pretty decent to play through. In a Pro Team you begin with no money and very poor skilled riders and your goal is to race in the Criterium International so you can gain a spot and progress further in tournaments with your end goal being the Tour De France. This is a difficult mode to progress through as there will be struggle with no money and no skill to start. It will take many, many races to get yourself a few good team mates on your pro team and money for any upgrades.

Visuals in the game are average at best. There isn’t anything stunning in the backgrounds and if you notice a lot of the scenery repeats itself after a few kilometers of riding. The opening scene in a race when there are all 198 racers looking to pass each other is a pretty cool site based on the sheer magnitude of racers to see. After a few races it becomes a repetitive site and no longer fun. The audio is nothing special here in Le Tour De France 2015, the sound effects are decent and the music does give you a little to enjoy as you race but not much. I found myself listening to Spotify as a better alternative as I was racing.

Le Tour De France 2015 gives us a decent bike racing game but this title isn’t anything special to enjoy for any long periods of time. I would recommend trying it out if you can on a demo or if you are a fan of the Tour De France, this may be a piece to add to your collection.

Le Tour De France 2015 - 65% Story/Features --- 60% Visuals ------ 55% Sound--- 60% Achievement Variety --- 60% Playability --- Will it last on your play list for more than six months? No---60% DP Overall Rating