The Ducati franchise has seen many iterations on different platforms. Acclaim had the license for the Dreamcast, PlayStation One and PC, while Vir2L Studios took it mobile and now Strategy First is launching a new PC version.

At first blush, this looks to be a solid racing game, but what would be a simulation soon deteriorates into an arcade racer that has several options, but several issues en route to enjoying the game itself.

The game will allow for two methods of input and that is the beginning of the problems. If you don’t have a joystick, you might as well leave this game in the box. The keyboard controls are not intuitive and even while it seems to allow you to configure the keys to the way you are most comfortable, the settings didn’t seem to ‘stick’ on several occasions and reverted to the default settings. Having not played a game, in a while, that required a joystick, it was somewhat surprising when the old Saitek Cyborg 3D was recognized. And in spite of needing a little cleaning and lubrication, the joystick – though mashing the trigger/accelerator firmly the entire time got a little wearing on the hand – was much easier to use.

Game modes include Quick Race, Career, Championship, Capirex Challenge and multiplayer. The latter was unavailable during play times if for no other reason than the game does not release until later this month. In career mode you take your created character and team onto the professional racing circuit. Options within the mode include working on your ride in the garage (there are seven areas you can tweak, including gears, brakes, clutch, suspension, chassis, steering angle and ‘tyres’ – the latter is the spelling in the game), and then test the settings. If confident, you can head out for the first challenges on the Class C circuit.

In championship, you select a pre-designed driver and go through qualifying, practice and racing options. This also allows players to setup the bike. The Capirex Challenge has a list of other bike-related events for players to participate in, including pulling five wheelies within a certain time frame. This means learning how to control the game well in order to get your bike to do some of the stunts.

The game does allow for a bit more customization options in the character creation. You can pick your team colors and which eyes you want to have peering out through the visor on the helmet.

At the heart of this title is the racing itself and while the graphics are solid, the physics leave a little to be desired. It seems if another bike bumps you, you are the one that slows down. And though the drivers exchange gestures, they are delayed and often the rider you are trying to ‘tell off’ is no where around when you look to where he was and show him the back of your hand.

It took a while to get the screen resolution right. At first, the aspect ratio had to be adjusted to 16:9 to allow for the 1440x900 resolution. Even then the cut scenes were pixilated and not as sharp as they should have been. The game graphics are not bad, with weather effects dotting the screen on occasion. The music does not seem to fit the sport very well and is pervasive.

The game does have some depth, though. There are name-brand bikes covering four different classes (classics, sports, road and grand prix) and 34 course to challenge. The game is relatively easy to pop in and play, but control problems factor in. Get bumped and you slow down. Drift off the track, even for a bit of a moment, and you slow down. What that translates to is that you are quickly passed up and move back in the pack. Likewise, choosing the right bike and then tweaking it is paramount to success. It means nothing if you can’t close on the straightaway. Conversely, you can really overtake and pass if you manage the corners correctly. Don’t worry about laying the bike down – through many hours of gameplay, cornering as hard as was possible, the bike never slid out from underneath the rider.

Ducati World Championship has good intentions and is not a bad game, but it does not rise above arcade standing. There is some depth to the game but clunky controls add to the challenge, perhaps, but can also add to the frustration a bit.  

Gameplay: 7.0
It is repetitive, but it is also easy to jump in and play. The challenge comes in what you do off the course, as in tweaking your bike and working through the other challenges.  

Graphics: 7.5
The graphics are serviceable and work well, though they are not pushing the technological limits of a machine. Getting the game to higher settings at 1440x900 was a bit of a pain.

Sound: 6.5
The music is good, but not what one would consider for the racing bike genre – well, at least in North America.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 6.5
The game hardly pushes the technology, and as far as the mechanics are concerned, this title does not rise above average.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 6.8
A decent game with a good amount of options and some challenges, but this is an arcade racer at heart with little consequences for extreme handling, other than sliding off the course and slowing down. The physics are not a problem in this game and players should find this title somewhat entertaining, but only if they have a joystick handy.