There have been quite a few complaints from fans about the last two MotoGP games (MotoGP 23 and MotoGP 22). But one very common one is that the AI are too aggressive and not clean or respectful enough.
They basically just ride around the track like you’re not there, happily barging into you and knocking you off the track and even off the bike at times. They just stick to the racing line and braking points they were going to take, even if it means crashing into you. It literally is to them like you don’t exist – they just do their own thing and if that means crashing into you and ruining your race, too bad!
The AI aggression was already bad on MotoGP 22, and is arguably even worse on MotoGP 23. They literally take no action to avoid collisions, and it’s like you’re playing dodgems or something. Have the developers forgot that MotoGP is meant to be a non-contact sport?
It hasn’t always been like this on the MotoGP games. So what can we do about the overly aggressive, dirty AI on these recent games? That’s what we’ll cover in this guide, offering some simple tips to try and resolve or avoid this problem.
Your main solutions to deal with the AI aggression on MotoGP 22/23 is to turn down the AI level or switch to an earlier edition like MotoGP 21, which has far less aggressive AI coding.
Now let’s cover these tips in more detail.
Tip #1 – Turn Down The AI Level
This is kind of an obvious point, but it does appear that AI aggression as well as raw pace lessens the lower the AI difficulty level you set.
This means that you may have to lower the AI level a bit to get rid of some of this really annoying barging and unclean racing that the AI seem to engage in. It will be worse if you use a higher difficulty.
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The AI are quite aggressive on both games, but they’re worse on ’23 than ’22. Overall, for someone who is moderately practiced and starting to get more consistent, 60-70% is a decent starter AI level, where there is some aggression, but where you can also overtake and pull away from the AI if you have some decent pace and consistency.
If you want something that’s really gentle, then the 40-50% level is pretty easy, and the AI are really slow in corners and easy to overtake and pull away from at this level once you’ve learned the circuits.
Going above 70% seems to be where they start to get really aggressive with all this barging, possibly because as the raw pace increases, it becomes harder to pull away from them to the point where they can’t collide with you anymore.
Tip #2 – Adjust Your Riding Style
Again, players shouldn’t really have to be doing this, but sometimes you’ll have to adjust the way you ride and lap the circuit on the ’23 and ’22 games to pre-emptively avoid these collisions with the AI.
This might include implementing some of the following tactics:
- When you have AI following you closely behind, move off the racing line a little so they’re not directly behind and therefore won’t barge into the back of you into braking zones.
- Also try to brake as late as possible into heavy stopping zones to avoid being hit from behind (but makes over-running corners more likely).
- When chasing AI, again look for ways to overtake them without having to race at close quarters:
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- Try and take a wider line into sharp hairpins onto long straights, and then get a better run onto the straight to accelerate past the AI.
- On some more prolonged looping corners, try to take an inside line and cut under the AI, carrying more speed into the corner and dabbing and coasting through through on the accelerator to stay ahead of them (AI can be quite sluggish on corner entry, especially on the lower levels).
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- A lot of players also give up on any idea of racing “clean” or “fair” with these games, and play the AI at their own game, barging them off as well. If they’re not going to race clean, why should you? It’s hard not to resist this once your irritation with their aggression reaches a certain point.
Tips #3 – Switch to Moto2 or Moto3 Bikes
The most aggressive barging seems to be reserved for the MotoGP bike AI. It’s less evident in the lower class Moto2 and Moto3 bikes, although it’s still there (just not as much).
Therefore you might want to switch to these bikes instead for easier racing. It’s also generally much easier to make corners and stay on the bike with these classes. And with everything moving at slower speed, it’s also easier to avoid collisions with other bikes.
And for Moto2 and especially Moto3 class, collisions are less severely punished and you don’t come off the bike as much when you collide with AI riders. The aggression of the AI is more tolerable and easier to get around in these classes, so consider switching if you’re getting too annoying racing in GP class.
Tip #4 – Switch To An Earlier Game Like MotoGP 21
If the AI aggression along with the overall handling physics of the last few MotoGP games is frustrating you to the point where you simply don’t want to play them anymore, consider switching to an older MotoGP game which has cleaner and more respectful AI.
This problem of overly aggressive AI has only really been apparent on the MotoGP 23 and MotoGP 22 games. Before that, it wasn’t so much of an issue. MotoGP 21 is the most recent game that did not have this problem with the AI, so consider switching to this edition instead if you want to enjoy cleaner racing.
For a clear demonstration of the difference, take a look at the embedded video below of a content creator doing a race on MotoGP 21. Notice how much cleaner and more controlled the AI are, and you can race with them at close quarters without all this barging and unnecessary aggression you’ll find on the ’23 and ’22 games.
Great race at Jerez on MotoGP 21 – Can race clean with the AI!
