Le Tour De France 2017 Review

This is a very difficult game for me to review knowing nothing of the sport. I was in Couze-et-Saint-Front near Bergerac in France on holiday and witnessed the actual race first hand this summer. Anyone who has seen the race will know that the build up and party is what it's all about as the race itself will be gone in less than 20 seconds, 60 if you want to see the cars speed past afterwards.

The game is more of a time consuming beast. The game is VERY deep and purists will love it. I couldn't help be amazed at the amount of bikes on screen and how deep the gameplay can be when you delve into all the options on hand during a race. I'm playing on a PS4 Pro and the game engine does take a little hit now and then but this is very small, all be it quite often. The graphics are not that bad considering this is made by a smaller developer but it's not mapped on real world areas in the game. They are just in name only and a fly-by giving you a run down on each stage is all you get. It's put together nicely enough but don't expect to see your house while taking in the city or countryside on your bike.

How many bikes?

You can choose your team, create your own set-up and change the riders names for that more personal touch. I really can't get bogged down in all the ins and outs of the gameplay, it really is quite deep and going flat out will just result in an epic fail. Choose your time to sprint and consume energy is the name of the game and hope to strike at the right time. You drink water etc to pace yourself, it's all the real deal. A full tutorial is the first place to head after booting up. You really need to complete this before starting a race.

For anyone that's impatient you can zoom through the race and change the riders strategy to pace themselves or go all out on attack. Be warned though, zooming to far can result in your team loosing the stage so careful planning is key. Enthusiasts of the real tour are going to love this. Anyone else will enjoy it but it will purely come down to the individual player as to how long a play time they will give this.

Go go go!

Hats off to the developer, they have made these games for years and you can tell the love for the sport. This is the first one I've played and I found it very engaging and enjoyable.

7/10

Full stages. I saw stage 10 first hand.