Are you a fan of cycling and console? The new Tour de France 2023 should please you, to do the Grande Boucle like the pro riders, without moving from your sofa!
Like every year, less than a month before the “real” Grande Boucle, console and cycling enthusiasts can win the yellow jersey before the time, on the Tour de France 2023.
This now well-known cycling simulation retains the same bases that have made it a success every year, in particular good gameplay, realistic rendering of race conditions, relying upon, this is the game’s great asset, on the real updated route of the 21 stages of the Tour de France.
In the shoes of a professional cyclist
The player slips into the skin of a professional cyclist, pedals, manages his teammates, chooses the right trajectories, avoids falls, and consumes blue and red energy gels to keep in shape… With instructions from the coaches in the headset, we believe it!
Like every year, some new features give the game a little more body. But like every year too, they only bring little extras to the framework of the game, which is ultimately quite difficult to develop on the bottom, since a Tour de France remains a Tour de France (we will talk about the form later!)
Become the best downhiller!
In this edition of the Tour de France 2023, in addition to the Race of the moment, which had emerged in the previous edition, a new challenge is appearing: the Downhill of the moment.
“Adding unique strategies, this new game mode is downhill only. Players can then compare their ranking with that of competitors around the world,” the developers point out.
The scoring system is also more realistic, with the addition of agility and “medium mountain” scores depending on the rider chosen, which can lead to unforeseen events such as falls within the peloton or influence the taking of trajectories.
The gameplay is also more strategic, with the possibility of implementing different tactics according to the members of his team and their statistics.
Very fun to play
We will also mention updates to the equipment of cyclists, now rated according to their quality. The integration of the distinctive “Super Combative” and “Best Team” bibs for more challenge. As well as various technical improvements, such as collisions, AI behaviour and the trajectory of cyclists on descent.
Overall, we appreciate this game from year to year and these few improvements are welcome. Tour de France is always very pleasant to play and its gameplay is appreciated by all, both if you are new to this license and if you have been using it for years.
However, we would like to see the game evolve visually and this is the main criticism that can be made each year when discovering the new version.
A few flaws in the graphics
Even if this 2023 edition is very beautiful and still seems a little more graphic (test carried out on PS5), we would like to see the decorations stick more to reality, in particular the crossing of the big cities and the emblematic monuments of our country.
And even more, a bit like Fifa in football, we dream of seeing the faces of modelled runners. In any case, they are a little more like real runners.
And without asking the impossible for the whole peloton, at least the leaders are better worked. For the rest, of this year again, we enjoyed testing this game and pedalling at the head of the peloton!
We love :
- Good gameplay and a good game feeling
- Race realism
- The gruppetto that makes its appearance this year
- Online mode to see the performance of other players
- Riders now tire “better” after one or more breakaways
- Almost all teams have their real jerseys and real riders’ names
- Legend mode is higher than last year
- Improvements that make descents more realistic
- With My Tour, the possibility of creating your own routes
- The addition of the medium mountain and agility rating, for more realism
- Improved collision system
- Combative and best team bib
- Several other races than the TDF are offered
We like less:
- Very weak graphical improvement
- No modelling of the riders, not even the leaders
- No new races, consider adding the Giro and the Vuelta!
In conclusion: This Tour de France 2023 on console remains in the continuity of the previous ones, therefore a beautiful and pleasant simulation of cycling. Accessible for beginners, it also offers a great challenge renewed each year for the most experienced, thanks to good gameplay and realistic racing conditions.
The graphics, on the other hand, deserve more attention and in particular the modelling of the runners, for even more realism. Essential and pleasant, if you want to play on the updated and official courses of the TDF.
Information: Tour de France 2023, a cycling simulation game published by NACON and developed by Cyanide Studio. Released June 8, 2023 and available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Pro Cycling Manager 2023 on PC. Price found: from 35 to 50 euros depending on the version.
