Those that take their automotive thrills on two wheels rather than four have always been a very different breed. I was as taken aback as anyone by the drama around MotoGP rider Maverick Vinales and his Yamaha team these past few weeks, until Motorsport magazine’s erudite Mat Oxley pointed out such is the way with riders, with tales of race secretaries being dangled from second floor windows and senior engineers having entire dinner services upended in their laps. A different breed indeed.
Which is probably why Rims, an all-new, surprisingly hardcore bike sim from upstart studio RaceWard, is a very different kind of racing game – stubborn and prickly, sure, but not without a certain gruff charm. This shares foundations – and some technology, I believe – with its stablemate TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge, but whereas Kylotonn Racing’s effort takes the legendary Snaefell Mountain course and builds outwards from it, Rim’s real concern is focussed inwards on the bike itself. And it goes to some very curious places with it.
There are only eight bikes available in Rims, but it doesn’t muck about with any mortal machinery – instead you’re put straight into the top tier machinery such as the Ducati Panigale V4 or Yamaha R1. They’re widowmakers all, bikes that will buck and bolt under your fingers and fling you into the scenery for even the slightest discrepancy.
