It's kinda weird game. Personally I don't mind more serious approach than in MR1-2, which were pure arcade silliness and fun without a bit of realism but it has different issues. In fact quite radical change of tone and playing with "simcade" formula isn't new in this franchise because in many respects official third entry follows spin-off: Moto Racer World Tour. Most of the game modes and some tracks as well as realistic physics were copied from released year earlier PS1 exclusive but instead of improving and expanding, this sequel seems to lost it's way. While in MRWT modes like Trial (obstacle course), Freestyle (doing tricks for high score) or Traffic (1v1 race on city streets) were just secondary additions and the main dish was still track racing (both on dirt and pavement) and various championships, MR3 tries to give equal attention to all of them but in effect feels lacking, empty and unfinished in most regards. Like it's technological demo of the new engine; collection of minigames rather than coherent and well thought product. Strangest thing about MR3 is lack of any kind championship/career mode. Instead the only progression is unlocking new tracks through points earned in single competitions. But as there are only couple arenas per category, everything can be easily unlocked in like 2 hours. Additionally there are no limitations whatsoever so one can simply repeat favorite race over and over to farm points fast. And then what? Only thing to do is trying to beat your records. Not terribly exciting if you ask me. Personally I don't care about Trial or Freestyle, Traffic is kinda disappointing with too little variety (I guess maybe in 2001 it looked more appealing) which leaves me with single races in superbike and motocross categories, with 4-5 tracks each (too few and even selection is step back compared to MRWT which had more diverse and interesting locations). Racing on those is still pretty fun but it's fun only for little while before getting bored.
Premise might be misleading because it's not detective game. It's hardly game in fact. There are 3 scenarios about catching serial killer, or to be more precise 1 scenario in 3 variants, each with different killer and suspects. But general scheme is always the same: you're the only survivor of killer's attack, police blackmails you into helping them, gives list of suspects and you have 6 nights to gather evidence and point the culprit. Then you realize the crime aspect is barely there. You can visit places related to case or drive suspects themselves to maybe find some clues. Between nights these are added to your "board" and automatically assigned to suspects. Before final night you'll have to pick one based on gathered evidence and there likely won't be enough to tell for sure. But if you choose wrong it doesn't really matter because you can just reload and pick again. Majority of each night is doing normal cabbie job: driving random people around and talking (or not) with them. That's the best or worst part, depending what you expect. At first I had mixed feelings but later got completely immersed. There's about 90 unique characters, some with multiple possible conversations or requiring few rides to know their whole story. People and events can be mundane or bizarre, sad or funny, serious or silly, mostly believable but sometimes surreal. Writing is good and range of topics and characters immense, making me really curious who next customer will be and what turn will encounter take. Of course there is no actual driving, all is done by clicking mouse. Investigation part feels half-baked same as cash and fuel mechanics. And there are some unskippable parts in each scenario that will feel old fast. But fortunately there's also free roam mode where you just drive without serial killer plot. If you can see yourself sitting comfy during gloomy night and reading snippets of nonexistent people lives, there's a chance you will enjoy this atmospheric oddity like I did.
