a reverence for motorbikes
Ride 2 shares plenty of similarities with the Gran Turismo series; a huge single-player Career mode, a large selection of vehicles to collect and upgrade, a similar type of progression mode consisting of "boxed events", and a luxurious presentation of each vehicle. It's the reverence and respect for the vehicle that shines through in both franchises.
What's different from the first Ride game is that Milestone have added even more content to the Career mode, added more game modes in general, and have also included weather effects such as rain in all its forms. They have also fixed some of the framerate issues the first game had. So it's 'more' and 'better'.
The physics is the same sim-arcade style as before, i.e. not as technically challenging as in Milestone's earlier SBK games, but not as arcade as the Moto Racer games. Having said this, with the assists off and with minial traction control (TRC) the bike will require a delicate touch to handle. In contrast, with the assists on you can focus completely on the road and not worry too much about how the bike will behave.
The progression system is similar to Gran Turismo and the old Forza games, where new bikes have to be bought with credits and new events be unlocked. You can freely jump between most events as long as you have an eligible bike. Also, you can upgrade each bike with official gear (tyres, brakes, suspension etc.).
The AI are 'medium' aggressive I'd say, somewhat on the same level as the AI in Gran Turismo and Project Cars (on 50% aggression); if they spot a gap they will go for it, but they will give you enough room. So the AI is not as aggressive as in Grid, Shift or DriveClub, where they are quite eager to bump you sideways.
Before each race you can adjust the setting of the bike; gear ratios, suspension level, and so on. Milestone has kept this simple so you don't have to be a gearhead to figure out a good settings. You have cockpit views as well traditional 3rd-person views.
There's one particular issue I have with the game. Each racing event is restricted to one particular class of bikes. Similar to the older Gran Turismo and Forza games, you simply can't win an event unless you have one of the very best bikes in that particular class. Put differently, the disparity between the bikes in any given class is such that you cannot win with one of the lower-rated bikes. This makes it feel somewhat pointless to buy these weaker bikes, apart from being a collector. I wish instead that the game would restrict the AI to similarly-rated bikes as the one you have. That would have made things more fun.
To be honest, I would also have preferred if they had used the same physics as in their MotoGP games, i.e. more sim and less arcade. Even better, if they would make it as deep as in their ealier SBK games, such as SBK X. Don't get me wrong, the physics is reliable and solid in Ride 2, but I prefer what their earlier games had.
The standouts for me: the sheer uniqueness of the game as there's nothing else like it on the market, the huge amount of single-player content, the varied locations (more "fantasy" tracks in the future please!), the big selection of bikes, the awesome sound design, and the care given for each and every bike model.
I'm not convinced the regular arcade gamer will enjoy Ride 2, it doesn't have the same flash and fanfare. To me Ride 2 should mainly appeal to people who enjoy sim racers like Gran Turismo, Project Cars, Sebastien Loeb Rally, WRC 7, and MotoGP.