Like clockwork, Tour de France 2023 is here for another round of cycling in one of the most popular events in the world. Cyanide keeps on adding onto what could be considered the best cycling simulation series, but the focus is more on building on the previous chapter than throwing it all away to start anew. As a result, this is a competent and extremely deep game that will please fans with the latest stats and a few additions, but it won’t significantly change what existed in the past and will be a hard sell for those who have played the previous edition.

Another Year, Another Tour

While the idea of pedaling nearly 200 kilometers at a time through various stages of varying difficulty may not sound like the most exciting prospect, there are intricate systems at work that marry arcade and tactical gameplay with relative finesse. This game is not to be confused with Pro Cycling Manager 2023, the management-focused companion of Tour de France 2023, although the latter still comes with a minor dose of rider and team supervision to do, with its cyclist and team manager modes.

Going through the training stages is crucial as there are some twists to bike control and team commands, since in the end you only play a small part in the grand scheme of things. You won’t be able to perform well until you fully understand how to properly manage your energy with the help of feeds, team comms, effort management, following, slipstreaming, and more. The gameplay loop revolves around keeping a close eye on your current position and energy, saving it for the sprint sectors and final stretch, along with syncing your efforts with your teammates through some well-timed decisions, going for the decisive bike throw right at the finish line. You can even switch to another rider of your squad, another way of stressing that each race is a combined team effort, and no element alone will be able to succeed.

Two meters, blue and red, will draw your attention during each stage. The blue one represents your overall effort as you pedal, while the red one denotes the strong attack power and your last resort as you push to overexertion, the blowup point where slowing down isn’t optional, but enforced. Consuming the feeds will restore some of your energy, but you only a few more to pick up as you pass the feed zone. Going downhill is another way to recover your energy, so pay close attention to the elevations during the race.

Since each stage is less about going for a breakaway and more about keeping your footing in the peloton for the final moments, there will be some fast-forwarding to do, an option that luckily is available. The tactical options, as important as they are, may be saved for the important parts of the stage, as the rider’s abilities also play a significant role in the overall performance, with medium mountain and agility ratings added for this edition. Ultimately, you may not gain any visible advantage from pedaling all those virtual kilometers versus what the fast-forward option will do for you, as the peloton won’t cut you any slack.

I Like to Ride My Bicycle

While the Race of the Moment challenge was introduced in the previous iteration, this year sees the inclusion of Downhill of the Moment. As the name implies, these are downhill stretches that require a great knowledge of this type of stage, and you will be able to compare your results to other players all over the world.

Rider trajectories and collisions are part of the improvements, but it doesn’t feel quite satisfying and realistic as one would expect from a sport where small impacts may cause massive position shuffling and even crashes in the group of riders. In this regard, Tour de France 2023 remains underwhelming, with unconvincing collisions and even less interesting crashes, which are nothing but a single animation where the rider suddenly comes to a halt and drops to the floor on the spot, without any influence of speed, collision angle or obstacle type. The stages are also limited to the main track, with no possibility of getting out of the path even by a single inch, everything around you being nothing but scenery behind invisible walls.

Graphics in Tour de France 2023 are nothing to write home about, and they are mostly lifted from the previous editions. While it’s understandable that the environments aren’t richly detailed due to the amount of work that it would take for an updated rendition of several cities, it’s in the rider department that this ends up feeling like a disappointment. This year, once again, the riders are nothing but clones of each other with slight skin tone variations, something that is the more noticeable during the end of race award ceremony, as these clones step up to receive their prizes… from the same two girls that did it last year.

It’s fair to say that with the above examples and the occasional clipping through road barriers and spectators that get on the road, Tour de France 2023 doesn’t really improve much in this area.

And improvement may turn out to be the keyword in Tour de France 2023. It’s difficult to ignore aspects such as the visually identical riders, the lack of something as influential as any hint of dynamic weather, and the very alike structure comparing to last year’s release. Still, this remains an engaging and tactical experience for enthusiasts who are searching for a game that recreates the grueling and unique sport, but eventually the series will soon need the serious upgrade that fans have been demanding.

Score: 7/10

Pros:

• An involving and deep cycling experience
• Demanding tactical aspects
• Team manager and cyclist career options

Cons:

• Still the same visually identical riders
• Collisions are far from realistic
• Lack of overall improvements from previous edition

Tour de France 2023 review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.