On The Descent
HIGH The smooth menu simulation UI.
LOW The lack of improvement in realistic representation.
WTF Tadej Pogacar is overpowered.
When I last reviewed (and played) a Pro Cycling Manager title, it was mid-2020, the world was in the grasp of a pandemic, and nobody was sure who would win the Tour de France. PCM, as a point-and-click simulation franchise, modeled the cycling world as accurately as possible in the post-Froome era, and seemed to point to Froome’s relatively young teammate, Egan Bernal (the winner of 2019’s Tour) as his successor.
The fact that 2020 saw the rise of a new era of Grand Tour champions, including Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, and a year later Jonas Vingegaard, exemplifies the unpredictability of road cycling. In PCM, where the present cycling season and potential sequential seasons get simulated, this unpredictability is definitely an advantage, as every outlined scenario has an inherent degree of possibility.
The PCM formula is simple but fertile — menu simulation in commercial team manager or pro cyclist career modes, where calendars with training schedules are planned for months in advance, to ensure peak performance in the most important races. These races themselves can be quickly simulated or more elaborately played out in a 3D format. In the latter, players can actively control their team’s riders, including how much effort they will put into their pace, when (and if) they attack, or whether they decide to closely observe and follow a competitor.
There are typically two playing positions in such a managerial sim, either start from the top, from the vantage point of a team (close to) competing for wins, or from the bottom while building a team or cyclist from a lower ranking in a process that takes multiple in-game years. The advantage to the former position is the possibility of simulating road cycling season 2024 from within the current peloton, whereas the bottom-up option allows one to imagine what the future of road cycling could look like.
Both positions also speak to the promise of realistic representation customary of annual sports franchises. In my playthrough, I played as a world class team manager for the 2024 season and as a rookie pro cyclist for a career far beyond that.
The menu simulation in both modes feels somewhat slicker than it used to. In the managerial sim, the player manages the riders’ (peak) fitness, schedules races and ideal team selection, and can even manage technical details such as bicycle settings. In the pro cyclist sim, these settings are similar, but catered to the cyclist’s personal development of numerically valued attributes such as climbing or time trial speed and stamina.
While simplistic and only marginally improved, the menu simulation serves as a solid background to the off-road aspects of cycling. Still, I think that the current template could use with an upgrade, mainly in terms of narrative elements. While it’s possible to see updates on injuries across the competition, as well as detailed results, there is no serious news or social feed that could really liven things up and stay true to sport’s increasing media-tization.
The main issue of PCM 2024 is its 3D racing. It’s simply not updated in any way whatsoever, even compared to a title four years its predecessor. This wouldn’t have been a significant issue if the current simulation would work wonders, but it has definitely not aged well.
Typically, road cycling requires patience, picking the right moment to attack, planning a sustained effort that does not have a cyclist overextend their stamina, and taking care of any unforeseen circumstances. Especially on intense mountain stages, gaps between riders can be minutes. For this reason, I prefer simulating stage races such as the Tour de France and playing as climbers with a chance to win it all.
In PCM, certain strategies are favored over others. Attacking is highly inefficient stamina-wise, so winning a mountain stage with an attack is unlikely, unless there are more than the usual fine margins between riders. At the same time, my pro cyclist, developing into a top level climber and stage racer, could not follow any attacks by punchier climbers, nor make up ground by a sustained effort due to the AI suddenly coordinating their efforts perfectly.
It’s understandable that a simulation of road cycling would initially struggle to condense multiple hour-stages into a format that may take as much as 30 minutes, while still remaining faithful to time differences typical in road cycling. The result remains unbalanced, however, with punchers able to take half a minute extra time due to carrying a stronger final sprint, for example, and the quick simulation featuring wholly different results in both bias and form.
Other than the inauthentic feel of the simulation, there’s the audiovisual representation. In the case of PCM, it has never been a highlight — until now, where it’s notably a concern. While I will be the last critic to ever judge a game for limited resources concerning graphics and sound design, PCM’s lack of polish disturbs the experience. The props look ancient, with historically significant stages making use of the exact same backdrops as other stages, with the difference a mere physical road taken or not taken. On the level of the cyclists, faces and motions have the effect of making everyone look identically dull.
The sound design is minimal, with hardly any classic cheering (nor a visual representation) of fans along the road. Commentary is very limited, unspecific and contains some ill-conceived phrases (e.g. “there are pretty ladies at the top.”) Generally, the sound does not add any value to races. If the game does not play like road cycling, look like road cycling, or sound like road cycling, the question can be posed whether it simulates road cycling at all.
In the last four years, road cycling has changed immensely. Pro Cycling Manager has not.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by Cyanide Studio and published by Nacon. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 28 hours of play were devoted to single-player modes, and several seasons of these modes were completed. No time was spent in multiplayer modes.
Parents: According to the ESRB, which most recently rated the 2020 installment of this franchise, this game is rated E with no descriptors. The official summary reads: “This is a pro cycling simulation game in which player assume the role of a professional cyclist or a team manager. Players can select and supervise their teams’ staff, calendar, and equipment as they compete in international training and racing events.”
Colorblind Modes: Color filters are present.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The only ‘subtitles’ are the text that can read in the menus, there are no subtitles in the 3D race mode. This game is not fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. The entire game can be played with a computer mouse.
David has had a passion for writing since childhood, but rather than writing stories, he started reading them and figured that the only way a Harry Potter universe would truly come to life would be in a videogame. His favorite genre in literature, dystopian fiction, seemed to have especially unlimited potential in this new medium. Despite appreciating and regularly engaging with many different art forms, David's dedicated himself mostly to the playable one.
Born and raised a Dutchman, David can tell you everything about 'stroopwafels' and what it's like to live in the liberal capital of the world. That is, if he isn't holed up in his room and enjoying the American entertainment industry.
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