Italian video game developer Milestone is getting set for the highly anticipated launch of MotoGP15->ke2192, the officially licensed video game of the top-class racing series. The game isn’t expected to hit shelves until June 19, 2015, but as early as now, Milestone’s already taking pre-orders of the game with the promise of a free download pack that will exclusively be released to those who are willing to fork out money for the pre-orders.

The allure of a free DLC pack isn’t entirely new in the video game world, especially with developers who are looking to attract cache from casual gamers. To its credit, Milestone chose the perfect DLC pack to dangle to potential customers. No special edition bikes are part of this pack, but what it does have is a roster of some of the most iconic premier class riders of the modern era. Oh, and the bikes they used during their respective heydays are also included.

Legendary riders like Troy Bayliss, Neil Hodgson, Kenny Roberts, Max Biaggi, and Valentino Rossi are all included in the pack, as are the bikes they used in from 2004, 2005, and 2006. These five riders are by and large considered the crème de la crème of the motorcycle racing world so essentially having their “classic” selves in MotoGP15 is a cool wrinkle to the game.

Those who miss out on pre-ordering the game can still acquire the DLC content, but a literal price must be paid for the tardiness. Suppose you don’t get to pre-order on time, Milestone will be offering the DLC pack as soon as the game hits shelves for a tidy sum of €13, or around $14.5 based on current exchange rates.

I don’t think I’ll need to remind anyone who’s interested in the game to get their pre-orders set if they don’t want to miss out on getting the free DLC content. The game is available in a handful of consoles and platforms, including the PlayStation4, PlayStation3, Xbox One, Windows PC, Steam, and Xbox 360.

(Continue reading to read more about Milestone’s MotoGP15 video game.}

Why it matters

I was never really a big fan of the MotoGP video game series because I wasn’t blown away by the game the first time I tried it. Sure, it had a lot of redeeming qualities that I took notice of. The challenge aspect of past MotoGP titles always struck to me and last year’s version, MotoGP14, had some surprisingly detailed graphics that was able to balance its authenticity without taking too much away from the game itself.

But the audio was surprisingly bad and the somewhat confusing nature of the various game types was too much for me to bear. The game served its purpose if you wanted to just race full throttle and not worry about anything else. Once you start diving into the deeper end is when the mind starts exerting itself too much.

According to Milestone, MotoGP15 will continue to tout all the riders from the premier class, as well as the young whippersnappers from Moto2 and Moto3. The game will also have an all-new Career Mode, which has my interest until I get to see what “all-new” really stands for. Color me skeptical but I’m saying this from experience.

The game also has a new mode called “Beat the Time,” which if I didn’t know better, involves beating a record time set by a rider in a specific race course. This is the kind of game mode that I actually enjoy from MotoGP. Here’s to hoping that this one doesn’t disappoint because overall, I still need to be convinced that MotoGP15 is a dramatic upgrade from its predecessor.