And to be frank, what more could we ask for? Moto GP: Ultimate Racing Technology is already one of the most revered of Xbox games, so we know they have the racing game credentials to really provide something special this time around - and we're pretty damn confident at this point that the sequel's not going to end up straying.

Basing the game on last summer's Moto GP season has meant a certain change to the fundamental structure of the game. Namely the inclusion of bikes with 1000cc 4-stroke engines, mirroring their addition to last year's tournament. These bikes are trickier to handle and have slow acceleration but make up for it with a much zippier top speed - they definitely sound like the choice of the expert and will certainly add depth that last year's title lacked for those that soon mastered the less powerful bikes.

Moto GP 2 is a quantum leap ahead of the last game graphically, with Climax having used some very clever technology based on bezier patches - which essentially means far more detail using far less polygons. In layman's terms this basically means it looks ten times better, and since the console won't be struggling to push as many numbers around, a smooth 60 frames-per-second update rate is pretty much guaranteed.

Climax impressed Microsoft so much with their network code that Moto GP2 is to be held up as some kind of standard-bearer for online-console gaming (much like the Moto GP demo provided with the Live! service). Don't get us wrong - Moto GP 2 will no doubt be a helluva game regardless of whether you have Live! or not, but the extra options for those that have hooked up their box to the rest of the world look to be fantastic. The online competition is no doubt going to be as enthralling as ever, but this time cheaters and trouble-makers won't be able to make everyone's life a misery or shoot to the top of tournament ladders by knowing the sneaky "5 second lap" routes. If the game senses someone isn't playing fair (for example driving round the course backwards) then it will render the troublemaker incorporeal, meaning honest players won't have to worry about smashing into the rogue element and losing the race on the last lap.

This is only one of several improvements Climax are promising - all of which will improve the online experience considerably. And, an interesting twist is that if you have Live!, the game is always online, meaning you'll receive invites to play from mates even if you're only playing the single-player mode.

With much improved physics topping off the list of improvements we fail to see how Climax can screw this up. Moto GP 2 looks like it should be one of the greatest Xbox games of the year, and perhaps more importantly it could be the one to really kickstart the penetration of network console gaming in the UK.