Despite a turbulent year in the sport, can Codemasters deliver a game that cuts to the excitement behind its issues?…
The newest instalment initially looks much the same as you traverse the menus, clean design makes for ease of use but that has never been much of a problem anyway in these games. As soon as you hit the career tab you are presented with the choice to start a pro career or standard. Giving you the ability to flit between a career set to realistic settings and one that is less taxing, more enjoyable and lets you learn the tracks and game with much more freedom. I say more enjoyable because having some semblance of an ego I spent the first day of the review struggling to complete a single race weekend on pro. This was until I realised I really did need some practice before tackling ultimate difficulty settings on a new game that defines the word simulator!
The overall experience seems more fleshed out than ever in this slick instalment. The use of Anthony Davidson to commentate pre-race line-ups, the recognisable team members that approach and interact with you and a more hands on R&D structure, all come together before you put pedal to metal to immerse you in what you’re taking part in. As you start your first race weekend the teams mini-tasks help you learn the track and the car, these are perfectly implemented. The tests are linked to what would be asked of a driver in reality and really do make you think about the best racing line and tire conservation.
The simulation of car performance and getting the most out of the race is for the first time well balanced. No more do your tires suddenly become undrivable or your engine inexplicably let you down. The tires will give you less grip and much more doubt in the breaking zones, the fuel will run out if you ignore team instructions and run on the higher mixes, and if you block change manually or spin up the tires you will do damage to the car. These are results of bad driving and given the amount of feel and accuracy in the steering for this game there is no excuse, especially when you can tailor traction control or the AI speed to suit your level of prowess, allowing you to drive slower but still respect the racing line and car management.
The AI respond to you in a very dynamic but realistic way, so long as you behave as a normal driver should they will attack and manoeuvre to create a very interesting race. This really brings a satisfying feel to going banzai on the brakes or overtaking on the outside of a corner with new tires. However if you turn up the AI’s skill and you are the slowest car on track trying to hold a fluke position, the chances are they will pile into you going slowly in a corner.
Overall, the ten season career, development plans and driver rivalries add up to make this the most engaging and fun F1 game ever released! So long as you choose your difficulty settings to create the right level of challenge it will keep you coming back again and again. Something the online leaderboards are geared towards as they measure your overall career achievements. Any racer will enjoy this game and F1 fans will adore it.
Author: Joe, Bath store
