Zvonareva
Replies: 158

Lout
Replies: 515

nuttywray69
Replies: 267

ILucky Luke
Replies: 2,211

Andy
Replies: 7

Interested in joining our dedicated review team?
Read all about it and apply here

Total Forum Posts: 141,488
Total Members: 334 (The newest member is jas548)
Dec 5 2010, 08:14 PM, a record 148 users were online.

Camper, Kye, KittyKat

F1 2010 Review By Stefan Hogan

It’s almost been four long years since the last major F1 game was released and fans have been craving to play a new and refreshing F1 game since, but licensing issues got in the way (Darn those folk at the FIA). Codemasters were the new developers to snap up the F1 license, hoping to fulfil fans with the thrill, the speed and the glamour of tearing around some of the world’s most famous tracks in these multi-million 600BHP beasts of a racing car, but did Codemasters succeed in their first outing in F1?

When you first start out you will be taking a few trips to the gravel traps and taking a master class in pirouettes. The learning curve is fairly straightforward but you’ll have to study the tracks carefully and with a total of 19 tracks, there is a lot to learn. From learning the breaking points, turning in points and clipping those vital apexes while watching out for those sometime unforgiving rumble strips (especially in the wet) can be a bit of a daunting task for some. The immense speed and twitchiness of the cars don’t practically help when learning, but with the ‘Flashback’ feature allowing you to rewind time and letting you attempt that corner again and again, you will get the hang of it after awhile and it will become second nature. From then on you’ll understand the sense of achievement when you string together a perfect lap, beating the likes of Hamilton, Alonso and Schumacher.

Codemasters have used their EGO engine from their previous games GRID and DIRT in this F1 title. Straight off the bat all 24 cars look brilliant as expected with this engine, and the tracks have been detailed down to the last nook and crannies making even some of the duller tracks look amazing. Monaco’s track is probably the benchmark out of the whole game, the atmosphere is spot on. From flags being waved about, the road markings, the detailed environment outside of the barriers and the general vibe of the circuit makes it a fun place to drive, apart from a little frame drop when all 24 cars are fighting on the same piece of tarmac. From previous games using the EGO engine the damage modelling has been amazing. However, in F1 the modelling isn’t the best. Yes I know these F1 cars are some of the strongest racing cars ever made, but when travelling 150mph into a concrete wall and only losing the wheels and front nose wing is a bit disappointing. This is always the case with damage in this game; the only damage on the car can be the front wing and tyres. For example, to test this I drove about 180mph into the back of another racer to see if their rear wing crumbles and breaks. The result? Nothing, not even a dent on the rear side of their car.


Wet weather racing is fun but does come with it's difficulties

The good news is that the cars handle very well to what is expected. It’s got a heavier feel to previous games, mainly because of the new no refuelling rule. Yet, the cars still have a great feel of acceleration, braking power and the sense of the down force keeping your car stuck to the ground throughout some of the track’s faster corners. During races you may come across Codemasters dynamic weather system which is simply outstanding and the best in the field of the racing genre so far. You could start off a race in the glistening sunshine but 6 laps in; grey clouds may blow across the race track and you could get a quick downpour of rain or a long weather spell setting in. This system makes races so much more fun and intense while making you call the shots on how you’ll adapt your race strategy. Do you stay out on the dry tyres and hope it’s a quick shower? Or do you get in the pits quickly, change to intermediates or wets and hope other racers gamble to stay out during the rain?
With those rain clouds moving in, it makes your life as a driver a whole lot harder. Your vision is dramatically reduced from water spray if you’re tailing behind other drivers. Your breaking points will have to be re-evaluated and you’ll have to start easing on the throttle as nobody wants to be doing during pirouettes on an active race track (I’m looking at you Bruno Senna).

Another great aspect to the racing in this game is that the A.I. Drivers are competitive and also show personality to their real life characteristics. Michael Schumacher is a more aggressive driver than say Sebastien Buemi. This doesn’t mean Michael is going to be blocking you non-stop throughout the race, the A.I are lean but fair. When having a wheel to wheel confrontation you’ll be hassled for that position, with drivers taking the defensive line, blocking and edging you off the racing line at times. However, the A.I knows when they’ve lost out in a battle and will back off. These wheel to wheel confrontations are quite rewarding, you’ll be within an inch of trading paint and doing this whilst trying to not make a mistake which could end up with you losing your front wing or end up with you being in the gravel gives you a sense of achievement. Despite the ban on refuelling this year, pit stops still play a great tactical move in determining the end result of a race. With the mandatory one pit stop, the timing is crucial. Do you take a smoother driving technique during the race hoping to increase your tyres life span, or do you run the tyres ragged trying to make up a gap between you and the other drivers before making your pit stop?


Attention to detail is just simply amazing

The ‘Career’ side of the game is rather a new take on your standard ‘Race, race, race and more racing’ scheme seen in previous games. Codemasters have set out to make you feel like the driver, hence the ‘Life the Life’ tag. You start out in either 3, 5 or 7 seasons as a racing driver. The 3 season choice allows you to start in any car, 5 seasons allow you to pick from middle ranked cars downwards and 7 seasons only allows you to pick from the new teams (the worst teams). Apart from racing you will also take part in development tests which allow your car to be upgraded further and further. Also you’ll have fierce competition from your team mate for the number 1 driver seat in the team, which brings the benefits of choosing your upgrade path and having the upgrades applied to your car a few races before the 2nd driver. Interviews with the press are also a part of the ‘Life your Life’ aspect. Your answers to their questions shape how other teams see you as a driver and may open up or close new contracts from other teams. So don’t go saying you had a “brilliant performance” when you crashed out on the first lap. Although, the ‘life the life aspect’ seems like a good idea, it falls flat after a while as the press only have a small amount of questions to ask, so after a season or so you’ll be answering the same questions over and over again with the same options of answers.

Closing comments

Codemasters first attempt at an F1 game has gone down relatively well with the driving physics being second to none. The dynamic weather system brings a thrilling excitement to your races and there is an overall enjoyment from racing a 600BHP F1 car wheel to wheel with your competition. It’s a great effort but with a few bugs in the game such as lock ups, frame rates dropping and your pit crew not releasing you because of traffic in the pit lane just holds back the game a tiny amount, not game breaking but the overall quality of the game assures us that Codemasters have the F1 licence in safe hands for future titles.

8/10