It has been quite a while since an F1 game has been released and to be honest, it was about time that a publisher would release a very good F1 game including great graphics and playability. Codemasters have created a very good experience for the F1 fans to be able to feel the adrenaline rush and the smell of rubber that the F1 races have to offer, and they have succeeded in delivering it.

Going where no others have gone before, Codemasters have succeeded in satisfying the hardcore player having a custom F1 seat with an authentic steering wheel in their living room, to the casual gamers who maybe are not that good in driving games. As part of any Codemasters’ racing game, the visual of the off-track activities and menus are extremely stunning. The way the options are camouflaged in the live F1 track and garage areas is somewhat similar to what you have experienced in previous games, such as GRID or Colin Mc Rae Rally, thou some nifty new add-ons have been added. You would have your trailer where you can dialog with your personal agent, the pit garage where you can dialog with the engineers to customize your car or watch the weather to be able to decide on which type of tyres your will use and of course, there is the interviews with the press which do make an important factor to boost your team’s morale and race performance. You must reply correctly without either putting the blame on the team mates or criticizing the team since it will affect the team performance in the pits.

These features will easily submerge your into the F1 feeling where you are like already in the race track looking from the eyes of the driver. The instant you exit the pit or start the race, you will instantly be over hyped with the roaring and authentic sounds of the engines. If you would have a good sound system at your house and you’re a big fan of the F1, you will surely enjoy the scary feeling of the engine revs in your body. One thing that maybe the not so hardcore players would not enjoy so much, but still adding a lot to the authenticity of the game you will not hear any commentator or music during a race, just your pit engineer giving you tips, instructions and sometimes critics on your driving skills.

Now, as it regards to graphics, you will surely enjoy it since the tracks are, well, just as you would see them on your TV while watching real-life races along with surrounding environment. The visuals are quite impressing including perfect shadows and car details, along with a good damage effects. But, when the weather effects kick is, that is where the game shines as it regards to visuals. Puddles form along the tracks with water spraying everywhere and everything reflecting on the puddles. Also the tyres authentically clear the tracks which really look kinky in the replay feature of the game. Talking about the replay, the game features a very good replay mechanism with a number of controls and view which you can choose from. Well here you will expect some great contemporary music to go along with your enjoyment in viewing your great driving skills.

During our review, we have found some difficulty during the races with the on-screen display where the map, in the bottom left corner would be hard to see sometimes since the track line is with a gray-like colour and it will make it difficult to see since the track is dark gray. Also, it would have been better for the user to read the text on the screen if the text would have been a bit larger.

The campaign is very interesting, where you start off racing with a weak team and gradually increase you skills and improve your career. Your agent, Gabrielle will take care of your career, informing you on what going on in the market and informing you about good deals which can make you get popular while signing with the right team. The focus of the game of course is to be the best F1 driver in the season and the season is structured as your real-life seasons with 19 races with the practice and qualifying races for each race to gain enough point to get to the top. Being a hardcore or a casual player, you can easily modify the race distance from the minimum of 10 laps to the whole 49 laps per race along with the difficulty of the AI drivers. Talking about AI, it is very difficult and it’s not likely that the AI will do mistakes, but put some pressure on them and they will crack on pressure.

The 3D pit garage really brings it to life with your pit engineer and all the mechanics to show you what best car modifications can be adapted to the car with customizations and tweaks on handling and suspensions of the car. Casual players, do not need to despair s when being on the easy mode, you can modify the car which few easy options depending on the weather you have. This can be checked and the team can be instructed from the driver monitor which is placed on your car front. Choose wisely since weather can change anytime, so make sure to see the weather forecast. The monitor is quite essential where you can plan your strategy against your opponents. Pitting during the race will not give you any controls on the car, but the animation is stunning.

Some might find F1 games boring, but this game is very interesting and quite indulging. It will surely make an impact on both hardcore racing fans and the casual racers. Mind you, try to cheat your way into a corner having all four wheels outside the track; your lap will not be valid. You will be also penalized if you go wide on a corner. The casual players might find this frustrating, but it’s the F1 regulations which one has to respect. Another thing which might be a down point to the game is that you will have to do almost a perfect game to qualify in first or second and if you get a big behind you will have to do miracles to catch up. The game is tough, but when you get going and start grinding in the race, the gratification and satisfaction of the game increases a lot.

Codemasters have succeeded in making a great F1 experience with great visuals and details in the race mechanism. On the other hand, the game does not have split screen, no two player campaign and only two multiplayer races. The other thing is that there is not podium. Apart from that there is no stopping you from getting a super F1 experience.