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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  Game Review: F1 2015
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Game Review: F1 2015

Stripped of the non-essentials, the focus of this year's F1 game is realism

F1 2015 is meant for hard-core fansPremium
F1 2015 is meant for hard-core fans

This year’s Formula One (F1) game is here. It’s developers, Codemasters, had promised last year that the entire game would be built from scratch—for better graphics and more immersive gameplay. This is why the game is not available on previous-generation gaming consoles, the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360. They have delivered on the promise, for the most part.

First things first. F1 2015 seems to do away with the non-essential stuff that was there in F1 2013 and F1 2014. There is no season challenge, no rival system, no champions mode, no classic content, no motorhome and no TV interviews. The F1 2015, it seems, has no time for nostalgia, or muscle-flexing challenges that don’t really serve much purpose in the bigger scheme of things. Instead, the focus is on realistic recreations of the 2014 and 2015 F1 World Championships. There are quick-race, online-multiplayer and time-trial modes.

The graphics have been given a boost, but it is still a work in progress. The 1,920x1,080 resolution delivers smooth visuals without any judders or blurs, and the on-screen elements look impressive. The view that you get as a driver is extremely detailed and rich. The weather effects stand out.

Developers say the car-handling characteristics have been redone completely for the new-generation game, but it still isn’t revolutionary. On a wet track, you notice the improved artificial intelligence of the game, and the varying grip and traction levels. It still demands precision through the corners and finesse with the throttle and brakes, and being aggressive with any of these elements actually results in more lap time lost and faster tyre wear-out.

Though you still really need to work hard to maintain the balance of the car and keep it pointed in the correct direction, F1 2015 is much better than F1 2013, which had terrible handling intelligence—you would barely touch the red and white colour kerb on any corner, and the car would spin wildly.

Another problem with previous-generation versions was that getting two wheels on the kerb would result in a penalty—now, you are penalized only when all four wheels are on the kerb. Smart drivers will use this well to cut corner angles and for better speeding through.

Still, this is not your typical arcade racing game, and wild driving styles will not work. In tune with the new engine rules of the F1 season, the game is also less loud—the engines in these cars sound a lot less angry, and you can actually hear the crowd cheer at certain times.

Though it is meant for hard-core fans, F1 2015 still manages to appeal to the casual gamer. But to a lesser degree than earlier. The simple championship mode expects you to go through a 15-minute practice session, a single-lap qualifier and the race. The Pro Championship Mode means you have to go through every single practice session, the qualifier and then the race. The game clearly requires more patience and commitment than it did earlier.

The engineer commentary has improved massively, and the driver now gets more information about what the rivals are doing.

This game doesn’t have all the modes that the previous iterations did, but we don’t hold that against it. The primary focus is on racing, and every aspect has been improved to make it better than any F1 game we have played so far. It is extremely addictive, and even if you are not an F1 fan, we suspect you’ll spend a lot of time cracking the world championships or trying to improve on the time trials.

****

Game: F1 2015

Genre: Racing

Publisher: Codemasters

Developer: Codemasters Studios Birmingham

PC (Windows): 1,499 (CD version); $54.99, or around 3,500 (Steam download)

Sony PlayStation 4: 3,999 (PlayStation store download)

Microsoft Xbox One: 3,490 (Xbox Store download)

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Published: 01 Aug 2015, 12:56 AM IST
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