F1 2012

F1 2012 is what the fans of the circus are waiting for. Refined handling, new contents and above all the ultimate F1 experience.

But if you're a big fan of F1 – or motorsports in general – and you're up for a challenge, you can't go wrong. F1 2012 feels like it comes from a developer that truly gets the sport and has tried not just to simulate the handling of an F1 car, but capture an insider glimpse of what its like to have an F1 career. And it totally nails both.

For those willing to play by the rules, there's an amazing wealth of content to be found here – easily Codemasters' finest Formula One outing.

Driving a Formula 1 car in F1 2012 is more pleasant than ever. Developers dealt with problems that infested the previous edition two years ago but flaws of various calibers are present and prevented me from rating this game higher. Still it's the most accessible Formula 1 simulation ever. [12/2012, p.44]

It's not a great leap forward from last year's model, but F1 2012 adds just enough to an already tight package to keep the series on top. This is a far cry from an arcade racer so only serious Formula 1 fans need apply.

There's no doubt about it, F1 2012 wants to reach perfection as well as proposing a game that could fit players that were not born with a wheel in their hands. Even if it's difficult to talk about innovations, some small modifications are enough to boost the IP. Again, Codemasters proves it knows how to develop a great F1 racing game.

F1 2012 is the best game in the series despite providing only a few improvements and new modes over the already good past episodes.

F1 2012 is a beast. The feeling you get when you're racing neck to neck against twenty other great drivers, in what you could describe as a rocket on wheels, is simply amazing. Every take over, every crash sends the adrenaline flying through your veins. [October 2012, p.72]

F1 2012 may be an evolution of the formula, but it's evolving in all the right ways. [Dec 2012, p.102]

All said and done, this is an extremely solid racing experience. [Dec 2012, p.85]

This year's edition improves upon the former games; the cars feels heavier, the AI is smarter and the overall driving feels better. The game is not perfect - for example the career mode is somewhat boring. But the F1 series is getting better every year.

The game captures the excitement of the sport, forces you to concentrate for laps on end, and can be as much of a time-sink as you choose, either with a full career or bite-sized challenges, and a smart middle ground where you need to beat a roster of chosen rivals for their contracts. [November 2012, p72]

Not much to say: F1 fans will undoubtedly take on this F1 2012 with delight, it's been polished in almost every way. Prettier, faster, it also boasts a successful dynamic weather and despite some little shortcomings, it remains THE standard for Formula 1 racing.

It may not have changed very much from last year's entry but what small improvements there are still makes this the best F1 racer of the modern era.

Codemasters continues to do a good work and the fans can only be happy with this kind of treatment.

F1 2012 feels like the perfect counterpart to the real sport. It's immaculately presented, varied and engaging in ways the previous games struggled to hit on.

To keep things authentic, it doesn't push out any truly original ideas. [Issue#223, p.74]

Racing cars of this magnitude is not like hitting the streets with some jacked-up sports car. F1 cars are a special breed, and Codemasters has done a great job conveying that. Some of the racing moments are challenging and exciting the likes of which you won't find in other titles. A little more depth in the series' career mode could go a long way into making that portion of the game just as special.

If you're a fan of this racing league and play games, this is kind of a must have. For racing game fans looking for a tough challenge, look into this one. To everyone else I would say download the demo, play it quite a bit, then decide if tackling the full game is worth your full $60.

F1 2012 is heavily flawed gem. Visually stunning and eminently thrilling one minute, needlessly ugly and overtly annoying the next, it's a game that really doesn't do enough to improve over last season's effort. What's worse is that fans of the series have been voraciously pouncing on any chance to complain about these issues to the developer for two years now, and they – once again – seem to have been ignored. With that said, the game is just as good as it was last year – just not as good as we'd expect it to be by now.

It's still a good game, but updates each year don't make much sense, as it has not enough new stuff to justify asking the full pricing if you already had F1 2011.