Being a lifelong F1 fan as well as gamer I was very excited by release of F1 2010 by Codemasters. Although the game wasn't as much of a simulation as some wished for, and filled with game glitches upon release I still enjoyed the game to a large degree. Codemasters have a great history of 'sami-simulation' driving games and F1 2010 had little competition since they took over the motorsportBeing a lifelong F1 fan as well as gamer I was very excited by release of F1 2010 by Codemasters. Although the game wasn't as much of a simulation as some wished for, and filled with game glitches upon release I still enjoyed the game to a large degree. Codemasters have a great history of 'sami-simulation' driving games and F1 2010 had little competition since they took over the motorsport license.
Although there was a worry of 2011 having very worth the buy by games, the new rules changes in F1 sport gave the game hope of second success. Features like KERS and DRS made this instalment of the game feel like a new experience, and even though the game was again released with few bugs and glitches, it received positive reviews from the license games around. Now onto 2012, due to no gameplay effected changes in the real sport, little new was expected in the game itself. Upon release the main drastic difference were visuals of the game. Many reviewers and gamers around jumped to premature positive reviews. Don't be fooled. Yes, visually the game is gorgeous, and few extra game modes. To break it down; the Young Driver Test is totally pointless. Not only it does very little regarding teaching you how to drove and controle a F1 car, but it's not even representative of the real F1 Young Driver Tests each year. The Champions mode is an interesting addition, with player racing against some of the best drivers on the grid this year, but the scenarios become repetitive after a while and very little creativity is put into it by the developers. The Career mode is the bigerst disappointment. Not only it's very similar in many was of the borring career mode in previos edition, but its parts like media interviews and post-race press conference have been removed. The immersion is very disappointing and could do with a more creative approach like we had in TOCA Test driver back in the day. Another thing that has been tweaked to a large degree are the car physics. If it's better or worst can probably be a individual opinion of people who play it, personality I like it, but what I hate about the game, and by hate I should say despise, are the car physics in the rain, especially since in this new edition of the game many of the races have been designed to pit for a tire change multiple times due to the changing weather conditions, now that's great and at first I was excited by this news, but after driving it multiple times now in wet and intermediate tires the driving feels so unpredictable and with no indication (or mention in the Young Drivers Test 'tutorial'), you will often find yourself frustrated with rage, swearing at your TV, as your F1 car slides on the rode as if someone made a prank by dipping your intermediates in oil before you drove out of the pits. I used to love the rain races in 2011 version, actually I liked them so much I would be very excited every time rain was announced for the next race. In the 2012 version it's not even a challenge, its a lottery ticket every corner you turn into you just don't know what will happen. If you change your tires for wet in heavy intermediate conditions the vehicle is simply uncontrollable, for you only, as AI passes you by in (often in same tires as you have) twice the speed you manage to achieve.
When it comes to AI, I found them very unpredictable, which again should be a good thing to have. Unfortunately that is not the case here, as the AI drivers decide randomly to slow down half the speed in certain corners, then next lap speed though it as if spirit of Ayrton Senna himself controlled them. Also, on straights sometimes I wonder if AI drivers have an invincible DRS open as they catch up to you at immense speeds just to slam on breaks right on your tail (instead of overtake you on the side).
There are many other issues with this game I could list, but I think I covered the most notable points which I found frustrating with this release. I know many games our there, as well as reviewers, claim to really like this game and consider it the best release by Codemasters of this license so far. Personally, I think it's a good game, but I won't rate it high just because it looks nice but plays poorly like many people do these days. I consider F1 2011 to be the best version of the game so far, and I would gladly continue playing my 2011 version if I haven't already sold it.… Expand
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