In a gaming world where Forza Motorsport has taken pole position on the Xbox One, old racers which started out on the original Xbox have struggled to fight against the mighty Turn 10 developments. One of the old field leaders was the F1 franchises from Codemasters, features rich with excellent gameplay for the time, offering players a great experience of their idols such as Michael Schumacher. But his day is over and for now F1 games have gone the same way, however with F1 2015 hitting the next generation for the first time can it retain the title?
One of the main areas in which Codemasters have been able to build good fan bases in their annual game releases have been through content rich games. In the past there have been many different modes and ideas which they have sampled which has given the game well and beyond the value for money. After promising to rip out the old game engine and introduce a new game engine, which subsequently led to delays, I was concerned that some of the old ways which made the F1 games so fun and diverse would be lost, looks like I may have been right…
I’ll leave the features for later but for now the gameplay, how does it drive? Turns out it drives extremely well. The game is as fun as it ever was with a defined engine which is responsive and reactive. The new engine I spoke about earlier promised a better AI which is certainly one of the results, the AI is very clever. And it bites back as well, giving the player a real challenge as you race around the world.
The game engine itself shows off very well with the car fighting back at all times when you have understeer; go too fast through corners etc. All the issues which give the F1 drivers in reality an problem can give you a problem in F1 2015. The feedback to the controller is truly excellent and I honestly believe for just gameplay, F1 2015 is the best racer out there at the moment. When you factor in the weather system as well it only adds to the top level which this new engine operates at. Some of the conditions from light rain to stormy have a real effect on the race. In stormy conditions it really shows off the muscle which codematers have inputted into this addition as you can feel the wind and aquaplaning take control as you fight your way around the track.
So at this point you’ll be forgiven for thinking this sound like one of the best racers ever from what I have just said. But when I spoke about features early on and how rich the previous instalments were, this edition of F1 games falls short, quite a way short. The most baffling thing about of the features is that there isn’t a career mode?! How can there not be a simulation were you use your own character to build him/her up as if you were a proper F1 driver, it seems madness to me.
What you do get is 2 versions of a world championship; one is just a bog standard calendar where you can control any of the 20 drivers in a full calendar year of Formula One, you can change all the settings and play how you like within any of the 10 teams. The other world championship is the Pro Championship, this is for hardcore players. Everything is switched off or to manual, which is incredibly difficult. Damage is on full and all settings which would aid any player in their race to the podium, is gone. I just don’t understand why you would have a preset in place of another feature which could give the game an edge, very odd.
Other features include Multiplayer and Time Trials. The multiplayer holds up pretty well, what you get of multiplayer depends on what lobby you get into, you can have some really good battles with mates, and it’s pretty smooth most of the time, but does struggle with some of the leaderboards both in race and after. There is a little bit for everyone here in this category because Codemasters have split it all down wonderfully. The beginners get their own playlist which you can enter if you have completed under 20 races, the hardcore players get there no assists and endurance races and there is a mash up in the middle for everyone else.
One of the things that I think lets F1 2015 down in terms of gameplay is the damage is not really evident, this has been an issue for many a racer, as the cars seemingly have weaker points to other areas which seem indestructible. But as I say that the car does react to driver style pretty well, on several occasions it was clear I had an issue due to the smoke in my car, this led the engineer to tell me to ease up, having done so I was able to complete the race, I’d previously not listened and the car’s arse fell out, pretty nifty work again.
Graphically you can’t really fault it, the game glistens in the night races and shimmers in the rain as you fly round tracks at over 100mph at a canter, it really does look and feel superb. Having watched the F1 for many years I feel codemasters have really hit it with the gameplay and the main features which make this game decent, however…
The sheer lack of serious features in this game makes me question whether those on the fence would make the jump to purchase this instalment. You get the feeling, although delayed; the game was slightly rushed through once they had seemingly nailed all the engine issues they were having at the start of the project. For F1 fans this is a must buy but for general casual racing gamers this game can be a nice addition to your cabinet but I wouldn’t race to the store to purchase it just yet. F1 2016 could show a lot of the modern racers up though, this is not a bad version at all, it just lacks a spark which reals you in and keeps you coming back for more.
