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Ever wondered how many Formula 1 games there have been over the years? No, nor have I, but according to Steve Hood of Codemasters, the answer is a staggering 114. Given my general lack of interest in sport and racing games, you might be surprised to learn that I’ve played a large percentage of that total. I have my F1 obsessed Father to thank for that. In fact, the only reason I had access to a PlayStation when I was younger was because my Dad bought one to play Formula 1 97. I had no games of my own at that time, and ended up playing F1 97 a hell of a lot. Over the following years he went on to buy F1 98, 99, 2000, F1 World Grand Prix, Racing Simulation Monaco Grand Prix, and everything in between. I often stood around to watch him play Geoff Crammond’s Grand Prix 4 on the PC too, which was the most mind bogglingly in depth game I’d ever laid my young eyes upon. Indeed, I’ve seen my fair share of F1 games over the years, and behind closed doors at this year’s E3, I added another to that list.
Codemasters acquired the F1 license back in May of 2008, meaning that F1 2010 has been in development for well over 2 years. The proof of this lengthy development time was immediately clear from my time with the game. It looked fantastic, with ludicrously detailed cars from 12 official teams, and 19 incredibly faithful tracks. Not surprisingly, of the 115 F1 titles now in existence, this is far and away the best looking of the bunch. Graphical realism is obviously important to a game racing sim, but as my dad would happily explain to me on repeated occasions (usually after I asked him why he was still playing GP4 and not the latest game on the PS2), he was far more interested in camera positioning, car handling, and the AI of his competitors. It might sound funny, but as I played the game, I tried to see it through his eyes. Generally speaking, if my dad liked an F1 game, you could bet your bottom dollar that it got good review scores.
I sailed through my first few laps, attacking each corner with the speed and confidence of a seasoned pro. I wondered to myself if the Codemasters guys stood behind me were impressed with my talent behind the wheel. Then it occurred to me that something was amiss; I’d been playing Blur and Split/Second recently; arcade racers – I should have been spinning out left, right and centre in my first laps of a technical racer such as this. “Want to turn driving assists off?” asked Hood, who could obviously sense my bewilderment at my own flawless driving. I chuckled at my naivety, and agreed to turn them off.
After mere seconds of racing without aid, I was in a gravel trap hurtling towards a tyre wall at 150 mph. That was more like it. Learning how to handle a devastatingly powerful F1 car is an important part of the experience, and I wouldn’t be happy unless I had to slow down well in advance of each corner, and take the perfect line through a hairpin or chicane. On the whole, the car handling was impressive; the controls were tight, there was a fantastic sense of speed, and the car had a nice weight to it. I envisaged a big thumbs up from Papa Smith, who would give up on a game instantly if he felt the handling was too unrealistic.
Just as I was finally getting to grips with the car, the heavens opened and rain started lashing down on the track. Water droplets ran down the camera, and spray kicked up from the car in front. Like any serious racer, I was driving in the cockpit view (which obviously affects visibility more than other views), and I soon found myself back in the gravel trap. Despite my frustration, I couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of it all. The track glistened as the odd ray of sunlight bounced off the track, and the clouds hanging ominously overhead looked indistinguishable from those in real life. What’s more, the weather system is dynamic, meaning that it changes mid-race. This opens up much deeper racing strategies than previous F1 games. You might be racing on your dry tyres, for example, and notice that a few black clouds have invaded the once blue sky. At times like this, it’s probably best to pay a visit to the pit-lane, and get those tyres changed.
In the championship mode, decisions such as these could be the difference between a podium finish or not. You play as yourself in the championship; an aspiring young racer with ambitions of being the next Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill or Lewis Hamilton (notice how I chose English racers there). While previous interactive F1 offerings have portrayed a championship as a series of linear races, F1 2010 extends the experience beyond the track, allowing players to live the very life of an F1 superstar.
Instead of a menu screen gluing together each race in a championship, Codemasters has adopted a far more visceral interface system. Just like a real driver, you’ll hang out in the constructors paddock area before each race. Your agent sits in a trailer working away at a desk, and will act as your link between the interface and the race track. After a particularly eventful race, press might find their way into the paddock, and you’ll be interviewed about your thoughts of the race. The better you’re doing in the championship (and the more famous you’ll inevitably be at the time) the more press will turn up, and the more interesting questions you’ll be asked.
Your answers will affect how other drivers react to you in game, too, and each driver has certain traits that are reflected in their driving. F1 2010 is more than a racing game in the traditional sense; it puts you in the shoes of an F1 star, and not just a driver. Players will need to learn how to handle the fame, pressure and rivalry of the championship, as well as the layout of a track. I’m honestly not sure how my dad would react to these radical new features, but given their dramatic effects on the racing itself, I’m sure he’d welcome them with open arms.
Long before games like Gran Turismo and Project Gotham were on the scene, Formula 1 was the name best associated with video game racers. The license has been deprived of a decent game for some time, but Codemasters F1 2010 looks set to restore some of that former glory. While the paddock and lifestyle features are sure to attract the new breed of Formula 1 fan (which Lewis Hamilton is almost solely responsible for), the quality of the car handling and fantastic weather effects are likely to bring in older, more experienced racing fans too. More than anything else, I’m interested to see what my dad thinks of the game; his opinion on the F1 sub-genre of racing is the definitive one. I’ll let you know what he thinks of it later this autumn.
F1 2010 will be released on 360, PS3 and PC this September
