F1 2010

[Tayaya]

What? No thread for Codemasters' latest take on F1 after wrestling control of the license back from Sony, who have done nothing at all with it in the last 3 years? I understand... it's definitely a niche title with a very small American following. However, I have to say it's one of the best "licensed" racing games I've ever played.

Any one else besides me grab this one?

I had my first race in the rain yesterday, and my god was it pretty... and pretty hellish! They really captured the look and feel of F1 in the rain with this game. The water droplets on the camera lens and the absolutely blinding spray when behind another car are the best I've ever seen in a racing game. You really need to memorize the tracks because you will literally be racing blind about 30-40% of the time. The way the weather changes over the course of a race weekend or even a long race is really well done in the game... I was so grateful when the rain let up for the last 5-6 laps, because by that point in the race I was so mentally exhausted. It was a weird feeling that really made me appreciate what the guys that do it for real must go through. Every second of every race you're constantly on edge, because the tiniest slip up can cost you so dearly.

They did make the cars a little more durable than their real life counterparts, which is appreciated since I didn't see any option to adjust damage realism. You still can't play bumper cars and the game is very heavy handed with the penalties for aggressive driving and bumping. After a few races you get a feel for the game, though, and I'm racing penalty free now all the time.

They took the concepts of career mode that were founded in Dirt and GRID, giving you a trailer and paddock area that act as the games menus. During a race weekend, there is a garage area that's really awesome in the way it's integrated so seamlessly into the driving. Pull into the pits during practice and qualifying, and the crew will push the car back into the garage and jack it up, allowing you to talk to the engineer, select different tires, make adjustments to the car, etc. When you're done, they plop you back on your wheels and out you go. You never leave the first person view. They have added interviews with the press which affect your relationship with the team. I suppose it's a cool idea, but the interviews ask mostly the same 3 questions and have the same set of answers every time (how's the car, how are you doing as a driver, will your team be successful this year?), so it gets old a little fast. The interview after a race win is very similar, but at least the questions were different. Still, I like that they're at least trying new things. There are some other aspects of the mode, like the ability to become the number 1 driver for your team instead of number 2, and the ability to negotiate new contracts for more money if you do well.... all little things that are very simple, but help flesh out the mode and separate it from simply having running standings over the course of a season.

Too bad I lost all my progress (including a pair of 1st place finishes), due a GAME BREAKING BUG! It sure does suck to be starting over. Basically, if you save and quit the game after doing a practice session in which you unlocked a card upgrade, your save will get borked. If you move on and do qualifying, choosing then to save and quit after that but before the big race, you're fine. If you quit after a race weekend and don't do what I did and quit halfway through one, you shouldn't need to worry. This affects all versions of the game, and a patch is inbound.

All in all though, it's a fantastic game that I would have easily overlooked if it wasn't getting glowing reviews from just about everywhere. It's not for everyone, and the difficulty borders on hardcore (though you do get a couple of rewinds you can use... 3 when playing on medium), but it's a gorgeous game that'll really take you through the wringer mentally, and provide you with true feelings of greatness when you grab that first win.

[AntonThaGreat]

Going to pick this up this week, I'm excited. I've been happy with any racing game Codemasters has released since the first McRae Rally, so this is a no brainer for me.



It definitely looks great. Thanks for the information about the save bug, I'm going to watch out for that.

[muddi900]

Codemasters has the F1 license? I don't follow the sport anymore, but this has my interest. Going to check it out.

[J Arcane]

So did no one hear the news?

There's no AI in the game.

Seriously, is this 1982? Epic fail on Codemasters' part.

[AntonThaGreat]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

So did no one hear the news?

There's no AI in the game.

Seriously, is this 1982? Epic fail on Codemasters' part.

This doesn't make sense, while the AI in Grid 1/2 isn't exactly smart, it does a pretty decent job of getting the NPCs around the track. Why couldn't they port that system over? It looks like the same engine to me...

However, this point may be moot. The parts of Grid that I enjoy are single rallies. I'll just have to see for myself, though I wish there was a demo now.

[Tayaya]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

So did no one hear the news?

There's no AI in the game.

Seriously, is this 1982? Epic fail on Codemasters' part.

Whatever, man. Playing the game, I didn't care... the experience from the drivers seat was still incredible, and when someone passed me I did have to work hard and drive well to take the position back. The cars in the front of the pack spread out as I would expect them to, while the main pack was somewhere back around 7th or 8th place. It all panned out as I would expect to see in a real race, and the cars in front of me seemed to be mindful of my presence at times and didn't barrel straight into me in the corners.

It's one of those cases where I could pick the game apart at the coding level and bitch about the things that are weird or downright insane in today's gaming world, or I could sit down, strap in, shut up, and have a good fucking time racing. I'm going with the latter on this one.

Additionally, I would consider the best-reviewed F1 game in the last several years, and one that outsold Halo: Reach and Dead Rising 2 (in the UK) combined an epic fail. Imprefect? Flawed? Plenty of room for improvement? Sure.... epic fail? Nah.

[AntonThaGreat]

So... this game is hard. But in the games defense, I was a bit tipsy.

Hamilton I am not.