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F1 2016: When I realised that this game was distributed and published by Codemasters, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia cruise through my body. Codemasters are the guys who had me playing Micro Machines on the Sega Megadrive with 3 friends for an absolute age. I mean, Micro Machines was the reason why I missed so many SNES and Megadrive classics. Then I looked further into it and realised that this game was specifically published and distributed by Codemasters Birmingham, who are solely responsible for the official F1 games over the last decade.
Bit of Background: I don’t watch the Grand Prix. I’m not particularly keen on nice cars and speed and I hate not being in control. I’ve recently returned from my Honeymoon in Dubai and Mauritius, and a number of times on the long haul of a flight I was close to asking for a steering wheel so I could take control. However, even though you must be wondering why I chose to review this game, it is solely due to memories. I remember playing F1 World Grand Prix on the N64 and absolutely loving it, I even bought myself a steering wheel (well, I am sure my Mum and Dad bought it for me). You will find that during this review, I will talk about stuff I don’t massively understand. This does not change my opinion on the game at all as I would expect to be confused a number of times – luckily, I have one friend who has been a great help throughout my process of playing the game.
Initial Reactions: Firstly, I must add that this game was super quick to install (slightly raised alarm bells) and I was so grateful for that because I really hate having to wait to play a game, and the wait has been becoming increasingly longer as we have moved onto the PS4 and Xbox One. I know a little bit about the life of Formula one drivers and I was hoping this game was going to embody me within that world and make me feel rich and famous. It started off promisingly, with pictures of known races emanating in the background as you get to look through the variety of different game modes. This was a good start, and it was time to slip into first gear and get the race off.
Gameplay: It wouldn’t be right to write a review about a series game like F1 2016 and not read a few reviews about the previous year’s addition. There were two massive gripes with the previous game in all of the reviews I read.
Firstly, it was slow. This was a big problem because as you can imagine F1 games are pretty much about speed and if they can’t simulate said speed then you may as well be racing on a pushbike in Grand Theft Auto. Secondly, the multiplayer was really dysfunctional. This wouldn’t have been as much as a problem for everyone, but games rely on a strong online mode in the current market and with a ‘laggy’ experience, the youth of the day slate the game completely. So, I started playing this game with all of those aspects in mind.
I decided to start off with the Career Mode. There were a number of choices such as: time trial, multiplayer, championship season, quick race, and so on, but I thought a career is the way forward. You see, I was dying to be rich and famous. I set up my character including his face (was a shame you couldn’t edit the preset faces) and my helmet, then I got to put in my name and nickname. I got to choose my team (went for Red Bull as I thought they would make a flying start) and off I went. I choose medium for the setting out of the 5 different options, starting at very easy and going to some form of Legendary mode. Then, I was given a choice of how I wanted to play the game suggesting it could be short weekends, long weekends or full seasons. I chose the latter as I thought that would be the most lifelike one. I will warn you now, it is very lifelike, but also time consuming (lucky it is the summer holidays and my wife is back at work).
At the start of a career and inbetween races, you begin with your character sitting in the team’s lobby. This seems pretty cool and, as you look around, you can see some recognisable faces (I’m sure one of them is from Sky Sports). In front of you, is your laptop, which is your gateway to all things rac-eday. I have to be honest and say that most of the things from which you can choose were far too technical for me, and I kept on having to phone a friend who hadn’t bought the game yet and ask him what most of the bits meant. Choose from of a number of different tyres, change your fuel consumption, your braking power, your downward speed… you can literally change everything. I decided that I was still being a normal F1 star and fed myself the lie that the driver would never have to deal with things like this in real life.
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on this game…
Before you actually race, there are four different opportunities on which you can use the track. You can take part in the two practice qualifications, then the 2 official ones. With a little bit of research, I found out that all of these modes are perfectly in sync with how they should be in real life.
So, I guess it’s time to talk about how the game actually plays. Off I went from my 10th position (a crash during qualification) and boy, I really mean off I went. This game is quick and it really gave you the feeling of being inside a F1 car. I had to reposition my chair closer to the TV and sit myself right on the edge of my seat before flying round and, at the start, I was crashing into everyone and getting a ton of warnings (again with a bit of research, warnings for crashing are what you would expect in the real world of Formula 1). I even had to laugh out loud as my wife filmed my shouting “Make me!” as the game told me to hand back the positions of the people I had apparently ‘illegally overtaken’. Meh.
Then out of nowhere, I heard someone talking to me from the cockpit (well actually it was my PS4 controller) – what a great little touch that is and something I really appreciated. 25 laps in, and I realised that I was racing very aggressively and having to pit quite a few times. With further research, I understood that this wasn’t a game fault and was more a fault of my reckless driving. Suffice to say, I finished 9th in my first race as I had to repair two punctures. It is worth adding there is a flashback mode where you can rewind back 10 seconds of what you have played and try not to repeat the same mistake. In addition, if you have just been rubbish, you can run the whole race again as many times as you want. First, I thought that his was a bit of a cop-out option, but then I realised that you really did invest time into this game and you would be fuming if some Billy Bloggs you were lapping for the 16th time ran you off the road.
In my second race, I came first and I have to brag that I didn’t use flashback or restart once. It’s worth noting that I kept the track line (used to show you the best route and braking times) on as I really don’t know enough about F1 and driving to feel like I could turn it off. So, I absolutely loved the gameplay – it just felt so real and has me desperately wanting a steering wheel for the PS4. Codemasters had done well with the speed of the game, so it was time to see how they did with the multiplayer.
Simply put, they smashed it. Within minutes, I was in a game and raced myself to fourth with no lag and no glitches. However, I must say one of my biggest issues with this game is related to multiplayer… Why is there no coach split-screen? Do people not play with their friends anymore? Anyway, this wasn’t a major problem, but it did annoy me and I’m sure some of the more sociable people would agree. The last things I will mention related to the gameplay are the varied range of car makes you can choose, the fact you can choose which driver you are going to replace, and how this game has every option in the world. I know I don’t know much about F1, but I literally can’t think of an option they haven’t covered. Oh, and don’t let me forget the safety car… they really haven’t missed anything out in this game.
Nowadays I find it quite tricky with these types of games to judge the graphics. Things look like real-life, however don’t most games try do that nowadays? I suppose I was impressed that even at some insane speeds, the graphics didn’t seem to falter. I tried to look around a number of times to check the backgrounds, but… I kept crashing. Although, to be honest with you they all looked good, I would say the graphics are good. Not amazing, nothing out of the ordinary, but is that the nature of the game. You wouldn’t want anything to stand out like a sore thumb – it never does in the Grand Prix. The cars look slick and when you are out of the, game your lobby looks pretty cool. I believe the CGI characters could look a little better, but this doesn’t really change your opinion on the game. One thing you’ll notice is that all the drivers have some severe black bags under their eyes. Not like they don’t get paid enough to fix that…
(DVDfever Dom: Maybe they have the same genetic condition like me which makes me look like I have the same thing, although (a) not all of the drivers would have that, and (b) when people see my vlogs it didn’t stop some commenting that I should get some sleep(!))
When it comes to the sound, literally, there are two things to talk about here. Firstly, the music during the opening screens and the options are a slow techno which progresses throughout the screen. Nothing special, but it got me hyped and ready to play. Now, the in-game sounds are well… what you would expect them to be. The cars sound like cars, the braking sounds like braking and the whole race sounds like a Sunday afternoon in front of the telly. Some people will read this and think that I am taking a dig at the game – I’m not. There is nothing else you would expect from this type of game. I suppose I could moan that the voice speech from the CGI characters seems a little off, but similar to their graphics, it really didn’t bother me either way.
I’m sure you have noticed through reading this so far that I have enjoyed this game. Although some areas haven’t wowed me, the general aspects of the game have impressed me thoroughly. I have to say, that even after finishing 21 races, I am still coming back and playing this game. I will be for a while – when the wife is out at work and I have a free few hours, I will definitely switch it on. I would say if you want to get the real experience from this, then you have to understand you will have to devote some serious time to this game. It is not something you can pick up and play for just 10 minutes. However, coming from someone who is not a F1 fan, then I would definitely recommend this little gem. It’s not perfect, and it can’t help but be a Formula 1 game, but it is hours of fun-filled thrilling racing. I would go so far as to say that, apart from the first Gran Turismo, this may just be the best Formula 1 game that I have ever played.
If you want to find out more about Codemasters, please visit their website: http://www.codemasters.com/
F1 2016 is out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and click on the packshot for the full-size version.
Important info:
- Publisher: Codemasters
- Players: single player, multiplayer
- HDTV options: up to 1080p
- Sound: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
8 8 9 8.5 |
| OVERALL | 8.5 |
I have been a video game player since 1993 and a music fan since I can remember. I studied Film and Journalism at university and ended up becoming a Primary School teacher. Video games changed my life and sent me on the right track and have stayed with me ever since.
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