[Review] F1 2015

[#REDSTAR ♪ ♫]

game information:

Developers:Codemasters Studios Birmingham
Publishers:Bandai Namco Games, Codemasters
Release Date:July 21, 2015
Platforms:PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Linux

 

 

F1 2015 is the best version of itself on PlayStation 4, where developer Codemasters has largely lived up to the promise of current-generation hardware. It has excellent visuals and a seriously upgraded handling model that delivers some of the series' most authentic racing. But it's also a game that suffers from a lack of ambition, and some glaring omissions in terms of features, and broken multiplayer, with the result being an underwhelming racing game.

 

Our F1 2015 PC review covers a lot of those shortcomings, but in a nutshell: F1 2015 lacks major features that were standard from F1 2010 through 2013, including the career mode that let you develop your driver over multiple seasons and engage in heated battles with your teammate for dominance. It lets you race just a single season as a real-world driver (either the 2014 or 2015 F1 season) who of course can’t grow or change as you play. The handling model is refined in some key ways, like how it simulate grip and tire wear, but the cars in F1 2015 don't feel as aerodynamically sensitive or as demanding as they did in some earlier editions of F1, even on full realism settings. If I didn't stomp on the gas too hard, and paid attention to my tires, I felt like the cars were almost driving themselves around the track. That wider margin of error took some of the fun out of it.

 

That's the bad news, and while it’s a big downer that makes F1 2015 tougher to recommend than its predecessors, there's also quite a bit of good to talk about. To start with, it's a sharp-looking game, with gorgeous, lifelike cars and convincing lighting that changes with the weather (and without the soft-focus look that made the PC version so disappointing).

 

 

 

More importantly, the performance was very smooth throughout my time on the PS4. F1 2015 is a pretty great drive on PS4 (notably better than the PC version) — it may lack the features of previous versions, but it offers also some extraordinarily authentic driving on the track. Tire degradation and grip are modeled better than ever before in the series, and that can make for some very special racing that tests every aspect of your race craft.

 

The rock-solid PlayStation 4 controller helps bring this to life, too, with an incredible level of granularity in the controls. I felt like I was getting as much out the throttle and steering controls as I would with a racing wheel.

 

Aerodynamic modeling doesn't seem nearly as good, however. Racing in close proximity to other drivers, in turbulent air, doesn't feel substantially different from being alone in clear air. That's a pretty major thing to be missing from an F1 sim, where the cars are all about aerodynamic downforce.

 

Still, fuel economy and tire wear keep things interesting on the track, to the point where I strongly recommend doing longer races (25% length or higher). I've had epic races in changing weather conditions where I was forced to adjust my driving style on the fly to make new tire strategies work. Getting performance out of a dying set of wet-weather tires for a crucial couple of extra laps, then switching onto high-performance slick tires just as the track dries off, and going on a tear through the field is one of those moments where you feel like you know what it is to be an F1 driver -- if only for a few minutes.

 

 

That feeling goes away a bit around AI-controlled drivers, who are way too prone to getting into your back tires. It was annoying; I'd be having a great run through a corner, then I'd hear a thud and my car would start to spin out from behind as another driver nudged one of my rear wheels like a cop making high-speed takedown maneuver. Sometimes it was my fault, because I'd over-braked heading into the turn and slowed down too much, but just as often it was an AI driver diving back onto the track after running wide, or getting on the gas too early. And once they hit me, I noticed they just seemed to drive through, ignoring the contact entirely.

 

A much bigger problem is the fact that the PlayStation 4 version of F1 2015 doesn't seem to have working multiplayer. Every time I tried to join a session, after a lengthy search, I would get a message that I had failed to join. This happened regardless of what type of game I tried to find. It just didn't work, which is a pretty huge blemish on an otherwise strong F1 game.

 

 

Verdict
Though deeply wounded by a poverty of features and broken multiplayer, F1 2015 puts its best foot forward on PlayStation 4. Great controls really let the strong handling and grip models shine, and it looks great. It’s easier to recommend as a single-player game, though you’ll need to watch out for its bumpercar AI drivers.

 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
MINIMUM:
OS: Windows 7 64 bit or Windows 8 64 bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad @ 3.0GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 @ 3.2GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Intel 4th Gen Iris Graphics or AMD HD5770 or NVIDIA GTS450
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 20 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible soundcard
Additional Notes: Supported Graphics Cards: DirectX 11 Graphics Card Required Intel: 4th Gen Iris or Higher, Intel Iris Pro Series AMD: HD5770 or Higher, HD6770 or Higher, HD7750 or Higher, R7 250 or Higher, R9 Series Nvidia: GTS450 or Higher, GT545 or Higher, GT640 or Higher, GT740 or Higher, GTX900 Series

 

 

RECOMMENDED:
OS: Windows 7 64 bit or Windows 8 64 bit
Processor: Intel Core i7 4770 or AMD FX 9370
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: Intel 5th Gen Iris Pro or AMD R9 290 or Nvidia GTX970
DirectX: Version 11
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 20 GB available space
Sound Card: Direct X compatible soundcard
Additional Notes: Intel, the Intel logo and Iris are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.