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Every year when a new Formula 1 game comes out, there are two major reactions to the release. There’s one group that whines about how it is the same game with a different set of models, and there’s another group, which in itself is divided. Still, this group pays actual attention to detail and can actually feel the difference between the changes Codemasters and EA make to the game. This is the case with other sports titles like FIFA as well. I belong to the latter group. And, in the SKOAR! Council, there’s only one other human who is with me in this group of F1 fans. He had reviewed the last iteration of the game, and we both had spent hours racing around.
When F1 23 came around, I called shotgun and got playing. As you would have gauged from my leader for this review, I had a love-and-hate relationship with it. There are some inclusions and changes which I couldn’t praise enough, and then there were some which I think don’t deserve a place in a game like F1 23. So, I kept on penning down all my thoughts and condensed them here. Here you go –
Yes! F1 is back with a story mode, Breaking Point 2, which is the second iteration of the mode, with F1 22 being the first one to have it. Now, I had mentioned earlier that there is a divide between the people who like F1 as well. And, this is where the first cracks form. There are two factions that we have in the community of fans – the traditionalists and the not traditionalists. I am part of the former group that likes pure racing and nothing else. The second faction is made up of people who love Drive to Survive.
Breaking Point 2 gives every person of the second faction a chance to draft their own perfect Drive to Survive storyline. Objectively speaking, this is a massive improvement from last year, with the revised storyline having an actually captivating story. That is all that I can say without spoiling it for you. For a second, even I was hooked. But, snapped back into reality. Because loyalty. Well, if you are loyal to your team in this mode, you get brownie points.
There’s F1 World as well. I don’t understand why they are doing this, and I probably never will. From the looks of it, EA being EA will use this to plague the game with microtransactions, and they are setting the stage for it. It is marred with unnecessary incentives and things that even in the last edition of the game felt unnecessary. The feeling hasn’t changed for me. To add to that, the creators of the game have shifted things like F1 Grand Prix and Time Trial modes into F1 World, which seems like the first push from EA into their deep sea of microtransactions.
The part which made me fall in love with the game is the new mechanics implemented in the cars. The cars in F1 23 sport much better handling and responsiveness, feeling more true to life than they did in F1 22. With the new regulations coming into play in the actual sport last year, just like the teams that are competing in the sport, EA also had a hard time nailing the performance of cars on track. But this year, it is much better. The traction control is on point, and the cars respond very well to all the inputs. I tested the game on a PS5, so I was using the controller, and everything from the steering to throttle and braking controls were just perfect!
The representation of the relative performance differences between the teams is also something that is much better than last season. This also includes driver behaviour. If you are chasing a RedBull around in an Aston Martin on a track where you have the upper hand, the battle for whatever position you are on will play out exactly how you’d expect it to happen in an actual race.
Also Read: F1 22 – New Skin, Old Game?
The AI in the game as well also does not make in-human moves plunging into the side of your car whenever they get a chance to. Now, they leave a lot more space when you are turning into tight corners and act like an actual driver would in that situation. There are still occasions where you will find yourself in the barriers because Estaban Ocon tried to race you when you were lapping him, but for the most part, EA and Codemasters seemed to have figured things out.
As for the tracks, the changes made to the layouts and surfaces have been incorporated across the board. This also adds to the entire experience for traditional fans of the sport like me, who try to live their dream of driving the fastest cars around Spa Francorchamps!
And, if you were wondering how the race in the new Las Vegas street circuit would play come the actual weekend, well you can get a sneak peek into that as well.
In terms of the graphics, the game has carried over a LOT from its predecessor. The graphics, especially at the settings the game picked up by default on the PS5, felt amazing! The blur on the banners when you are passing the famed parbolica at Monza or taking the recently infamous Turn 10 at the RedBull Ring, all add that feeling of immersiveness and speed which my fellow member of the council felt was lacking in the last iteration of the game.
As for the car models in themselves, the liveries are as usual true to life. Business as usual there. There is not much to say here. It is all what you would expect from a game coming with a legacy as strong as F1. Even the lower class cars like the F2 cars, and Safety Car, which you can drive around, make for a visual treat that fits the pallet of someone as staunch of a traditionalist as I am.
F1 23 had a LOT of expectations riding on it, and in my opinion, it surpassed all the benchmarks set by its predecessor. Everything from the handling of the cars to even the second season of Breaking Point makes the game really interesting, even for people who would want to give this arcady racing sim a chance. But, with that said, I don’t like the path that the makers of the game are headed on with F1 World. It seems like an unnecessary stretch and foundation for a micro-transaction-laden game. I sincerely hope that it does not turn out to be that, but all I can do is hope.
Developer – Codemasters
Publisher – Electronic Arts
Platforms Available – PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
Tested on – PlayStation 5