F1 2012 Review
Developer: Codemasters Studios Birmingham
Publisher: Codemasters
Platform: Playstation 3, X-Box 360, PC, iOS
Release Date: Out Now
In recent years Codemasters have focussed heavily on driving games until they perfected the process to make ultra-realistic games that are also lots of fun to play. This year’s title builds on the already solid foundations as the team now add new tweaks to further increase its overall performance.
Starting up the game you notice the first new feature the “Young Drivers Test”. This acts as the tutorial for the games controls and on how a F1 car handles for those who are not seasoned professional Formula one drivers. To help you get started there are a number of video tutorials and accompanying tests which include tests on how to drive in a straight line, how to manage a hairpin turn along with how to use features such as the KERS and DRS. This new feature is very helpful and innovative in adjusting a player to the controls of the game and its features before you partake in any real racing.
The main mode in the game is of course the career mode which has received a few notable new features. Firstly you are now able to switch team mid-season should you decide to jump ship.
A new careers hub gives the player much more detailed information about their current progress and the “corner by corner hot laps” videos are very useful for looking back over any mistakes you might have made on certain laps. This helps you learn from any mistakes made and improve your driving skills. These are all very helpful and make for a very satisfying experience.
‘Champions mode’ in which includes six World Champions that are currently competing in the 2012 season — Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. They all serve as challenging “boss style” races and require a lot of skill in order to beat, especially as the conditions of each race are set to suit the particular world champion.
The Season Challenge mode allows players to take part in a ten race season starting for a team sitting in the lower ranks and trying to progress your way up through the ranks. Your ability to move team is dependent on the player’s abilities to complete certain objectives and be able to beat certain rival drivers. This mode is very practical for players who want quick gaming sessions rather than the long career mode. There is also the new One shot qualifying feature whereby a player has one lap in order to qualify for a race though the older three stage knock out is still available for fans who are more accustomed to this.
One of the new and in my opinion best new features is the changing weather system. The weather system in this game adds a great sense of realism to it in that each race you play has unpredictable weather and regardless of any pre planned strategy you need to adjust to the conditions accordingly as you play. Some tracks could be dry, some it could be raining while others could be sunny on one side of the track yet the other can remain wet from earlier rainfall. This along with the very responsive controls gives a very realistic driving experience and a very satisfying one.
Downsides to this game like any of the annual yearly released games are although new features are always brought into games like Formula one for the most part they remain the same and in the case of Formula Ones multiplayer experience this serves to be true. Practically nothing new or different has been added to the games multiplayer experience and for all its newer features this is something that stuck out and with more and more emphasis nowadays being focused into online gaming it is a disappointment for no major changes to be introduced in terms of online play with Formula One 2012.
Overall : Formula One 2012 is a solid improvement over its predecessor and the new features introduced into the game outweigh the lack of improvement to the online side and give for a very satisfying racing experience that players are sure to enjoy.
For those looking for an authentic, realistic yet lots of fun racing experience then Formula One 2012 delivers.
SCORE 8/10
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