Perhaps the highest level of motorsport. In the virtual world Formula 1 doesn’t quite beat the competition of other racing games but at least F1 23 is an upgrade from the past games.
Formula 1 moved to new generation of cars last year. The new cars are quite heavy, and this had an impact in the virtual world as well. This resulted in traction being very bad in the game last year. This year the handling model and physics have changed to a better direction and the overall driving experience is much nicer.
The biggest change in this regard has been the introduction of precision drive technology that will help specifically players using a pad. This makes the car a lot better to drive because you can feel the movements very well. Thanks to this new technology you can be extremely precise with your steering inputs as well as braking and acceleration: when you do something, it happens on the screen immediately. Due to these factors and the improved traction, it is possible for a pad player to even catch the car in the middle of a high-speed corner. Something that was not possible last year.
Because the driveability is better no matter what you are playing with, the time trial mode is very fun to play. In time trial you basically can try to improve your lap times as much as you want. I’ve spent very much time practising like this, it is just so satisfying to get that near-perfect lap in. When you think you can’t improve anymore, you might still find the last few tenths of a second.
However, too much effort has been put to F1 World game mode. In this game mode you drive with your own customized car and complete daily, weekly, and seasonal goals along with online or offline races to earn rewards that allow you to upgrade the car. In my opinion this is a useless mode in the game that doesn’t add any value.
The way this game mode works is way too complex and there are far too many details into a mode that is not used that much. The problem is that the differences might be huge between cars and doesn’t represent a driver’s real ability. If I play online, I want to have a level playing field where there is no tricks that only few people know of. I tried it once and that was enough for me.
Perhaps F1 World wouldn’t be as bad if it didn’t come with the cost of other game modes. The career mode is essentially a copy and paste of previous years. Additionally, you can’t even play a full championship season as your favourite F1 driver. It should be no surprise that such a thing is a disappointment. But don’t worry, the traditional Grand Prix mode is still there at least.
On a more positive note, the circuits start to look much more realistic every year. Some older tracks have been improved and the new tracks, such as Las Vegas or Qatar, are very well done. The development in this aspect has been good because new circuits are always laser scanned – and slowly old tracks as well.
F1 has traditionally been a game for competitive people. Many issues regarding multiplayer have been improved but there might still occur some odd glitches or desync. This is not a big issue unless you are in the middle of a competitive race. In general, I would say that you can race online without a problem.
My own favourite is the new very fast and flowing track in Qatar. Because it is laser scanned, I can feel every small detail and bump on the road.
Lately F1 games have headed towards sim racing style but if you’d want to get very close to realism in terms of driving feeling, F1 23 might not be the best. F1 games are meant to be for also casual players, therefore it is not possible to go for the ultra sim racing mode.
Better raceability and improved handling make F1 23 a solid racing game. Yet, I think it has potential to be even better. Most likely a change of game engine and a move to only next gen consoles would allow the developers to improve the game further. This could help in unleashing the full potential that F1 games have.
Basic Info
Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: EA Sports
Released: 16 June 2023
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4 & 5, Xbox one & Series X/S
Genre: Racing
PEGI: 3
Pictures: EA Sports pre-release screenshot https://www.ea.com/games/f1/f1-23/media?isLocalized=true
A journalism student trying to learn the tricks of gaming and game journalism. Unfortunately, these days have very little time for games. Enjoying sports and racing games the most.
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