F1 2015: best representation of F1 racing to date

Sports franchises are weird, aren’t they? On the one hand we want realism and authenticity: the most accurate representation of any given year in a league or championship. On the other, we want excitement and new stuff to play around with. It must be a struggle to provide the two, especially when the only new additions to F1 are often banal regulations, the addition of a virtual safety car or—at best—a brand new circuit. This year, Codemasters has seemingly given up trying, removing almost everything other than the barebones of a career mode and some online multiplayer options. Surprisingly enough, F1 2015 also represents the purest and most thrillingly breakneck representation of F1 yet.
Even the career mode that remains has been stripped back. There’s no longer the option to create your own personal racer and take him from zero to hero in seven years of championship racing. Instead it’s just one season playing as an already-famous F1 driver. Without the option to create your own driver and start at the bottom, that progression element that dominated the first few seasons of a lengthy career is lessened considerably this year, but the racing is far more immersive because of how little faffing there is to distract you. There are no emails to sift through and no team contract offers to ponder over between championship races.
With so little new to shout about, Codemasters has resorted to calling out features like Pro Season—a championship mode in which all the assists are turned off, the AI difficulty is at its hardest setting, and you’re restricted to cockpit view for entire races. While it seems a little disingenuous to pitch this as something new when you could create these kinds of conditions in previous games, F1 2015’s graphical improvements and the major changes to its handling model are notable. There’s a vibrancy to F1 2015 that was lacking in all previous games. Monte Carlo feels suitably flash and the neon lights of a Singapore night race are dazzling.
Your new race engineer, Jeff, gives you a lot more information as you race, even advising on how you’re dealing with tyre wear as you complete each lap. Sadly there’s no safety car feature, which makes racing incidents a little unnatural. Fortunately, opponent AI has been improved alongside the game’s handling. They’re defensive when you’re on the chase, and aggressive as soon as they get the jump on you, utilising DRS to pull off any passes they can. It can be a little frustrating sometimes when the game’s penalty system dishes out unfair punishments to you for an AI mistake, but the unlimited flashbacks option lets you replay any incidents to avoid that.
With so little new, it’s tough to recommend F1. On one hand it’s the best representation of F1 racing to date, but it’s also not nearly the iterative revolution that Codemasters promised when they essentially admitted that F1 2014 was a stopgap.

 

F1 2015: best representation of F1 racing to date

Sports franchises are weird, arent they? On the one hand we want realism and authenticity: the most accurate representation of any given year in a league or championship. On the other, we want excitement and new stuff to play around with. It must be a struggle to provide the two, especially when the only new additions to F1 are often banal regulations, the addition of a virtual safety car orat besta brand new circuit. This year, Codemasters has seemingly given up trying, removing almost everything other than the barebones of a career mode and some online multiplayer options. Surprisingly enough, F1 2015 also represents the purest and most thrillingly breakneck representation of F1 yet. Even the career mode that remains has been stripped back. Theres no longer the option to create your own personal racer and take him from zero to hero in seven years of championship racing. Instead its just one season playing as an already-famous F1 driver. Without the option to create your own driver and start at the bottom, that progression element that dominated the first few seasons of a lengthy career is lessened considerably this year, but the racing is far more immersive because of how little faffing there is to distract you. There are no emails to sift through and no team contract offers to ponder over between championship races. With so little new to shout about, Codemasters has resorted to calling out features like Pro Seasona championship mode in which all the assists are turned off, the AI difficulty is at its hardest setting, and youre restricted to cockpit view for entire races. While it seems a little disingenuous to pitch this as something new when you could create these kinds of conditions in previous games, F1 2015s graphical improvements and the major changes to its handling model are notable. Theres a vibrancy to F1 2015 that was lacking in all previous games. Monte Carlo feels suitably flash and the neon lights of a Singapore night race are dazzling. Your new race engineer, Jeff, gives you a lot more information as you race, even advising on how youre dealing with tyre wear as you complete each lap. Sadly theres no safety car feature, which makes racing incidents a little unnatural. Fortunately, opponent AI has been improved alongside the games handling. Theyre defensive when youre on the chase, and aggressive as soon as they get the jump on you, utilising DRS to pull off any passes they can. It can be a little frustrating sometimes when the games penalty system dishes out unfair punishments to you for an AI mistake, but the unlimited flashbacks option lets you replay any incidents to avoid that. With so little new, its tough to recommend F1. On one hand its the best representation of F1 racing to date, but its also not nearly the iterative revolution that Codemasters promised when they essentially admitted that F1 2014 was a stopgap.