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Formula One has seen something of a resurgence over the last couple of years, especially in the UK with two British world champions. Codemasters is capitalising on this with F1 2010. The game starts with a press conference where you introduce yourself to the assembled ranks of journalists and tell them which team you’ll be driving for.
It’s a clever spin on the usual name and details-entry process, but is also the first of your many dealings with the press. Anyone familiar with Race Driver: Grid and Colin McRae: Dirt 2 will be instantly at home with the way F1 2010 incorporates your life away from the track as well as the racing itself.
Of course, the sport is as much about politics as racing and there are plenty of opportunities to use what you say at interviews to increase your chances of a drive at another team next season. You do this by selecting from the multiple-choice answers to questions from the press.
This provides interest outside of the races, but it’s the on-track action that makes or breaks the game. The good news is that F1 2010 is a superb racer. It caters effortlessly for all abilities by providing full assists for novices (it’s basically impossible to crash), but also allows you to customise the broad easy/medium/hard modes by switching individual settings on and off. You can choose the easiest mode, for example, but turn off automatic braking and choose to show the racing line and braking zones only for corners rather than the entire track. As your driving skills improve, you can turn off the help; it’s hugely satisfying to put in a top-six qualifying lap with the assists off.
As it’s an official licence, all 12 teams, 24 drivers and 19 circuits are present, although not Yamamoto or Heidfeld, who were mid-season replacements. Each circuit is modelled to perfection and looks great (especially the night race at Singapore), but it’s the dynamic weather that will cause your jaw to drop. You’ll only see rain at tracks where it’s common, such as at Silverstone and Spa, and apart from looking highly realistic, physics hasn’t been ignored. When the heavens open, grip levels drop but objects (such as trees) can keep areas dry. Also, when the rain passes, a dry line appears and you can keep your wet tyres cool by briefly moving outside of this.
It’s this level of realism that puts F1 2010 head and shoulders above other racers. For example, you can change brake balance and adjust engine revs out on track, and your race engineer will tell you when this is necessary. For those that want to take on the engineer’s job, you can tweak every conceivable setting while in the garage, but there’s also an easier method where you can move a slider to activate a driving style, such as oversteer, neutral or understeer.
Another familiar Codemasters feature is the concept of flashbacks. If you make a mistake, you can rewind time and try the corner again, for example. At harder settings, fewer (or no) flashbacks are available.
In the main career mode, your objectives will depend on your team. Drive for Lotus and finishing the race might be your goal, but with McLaren or Red Bull anything less than a podium finish could be considered failure. Another objective is to beat your teammate. Do this and you’ll get parts upgrades, and also be promoted to the number one driver in the team. There may also be timed challenges, say a certain laptime, in order to get a new part.
Outside of your career, there’s also a quick-race mode, time challenges and multiplayer. The latter uses the Games for Windows Live platform, which you can sign into with your Xbox Gamertag if you have one.
It’s been a long time since the last truly great F1 simulation on the PC, and we’re relieved that F1 2010 has taken up the mantle. As always, we recommend playing racing sims with a wheel rather than your keyboard, but whichever you use, F1 2010 easily deserves its Best Buy award.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Price | £30 |
| Details | www.codemasters.com |
| Rating | ***** |
