F1 2014 is the sixth release by Codemasters from its Formula 1 game franchise, as well as the final one to be launched on old-generation consoles.
After getting a first look at an early version of the game at Bandai Namco, here are my thoughts on the final release.
With the F1 2015 game launching early next season on new-generation consoles, the difference between F1 2013 and 2014 was always going to be considerably smaller as focus switched to next year’s Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC title.
I personally thought last year’s game was a big improvement over its predecessor and gave it an 8.5/10 in my review. The classic content was fun and brought a new element to it, while the graphics and handling were much improved.
I was disappointed to hear that classic content would not be featured in F1 2014. It was probably my second favourite game mode, behind career, and I hope it returns in future releases, as I know it was a popular addition last year.
However, F1 2014 is still a good game overall and several improvements have been made, including modifications to the handling model due to the seismic regulation changes that have been introduced to the sport at the start of the season.
Opening Menu
The first thing you see when you open up the game is obviously the trailer, which will be familiar to those of you who subscribe to the F1 Games from Codemasters YouTube channel.
David Croft continues to do the voiceover, which I always think is a nice touch, and the menu screens are almost identical to those featured in F1 2013, meaning they are simple and easy to navigate.
I have ranted about this in my last two F1 game reviews, so I’ll keep this bit brief. I still really miss the old menu styles from F1 2010 and F1 2011, with the paddock/motorhome areas that add realism and a bit more sophistication to the game. It is a real shame.
For those wondering, there are a few more name choices in this year’s title as well as more options when it comes to picking a helmet design – 44 in total, and some of them are actually pretty cool.
Evaluation Test
New for 2014 is the opening evaluation test, which replaces the young driver test. Regular F1 gamers will definitely skip this section, but it is a good feature for rookies to get to grips with the controls and get a better idea of what difficulty setting to use.
It also gives players a first chance to sample the new handling model, which is very different thanks to the rule changes introduced to the sport in real life. I’ll go into it in more detail later, but it takes some getting used to.
I personally preferred the young driver test feature and I think they had more scope to expand that idea, by making it more realistic (maybe testing for a few teams, three laps in each car, and then you get to pick a contract for your career mode?).
Graphics
Visually the F1 game franchise has taken another step forward, with tweaked and improved graphics that make the game look even more lifelike. There is still quite a way to go, but I am sure we will see a big step forward when next year’s game comes out on the new-generation consoles.
There was also a slight improvement in the game graphics from the early version I tried at Bandai Namco and the final copy I tested at home. I like how there is now tyre smoke when you lock-up and the cinematics before and after races seem smoother and more detailed. However, long distance replay camera shots are still not great.
The crash physics seem a bit better than before, but still is quite some way off where I would want it to be – I can crash at any speed and still not lose a wheel, although there are obvious restrictions for Codemasters in this area. It is also annoying that all of the steering wheels are the same, despite several teams running the old design in real life.
The power-unit sounds are good on the T-cam view, which I always use. Each of the three manufacturers has a different tone and the volume is okay, although it is a bit too quite on off-board camera views. Overall though, I think the sound is fairly precise.
Handling
The cars definitely feel very different, even with traction control on, and it takes a few races to get used to the handling changes. There is less grip, with more wheel-spin off the line at the start and out of slow corners. You can feel the decreased downforce levels, although I think the car still feels a bit too planted to the ground, and extra torque. The steering response feels heavier, making the car less responsive.
My driving style has had to be adapted to suit the 2014 cars. The only assists that I run in the game are ABS, traction control (on medium) and an automatic gearbox. Meanwhile the front-running cars do feel different to the backmarkers, which is how it should be.
Career Mode
A few changes have been made to career mode for F1 2014. Firstly, you can now pick any of the 11 teams on this season’s grid to race for in your rookie campaign. I personally think you should be limited to the bottom five to start off with, but there we go. I like my first season to be a challenge, so I chose Sauber.
Another fresh feature is that there are now three different types of career mode to choose from. There is a short season (seven races), a medium season (12 races) and a long season (all 19 rounds). I, of course, went for the latter. This is a good addition for new players who don’t want to compete in a full championship.
The career hub is pretty much the same as 2013, bar a few small tweaks, and the difficulty settings for the whole game are now a bit more customisable than before. My first race in Australia didn’t go too well, as I started 18th (I use expect difficulty) and finished 14th – it is difficult to string together an error-free race now with the modified handling model.
AI
The AI has taken a small step forward in this season’s title, but there is still plenty of room for improvement here. Whilst they are a little bit more aggressive and do defend, they back out of overtakes quite easily and are very tentative on the opening lap, which means I often make up quite a few positions.
I have also found a problem with the game where if I am overtaking a car, sometimes the AI will back out of the move and slow considerably, meaning either it loses lots of positions or it bunches up the field. This is frustrating and is something that needs looking at.
Scenario Mode
This is an area of the game that I have only tested briefly so far. There are more tasks in scenario mode to complete and the ones I have tried are fun and mix things up. I found a few of them in last year’s game quite addictive, but not so much this time round.
Multiplayer and Online
I can’t comment about this too much but from what I have read and seen, it appears that multiplayer and online racing in F1 2014 is very similar to last year’s game and there have not been too many changes in this area.
Conclusion
Overall, F1 2014 is a good game. However, the step forward from last year’s release to this one is disappointingly small and I expected a bit more. It is still fun and I will definitely be playing it a fair bit, but it just feels rushed and is filling in the gap before F1 2015 – which has obviously (and understandably) had much more attention – is released early next season.
I think a lot of people will skip F1 2014 and wait until next year’s title, which is fair enough. Video games are expensive and unlike previous releases in the franchise, I am not sure it is worth paying £35 for. However, it does make me more excited to see what F1 2015 has to offer.
Release dates:
 |
| © Codemasters |
With the F1 2015 game launching early next season on new-generation consoles, the difference between F1 2013 and 2014 was always going to be considerably smaller as focus switched to next year’s Xbox One, Playstation 4 and PC title.
I personally thought last year’s game was a big improvement over its predecessor and gave it an 8.5/10 in my review. The classic content was fun and brought a new element to it, while the graphics and handling were much improved.
I was disappointed to hear that classic content would not be featured in F1 2014. It was probably my second favourite game mode, behind career, and I hope it returns in future releases, as I know it was a popular addition last year.
However, F1 2014 is still a good game overall and several improvements have been made, including modifications to the handling model due to the seismic regulation changes that have been introduced to the sport at the start of the season.
 |
| © Codemasters |
Opening Menu
The first thing you see when you open up the game is obviously the trailer, which will be familiar to those of you who subscribe to the F1 Games from Codemasters YouTube channel.
David Croft continues to do the voiceover, which I always think is a nice touch, and the menu screens are almost identical to those featured in F1 2013, meaning they are simple and easy to navigate.
I have ranted about this in my last two F1 game reviews, so I’ll keep this bit brief. I still really miss the old menu styles from F1 2010 and F1 2011, with the paddock/motorhome areas that add realism and a bit more sophistication to the game. It is a real shame.
For those wondering, there are a few more name choices in this year’s title as well as more options when it comes to picking a helmet design – 44 in total, and some of them are actually pretty cool.
Evaluation Test
New for 2014 is the opening evaluation test, which replaces the young driver test. Regular F1 gamers will definitely skip this section, but it is a good feature for rookies to get to grips with the controls and get a better idea of what difficulty setting to use.
It also gives players a first chance to sample the new handling model, which is very different thanks to the rule changes introduced to the sport in real life. I’ll go into it in more detail later, but it takes some getting used to.
I personally preferred the young driver test feature and I think they had more scope to expand that idea, by making it more realistic (maybe testing for a few teams, three laps in each car, and then you get to pick a contract for your career mode?).
 |
| © Codemasters |
Visually the F1 game franchise has taken another step forward, with tweaked and improved graphics that make the game look even more lifelike. There is still quite a way to go, but I am sure we will see a big step forward when next year’s game comes out on the new-generation consoles.
There was also a slight improvement in the game graphics from the early version I tried at Bandai Namco and the final copy I tested at home. I like how there is now tyre smoke when you lock-up and the cinematics before and after races seem smoother and more detailed. However, long distance replay camera shots are still not great.
The crash physics seem a bit better than before, but still is quite some way off where I would want it to be – I can crash at any speed and still not lose a wheel, although there are obvious restrictions for Codemasters in this area. It is also annoying that all of the steering wheels are the same, despite several teams running the old design in real life.
The power-unit sounds are good on the T-cam view, which I always use. Each of the three manufacturers has a different tone and the volume is okay, although it is a bit too quite on off-board camera views. Overall though, I think the sound is fairly precise.
Handling
The cars definitely feel very different, even with traction control on, and it takes a few races to get used to the handling changes. There is less grip, with more wheel-spin off the line at the start and out of slow corners. You can feel the decreased downforce levels, although I think the car still feels a bit too planted to the ground, and extra torque. The steering response feels heavier, making the car less responsive.
My driving style has had to be adapted to suit the 2014 cars. The only assists that I run in the game are ABS, traction control (on medium) and an automatic gearbox. Meanwhile the front-running cars do feel different to the backmarkers, which is how it should be.
 |
| © Codemasters |
A few changes have been made to career mode for F1 2014. Firstly, you can now pick any of the 11 teams on this season’s grid to race for in your rookie campaign. I personally think you should be limited to the bottom five to start off with, but there we go. I like my first season to be a challenge, so I chose Sauber.
Another fresh feature is that there are now three different types of career mode to choose from. There is a short season (seven races), a medium season (12 races) and a long season (all 19 rounds). I, of course, went for the latter. This is a good addition for new players who don’t want to compete in a full championship.
The career hub is pretty much the same as 2013, bar a few small tweaks, and the difficulty settings for the whole game are now a bit more customisable than before. My first race in Australia didn’t go too well, as I started 18th (I use expect difficulty) and finished 14th – it is difficult to string together an error-free race now with the modified handling model.
AI
The AI has taken a small step forward in this season’s title, but there is still plenty of room for improvement here. Whilst they are a little bit more aggressive and do defend, they back out of overtakes quite easily and are very tentative on the opening lap, which means I often make up quite a few positions.
I have also found a problem with the game where if I am overtaking a car, sometimes the AI will back out of the move and slow considerably, meaning either it loses lots of positions or it bunches up the field. This is frustrating and is something that needs looking at.
 |
| © Codemasters |
This is an area of the game that I have only tested briefly so far. There are more tasks in scenario mode to complete and the ones I have tried are fun and mix things up. I found a few of them in last year’s game quite addictive, but not so much this time round.
Multiplayer and Online
I can’t comment about this too much but from what I have read and seen, it appears that multiplayer and online racing in F1 2014 is very similar to last year’s game and there have not been too many changes in this area.
Conclusion
Overall, F1 2014 is a good game. However, the step forward from last year’s release to this one is disappointingly small and I expected a bit more. It is still fun and I will definitely be playing it a fair bit, but it just feels rushed and is filling in the gap before F1 2015 – which has obviously (and understandably) had much more attention – is released early next season.
I think a lot of people will skip F1 2014 and wait until next year’s title, which is fair enough. Video games are expensive and unlike previous releases in the franchise, I am not sure it is worth paying £35 for. However, it does make me more excited to see what F1 2015 has to offer.
 |
| © Codemasters |
- Japan - 2nd October
- Australia - 16th October
- United Kingdom - 17th October
- North America - 21st October
No comments:
Post a Comment