Next to Last | F1 2014 Review

F1 games generally aren’t as popular as other racing games for their difficulty and realism. Arcade racers are generally easier for newcomers to pick up, but simulation racers have their own loyal following as well. F1 is smaller niche of simulation racers because it is narrowed down into a specific sport. Like all sports series some titles are exceptional, and others feel more like a copy and paste just to dish out to the fans. F1 2014 falls into the latter category.

Racing games come with the expectation of having amazing graphics and F1 2014 does not disappoint. It can’t compete with a racing game on the next (current) gen so I wasn’t blown away or anything, but it doesn’t feel dated like other games still being made on the PS3. F1 2014 has some slick looking cars, and there is always that nice feeling when the sun shines on the road, or when the sky downpours on the track. The sponsor details make F1 feel more authentic, but the sound of the engines is the music to my ears. The roaring engine coming out of a turn or zipping past an opponent will never get old. All you need to do is close your eyes and rev that engine to escape into infinite bliss.

The racing mechanics are tight and accurate making for some intense racing. I say accurate as a person who’s never stepped inside an F1 car, but what I’m really referring to are the controls that feel very responsive to the controller.  If I crashed, it was my fault, not the games. There is a very easy mode for complete beginners. You can turn a number of assists on and off like braking, steering, turning, etc. Seeing how F1 can be pretty overwhelming and difficult for beginners, it isn’t a bad idea to have these options.

The only downside is how shallow the game feels when these assists are active. I turned every one of them on to test them and throughout the entire race I only had to hold one button and steer left or right. The car slowed down and accelerated on its own. It was helpful, but extremely boring. The best way to play F1 — as I’m sure anyone will tell you — is to have (almost) all the options off.

That’s when F1 2014 picked up and became the intense racing game fans of the series love. The precision required for the corners and nailing the racing line is a must if you want to get even in the top five.

Saying it is one thing, doing it is another. F1 2014 has one of the steepest learning curves I’ve experienced in a racing game. I spent my time on the qualifying track trying to get the hang of everything, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t make a turn.

Literally an hour was spent trying to understand the proper amount of break and acceleration to not slam into the wall on every turn. I was frustrated and upset the entire time. But I was getting better. It clicked eventually, and I when I drove the fastest lap on the track I felt an incredible sense of progression. I didn’t even win the race, but I accomplished something that proved I learned.

That progression of gameplay ability is the most rewarding aspect you’ll find in F1 2014. For series pros, you won’t have as much of an issue as I did, but for more casual racing fans, the successful feeling is worth the frustration.

I didn’t think this game would be tiring, not in a sense that a horror game like The Evil Within can drain you, but after a couple races I felt exhausted. The amount of mental strain placed upon you to make sure you never slip up on a single corner is enough to drain any gamer. There were easily some laps where I never blinked, not intentionally, but my focus was that strong. You need that amount of focus to perform even remotely good in F1 2014.

Naturally you can fine-tune the car in countless ways and go over every inch of your racing. You can select what tires you want in your next pit-stop, and even change your fuel mixture while you’re driving. This makes F1 2014 as deep as ever, but truthfully, a lot of this went over my head. I messed with the car here and there but I won’t pretend I spent hours testing out all the different ways I could tune my car. While this is technically a good thing, it isn’t anything new, so it has become an expectation, not a feature.

The main issue with F1 2014 is the lack of new content. Like many sports games, releasing a title every year can have a diminishing return and that stands true for F1 2014. There are even some modes missing from the last title, and besides a couple new tracks and cars, there is nothing to set F1 2014 aside from previous entries.

There is a career mode and you can decide how long the season will last so you aren’t stuck committing to anything too long. I enjoyed career mode, but never felt like I had to dive too deep into. It didn’t hook me in any special way. I didn’t care about anything outside of the actual racing. Sure, winning a race and seeing the animation afterwards feels great, but the lack of overall presentation made any celebration forgettable. Don’t expect to find some beautiful scenes outside of racing, only menus to navigate.

I tried playing online, but no matter how many people I played against I was always put into the wall. Maybe it’s my bad luck, or my lack of skill, but I didn’t spend much time online. The Scenario mode is a nice touch and I really enjoyed it. It’s essentially a challenge mode that gives you interesting tasks, like passing a racer two cars ahead of you. They are generally short tasks so if you don’t always have the time to play a full race, you can tackle a challenge or two.

For a racing game, F1 2014 seemed pretty slow. Outside of the racing, of course. The menu screens were slow and cumbersome. They weren’t difficult to navigate, and felt slow. I was surprised by how long it took me to get into a race. One instance the menus weren’t working in any way I could understand. The game wasn’t technically frozen, but it took so long to change between screens it sure felt like it was frozen. I had to reset my system and then things worked better, but I didn’t find any joy or intrigue outside of the track. The only immersive part of the game was the racing, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

I won’t say F1 2014 is an amazing racing title, but I had fun with it. The problem is I can’t really see a justification in purchasing it. If you have F1 2013, there is no real reason to pick up this installment. If you aren’t a serious racing gamer, you are better off playing Need for Speed. If you are waiting for the next big racing game, this also isn’t it. Maybe that will be on the next generation, but for right now F1 2014 is a good place holder, nothing special, but still fun.

This review is based off a review copy of the Playstation 3 veresion developed by Codemasters and distributed by Codemasters Birmingham.