F1 2015 – Gameguide

As a general rule, I don’t like Formula One. It’s not as interesting as the aggressive pack racing of Touring Cars, and by interesting I mean there’s no argy bargy as the F1 cars are too damned flimsy. So with this in mind I haven’t played many F1 games. But I got sent a copy of F1 2015 for the XBox One so I figured I may as well give it a go.

I loaded up the game and went immediately to the Championship Season mode, turned on full damage, turned off breaking assist and launched the game. I began with an easier AI setting, and was soon able to weave my way through the pack and take the number one slot. Keeping it was another matter altogether.

Despite there being a full contingent of drivers, most races in my first season came down to Lewis Hamilton and myself fighting each other for first place. There was a palatable thrill racing by the seat of my pants with Hamilton on my tail. I minor error on my part would see Hamilton pass me by, a more serious error would see the pack catch up to me. A terminal error would see me hit the rewind button.

The more I played the more I tweaked the settings, upping the AI, reducing some of the assists. I even tried racing with cockpit view for a race. Hamilton won that race. The one thing I was too scared to try was Pro Season, this mode features a forced cockpit view and removal of the on-screen display and no re-winds. It’s essentially for seasoned racers who want that authentic experience.

Graphically the game is crisp and smooth, giving you a real feel for racing. The races themselves were available in three options; Short weekend includes a fifteen minute practice, one-shot qualifying and 25% race distance, Normal Weekend includes thirty minutes practice, short qualifying and 50% race distance, while Long Weekend has a full sixty minutes practice, full qualifying and 100% race distance.

F1 2015 is fun, has plenty of options to tweak, but has little depth. The absence of a career mode means you are limited to racing the 2014 or 2015 season, as a current driver in a specified team. There is no rookie needing to prove himself and being offered drives based on his racing chops. This lets the game down a little, but as a pure racing simulation, Codemasters once again prove they are the kings of the genre.

Reviewed on: XBox One

Rating: G Suitable for general audiences.

Reviewed by: Jonathan

GAMEGUIDE rating: