F1 2016
Friday morning, it’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, there is the smell of burnt petrol and rubber in the air, what more could you want?
That’s right racing fans F1 2016 from Codemasters and Bandai
Namco has finally hit our shelves, and my hot little hands. Boasting a tonne of
new and returning features F1 2016 is aiming at being one of the most realistic
and immersive F1 experiences to date, but more on that later let’s get to the
racing!
First up we will set up our own quick race. Track has to be
Melbourne, team, let’s go Red Bull and we’ll play as Aussie Daniel Riccardo. From
here you have full control on how you wish to set up the race, race distance,
practice sessions, qualifying are all easily accessible. Preferences on AI ability can be tweaked, your
assists for controlling the car and of course environmental factors are all a
click away. For the moment I’m going to leave it default. Onto the race!
The race begins with you sitting on the starting grid. Race
crew around you and TV cameras in and about everywhere. Hit the start race
button and it all comes alive. Manual start, this is new. Hold in the clutch
button and build the revs, oh that sound. Cockpit view is the view of choice,
the lights go out we drop the clutch and we are off!
The first thing you notice is just the sheer sense of speed.
You feel the car squirm a little as you grab each gear building to a blistering
300+ kmph. First corner, hold your breath, squeeze the brakes and turn in,
aiming for that apex. Get it right and you can breathe again, get it wrong, the
game loses its G rating, at least in my household it did. Arms went up,
expletives may have been said. To my joy, Riccardo had the same response,
throwing up his arms in disgust as we spun.
Next on my run around was the career mode. This is where F1
2016 really starts to shine. Select an avatar, customise your helmet design,
pick your driver number and select your nationality and driver name. Choose
from any of the teams to begin your 10 year career. The paddock has returned
where you meet with your agent and team engineer, you discuss offers,
expectations and car setups.
Completing the F1 experience we have. The return of the
safety car. Our voices were heard! Pit stops have been tweaked, you need to
keep your eye on the pit wall for any added info needing to be passed on.
Damage and penalty systems have all been upgraded.
But what about the little things? Every time a new racing
game hits, I find myself looking at what is different. What technological advance
has been included to make me go wow? So far I have two visual wow moments.
Coming up behind another car, you are greeted with a heat haze that moves with
the car. The other came after a very aggressive lap on super soft tyres. On the
out lap they were nice and shiny, by the time I was done with them, you could
see the stickiness of the rubber. There were holes in them and you could tell
they were worn. The same as you would see on TV.
Controls are pretty standard for a racing game, this review
has been done on the Xbox One with a controller. The haptic feedback in the
controller is brilliant but can be a little annoying in the wet. Once you are
in the wet, you realise just how much better F1 2016 would be with a steering
wheel.
Visually, Codemasters have done it again. The cars, teams
and tracks all look amazing and driver’s likenesses have been captured well.
Environmental changes have a massive impact on the way your car behaves and
impact on your visibility and tactics.
For the multiplayer, let’s jump over to our other resident
racer Royboy and get his thoughts.
“F1 2016 multiplayer gives you the
option to race online, with a full grid of up to 22 cars. You can jump in for a
quick online race or set up your own championship and race for the world
championship in a full or selected number of tracks. If you don't have 21 other
F1 enthusiast friends it doesn't matter as even if you have just one other
friend online you can fill the rest of the grid with AI drivers. My online
associate was Lewis Hamilton whilst I was the boy Max Vestappen in the Red Bull
and round one began in Australia. We were both blown away by modern technology,
as we could both customise our race settings without impacting each other. I
was using full manual gear box set up where as my friend had full auto, and
full traction control. In the pits with the the live tv feed I was able to
watch my mate drive on the track instantly keeping up with his every move and
mistake, there was no lag or screen freezes, and the detail right down to
changing gears was evident. In fact changing views I could watch him live the
same as what was on his screen. Everything available during career mode is
there in the multiplayer season with the exception of Commentary introduction
to sessions and the podium cut scenes which is a little disappointing as you
can't virtually share in the champaign soaking after a race. Over all the
multiplayer mode for F1 is like the rest of the game amazing”
Time and time again I have seen that F1 2016 will reward
consistency and punish mistakes. In the world of Formula One this is about as
real as it gets. It is a racing game for fans of F1.
I could go on and on and spend countless hours of your time going over the complete and amazing depth that F1 2016 has to offer, quite simply, if you're a fan of F1 in any way shape or form, you're going to love it. If you're a fan of racing games in general this has plenty to offer and won't overwhelm if you don't let it.
Strap yourself in, turn up the volume and enjoy.
Positives:
- Visually stunning
- Upgraded systems
- Greater depth
- Career development
Negatives:
- Using a controller feels clumsy
- Back and forth in paddock can get monotonous
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One
Genre: Racing Sim
Initial Release: August 19th 2016
Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Genre: Racing Sim
Initial Release: August 19th 2016
Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Pat (Snoogan512/Snoogs)
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