Developer: Codemasters , Feral Interactive (Mac)
Publisher: Codemasters , Feral Interactive (Mac)
Plaform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC (Steam,Mac)
Tested on PlayStation 4
F1 2017 – Review
The F1 series has been the main franchise that brings us videogames about the world’s fastest automotive sport. A genre that changed in the years due to all kinds of rules and regulations, this means that this brand automatically changes from time to time. With newer technology and stricter usage of resources sometimes limiting constructors it is nice to notice that Codemasters now has brought us over 30 years of F1 history in its new title F1 2017.
Story
The career mode starts with an aspiring new driver that gets various contracts offered to him/her. You decide who you will join, as each team has unique bonuses and difficulties. For example, joining Ferrari will make winning easier because of their advanced vehicles but they give less bonuses than McLaren, that is less advanced but pays out better. You watch through the eyes of the driver in each step, forming a more realistic view from the office, browsing your laptop, to last minute changes behind the wheel in the pits.The driver needs to manage everything, so you have ultimate control of the final product. The career mode is brought almost perfectly, the only thing that is a bit upsetting is the overall staleness of the whole. Most of the times it feels like rinse and repeat when it comes to sessions, a real background or story would have made it more interesting, but it’s not that it hurts the game in any way.
Graphics
Currently we are in the heydays of current gen gaming with developers pushing boundaries to create even more beautiful and more advance games and F1 2017 really wins points for its attention to detail. First of all each form of damage is clearly visible and signs of wear surround the cars during the heat of battle. When missing the corner and landing into the side or lawn patches your tires will have residue of grass or other substances. These will come off after some wear and you will see the tires degrade with little marks and holes appearing on its surface, a clear visual warning that you must go to a pit stop or drive less aggressively.
This also means that the overall quality of the graphics are of a high level. The Formula One vehicles are all beautifully rendered with clearly readable decals and the tracks are a great representation of its real life counterpart. In all the time playing there was not a single mistake made due to unclear visuals or rendering errors.
Sound
Ask any person what they know about F1 and one of the first things they will come up with is its sound. For years its engines have blasted out a distinct humming that was greatly under fire due to fuel regulations and downsizing of the engines themselves. Now in F1 2017 you race the newest vehicles and even though them being only a 1.6l displacement they do sound nice. If you play events you can grab hold of older versions and relive that classic V10 music blaring from the exhaust pipes. During races you only hear your engine and radio chatter from your manager. If you play this game on PlayStation 4 you have the option to have the radio play through the controller, this is a neat little feature and gives that extra immersion. Sound effects are really well made and perfectly timed to correspond with events.
Gameplay
F1 2017 is a race simulator game that focuses on racing with Formula spec vehicles. In this installment we have a wide selection of playable modes: Career, Grand Prix, Multiplayer, Time Trail, Event and Championships. With the Grand Prix being short races and Championships custom events we will now take you more in depth to the probably most anticipated mode for this title, the career mode.
When starting the career mode you are prompt to create your character, with a few information lines and an avatar it does not really influence the game in any way but it is cool for recognition. After this is done you choose a team, as mentioned in the story section this influences the bonuses and difficulty in a certain way. As a newbie the team will be neutral towards you, so it is in the best interest to score high and raise their happiness. When you underachieve they will dislike you and you might lose your contract. A new fun feature is the rivalry between team mates, you get judged on performance and it is a race to who gets the most points first. It’s a little side quest but it helps bonding and the team’s liking towards a certain driver.
F1 2017 is not just a racing game, it’s a full career simulator in which you need to control A to Z. From developing new parts or increasing durability to managing your given recourses (you get four units of each engine components to use throughout the season).To get your hands on this newer technology you must score development points, these are gained by completing challenges in practice runs and races. What makes this even more realistic is that there is a chance that the R&D will fail and you must redo it.
Parts wear out and can break down during races. You best use old parts for practice and qualifying and install the new ones for the actual race. Just as the heart of the car, its feet will get tired after a while, which means that during each race there are pit stops planned for switching out to fresh rubber. This is essential because if you don’t keep your eyes on your tires they might get punctured and this drastically decreases grip; you can still keep on going, but only for a short while. If you get confused by all this managing, you hopefully don’t have a lead food, because fuel is very limited and you must either drive economical or refuel more than normally to compensate your high revving urges. More fuel equals more weight and that means slower acceleration. The game handles really well with a controller and you have a feeling of ultimate control all of the time, just be sure to keep your eyes on the wear of the tires, if you don’t want to spin out uncontrollably.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was Schumacher as he didn’t become a legend after one race. You will notice that coming in first or second will be near to impossible in the first runs. After gaining better parts and learning the works of the game you slowly crawl up in the ranks. Luckily it is not mandatory to finish high at first and this only slowly increases as races progress. Different teams will notice your appearance and will grow accompanied to you increasing your reputation.
Conclusion
F1 2017 is a fun racing simulator with a huge management career mode that might put off some drivers but when you get used to it you will be glad that this game is so bulky. Drive the newest cars or if you want to get behind the wheel of a classic, all can happen in this elaborate title. It is realistic yet perfectly playable and with a racing setup this might give you the 300km/h fix you need.
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