Latest F1 racer is a step ahead of its previous incarnation

Codemasters PS 4, Xbox One, PC Rs 4,000 approx. It appears that Codemasters have taken inspiration from this season’s Formula 1 season when it comes to F1 2016, the latest incarnation of the annual simulation game that has to appease the most demanding of motorsport fans and gamers.

It’s difficult to improve something that goes through a fresh release every 12 months, yet it’s relieving to discover that this year’s version is a noticeable improvement on F1 2015, which as the first current-gen F1 game for PS4 and Xbox One arrived as a bare-bone disappointment.

Straight away, the return of embarking on your own personal career as a created driver brings back the sense of being on the grid yourself, rather than competing as one of the curren22 grand prix drivers that featured on last year’s instalment. It means gamers users have the choice of embarking on their own career to try and beat the likes of Lewis Hamilton, or lining up on the grid as the three-time championship winner to continue re-writing history.

The AI, even though last year’s was the most competitive ever seen on a motorsport game, has taken a giant step forward that not only enables wheel-to-wheel racing through multiple corners but actually encourages it.

Being able to race competitively — much like the exciting 2016 season has offered so far — is hugely rewarding when it goes right, and incredibly frustrating when it goes wrong, but it makes it fun — and that’s the most important thing.

More importantly though, the career mode is perhaps the most detailed of its kind. A big emphasis has been put on the Research and Development aspect that sees a series of programmes required to be completed during practice. Drivers embarking on their career mode will have to learn the tracks, improve their tyre management and perfect their qualifying pace in order to gain points that result in upgrades throughout the season, with the addition of an R&D engineer as well as an agent looking after matters off the track.

Crucially, there’s a much bigger range in difficulty in F1 2016. Those who may consider themselves on the better side of motorsport gamers may find themselves struggling when it comes to ramping up the diffi- culty, given the legend setting has often proven far too easy for any experienced motorsport fans.

This time around, take away all the driving aids and include manual starts, pit lane limiter and car set-up choices, and you’ll no longer find yourself driving off into the distance. This makes winning any race much more fulfilling, as well as perfecting your strategy where it once felt pointless given the ease at which races unfolded.

Speaking of strategy, there’s now a risk-reward factor that adds to the excitement. Fuel and tyres are no longer harbour the guaranteed limit that has come before F1 2016. Wear your tyres too thin and you could have a puncture at 80% wear, of manage to run them down to the canvas yet make the finish line. Fuel can also be saved or spent how you see fit, depending on driving style, and the addition of being able to switch your strategy when your engineer offers it gives you one extra thing to think about.

It feels like F1 2016 is representative of the current state of Formula 1: rejuvenated, exciting and finally fun again. As this season is proving, there’s still plenty of work to be done before it’s the finished article, but it is one the way up — and the one guarantee is a Mercedes will almost always win. THE INDEPENDENT