A solid, if unspectacular, effort
Aderivative of its predecessors in many ways, F1 2018 suffers from the same problem most sports games do: How do you create different experiences with only a year’s development and with strict licence requirements?
However, F1 2018 has a couple of aces up its sleeve. First, Brendon Hartley. New Zealand’s first Formula One driver in my lifetime, will always raise the profile of the game in this country and, based on my online racing experience thus far, Kiwis are snapping him up.
The other is a much more indepth and involved career mode, which forms the bones of the entire experience for most players. Previously, F1 has dabbled in areas of media interaction and car progression, but has stepped it up this season.
As with previous years, you must complete certain objectives throughout practice and qualifying to earn research points you can put towards upgrading the car as you see fit. But this year there is an added morale and team performance aspect.
Basically, you have a microphone thrust into your face after every session and, depending on your responses, you gain a reputation as either a diva or a team player. What you say has a direct effect on the morale of the team and its opinion of you. That means you can go for the Hamilton approach and be loved by the media and disliked by your team or viceversa.
It all makes career mode a little more personal and less stale than previously.
There are also more classic cars available, which is a welcome addition but ultimately just a distraction. A highlight for me was racing the Schumacher 2004 Ferrari, with its screaming V10 engine.
The handling of this game will divide fans. There are parts I really like, and others I loathe.
It’s good for beginners, and for people just looking to race, but from a simulator perspective it’s lacking. You have almost no feel when you are driving, which means you have almost no idea of how much grip you’ve got. If you race without activating traction control, you will be bouncing off the barriers without warning, with no way of avoiding it happening in the future.
The online mode, as far as I’m concerned, should be avoided unless you are playing with friends, because it is populated with the lowest forms of gamers known to man. You will be taken out in a straight line or wiped out by a guy not braking at turn one. It’s really not a fun experience and it’s certainly not one for me. Though I’m sure it’d be a blast playing with reliable friends.
Frustrations aside, it’s another solid effort from Codemasters — solid albeit unspectacular.