Date played: August 25th
Platform: PS4
I've been waiting for this game for a while now, and it's finally here!
In the past two years, I've slowly become a true F1 racing fan, watching every qualifying session and race. It's been lots of fun, as this year, Ferrari is finally giving Mercedes a run for it's money. There's a big battle in the middle of the pack too, with Force India, Haas, Renault, Williams and Toro Rosso all performing rather well. Only McLaren and Sauber have been really struggling. I knew that my recent love of F1 would transfer well to the video game. I loved the demo for F1 2016 last year, and this year, the improvements seemed pretty good.
I started with the game's enormous career mode. I made myself a woman pilot (my daughter insisted), which is pretty cool considering there's never been any women pilots in real F1 yet. I then had to pick a team. Each team has different requirements. For example, you're not expected to do very well in a Sauber, but you are expected to win in a Ferrari. I picked Force India, as it seemed like a good middle ground for a beginner,, with Esteban Ocon as my partner (another of my daughter's requests...). I have a few driving assists on, including the incredibly useful 3D driving line, but I've taken off a few or lowered their settings to have a more challenging time.
See, the thing about F1 racing is that every damn instant, every tenth of a second, is intense, and requires a lot of concentration. So even with the assists, and with the controller-friendly control scheme, the game is always hard.
I decided I wanted the real F1 experience, so I'm setting up the season as full length races, including all practice runs, all qualifying, the pace lap, manual starts, a giant tech tree and multiple pit stops. There's so much going on here... Fuel and tyre management, having the best racing line, pitting, overtaking, defending and even communicating with the pit crew!
It's really a complex and impressive video game. I played through the entirety of the Australian Grand Prix and it was a wonderful experience, if a bit nerve-wracking. Things went well in practice. The game is setup really well here, with exercises made to acclimatize the player to the track. You can earn research points here, and it really works well at teaching me how to drive the track. I posted a decent time, in 12th place.
Then in qualifying, I did really well again, with a few very good laps in Q2 and Q3, netting me a 6th position on the grid, better than my team expected. Then, it was finally Sunday, race day in Melbourne.
What an exhilarating experience this was! I faced a grueling 58 lap battle around Albert Park, a wonderful park in Melbourne, Australia. I had set my pit strategy to 2 stops, with the first two stints in Ultrasoft tyres and the last one on Supersoft tyres.
The opening moments of the race were as exciting as they are on TV, with all pilots vying for a spot at the head of the pack. I defended my position well, and ended up around 6th place for a while, so pretty good for a first race.
Of course, I had a few battles throughout the race. I had a few encounters with Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, and my own teammate, Esteban Ocon. However, my real battle was against Danny Ricardo, racing in his home country. On many occasions, we fought neck and neck for position. He passed me brilliantly at one point. I raced pretty steadily, and didn't have any major issues aside from some light damage to my front right wing, repaired easily during a pit stop.
Two things contributed to my rise in the placement towards the end of the race. First, my pit strategy worked fucking wonders! Many other teams had shorter stints or extra stops, so I overtook Red Bull's Ricardo this way, as well as my own teammate, who opted for a different strategy. In the end, I was battling with Felipe Massa from Williams.
The second thing that really helped was that both Vettel and Hamilton retired due to mechanical problems! This made lots of space at the head of the pack, leaving Bottas in first place and Raikonnen in second. I just had Massa in front of me, and the podium was mine...
Many slower pilots were in the way though, so I had to dodge the various Saubers, McLarens and Haas of the world to reach my target. In the end, I passed Massa and placed 3rd with a few seconds to spare in front of my closest rival! Not a bad first weekend for the underdeveloped Force India car, and a rookie driver.
The whole game is so well polished, it's a joy to play. The controls are perfect, the interface is easy to ready (even if it's full of info), the sounds are amazing, it runs at a solid framerate, and it looks fantastic. Sure, it's not as pretty as some other racing games, but it's no slouch either. After the race, the winning celebrations were well made, the drivers recognizable, but ugly, and the replay was particularly fun to watch.
Of course, this being an epic, 58 lap race, I was exhausted. My hands were numb, sweaty and cramped. My heart was beating fast. I had completed my first weekend of F1 racing.
Platform: PS4
I've been waiting for this game for a while now, and it's finally here!
In the past two years, I've slowly become a true F1 racing fan, watching every qualifying session and race. It's been lots of fun, as this year, Ferrari is finally giving Mercedes a run for it's money. There's a big battle in the middle of the pack too, with Force India, Haas, Renault, Williams and Toro Rosso all performing rather well. Only McLaren and Sauber have been really struggling. I knew that my recent love of F1 would transfer well to the video game. I loved the demo for F1 2016 last year, and this year, the improvements seemed pretty good.
I started with the game's enormous career mode. I made myself a woman pilot (my daughter insisted), which is pretty cool considering there's never been any women pilots in real F1 yet. I then had to pick a team. Each team has different requirements. For example, you're not expected to do very well in a Sauber, but you are expected to win in a Ferrari. I picked Force India, as it seemed like a good middle ground for a beginner,, with Esteban Ocon as my partner (another of my daughter's requests...). I have a few driving assists on, including the incredibly useful 3D driving line, but I've taken off a few or lowered their settings to have a more challenging time.
See, the thing about F1 racing is that every damn instant, every tenth of a second, is intense, and requires a lot of concentration. So even with the assists, and with the controller-friendly control scheme, the game is always hard.
I decided I wanted the real F1 experience, so I'm setting up the season as full length races, including all practice runs, all qualifying, the pace lap, manual starts, a giant tech tree and multiple pit stops. There's so much going on here... Fuel and tyre management, having the best racing line, pitting, overtaking, defending and even communicating with the pit crew!
It's really a complex and impressive video game. I played through the entirety of the Australian Grand Prix and it was a wonderful experience, if a bit nerve-wracking. Things went well in practice. The game is setup really well here, with exercises made to acclimatize the player to the track. You can earn research points here, and it really works well at teaching me how to drive the track. I posted a decent time, in 12th place.
Then in qualifying, I did really well again, with a few very good laps in Q2 and Q3, netting me a 6th position on the grid, better than my team expected. Then, it was finally Sunday, race day in Melbourne.
What an exhilarating experience this was! I faced a grueling 58 lap battle around Albert Park, a wonderful park in Melbourne, Australia. I had set my pit strategy to 2 stops, with the first two stints in Ultrasoft tyres and the last one on Supersoft tyres.
The opening moments of the race were as exciting as they are on TV, with all pilots vying for a spot at the head of the pack. I defended my position well, and ended up around 6th place for a while, so pretty good for a first race.
 |
| My fabulously pink Force India car, during the first lap of the Australian Grand Prix |
Two things contributed to my rise in the placement towards the end of the race. First, my pit strategy worked fucking wonders! Many other teams had shorter stints or extra stops, so I overtook Red Bull's Ricardo this way, as well as my own teammate, who opted for a different strategy. In the end, I was battling with Felipe Massa from Williams.
The second thing that really helped was that both Vettel and Hamilton retired due to mechanical problems! This made lots of space at the head of the pack, leaving Bottas in first place and Raikonnen in second. I just had Massa in front of me, and the podium was mine...
Many slower pilots were in the way though, so I had to dodge the various Saubers, McLarens and Haas of the world to reach my target. In the end, I passed Massa and placed 3rd with a few seconds to spare in front of my closest rival! Not a bad first weekend for the underdeveloped Force India car, and a rookie driver.
The whole game is so well polished, it's a joy to play. The controls are perfect, the interface is easy to ready (even if it's full of info), the sounds are amazing, it runs at a solid framerate, and it looks fantastic. Sure, it's not as pretty as some other racing games, but it's no slouch either. After the race, the winning celebrations were well made, the drivers recognizable, but ugly, and the replay was particularly fun to watch.
Of course, this being an epic, 58 lap race, I was exhausted. My hands were numb, sweaty and cramped. My heart was beating fast. I had completed my first weekend of F1 racing.
