It’s a new era for the world of Formula 1, with some of the biggest changes seen in the sport in four decades shaking not just the status quo, but the spines of drivers as teams struggle to control the quirks of engineering of this year new cars. Codemasters has done the same with F1 22, stopping short of infusing this season’s porpoise phenomenon into its driving model, but playing just enough with its reliably robust yearly racer that it feels fresh enough in several of the right areas, even if the overall package is sure to be quite familiar to returning fans.
Rest assured there is it is more like F1 22 than just a stable of the latest cars and the new Miami circuit. Visually, it’s treading water this year, but little touches like neat new post-race clips of battle-worn cars and updated camera angles on old podium celebrations slightly rejuvenate parts of the series. F1 Codemasters that have been stalled for many years. The new voice of the race engineer and the ability to swap commentator David Croft for Alex Jacques also help set F1 22 apart from previous F1 games, which have felt increasingly recycled in this department. A new adaptive AI mode joins the standard and already huge list of driver aids and accessibility options, and seems to keep the pack at a striking distance from less experienced racers. This should make racing more exciting, regardless of skill. I watched my eight year old fight with the adaptive AI and while I can’t see the full difference between the two available levels, he seemed to keep it on the hunt without causing the AI to capsize. entirely.
“
The bigger bullet points, like the welcome inclusion of the F1 drag race format and the fancy VR support for PC gamers, are obviously harder to miss. The F1 series is pretty late to the table when it comes to VR support, so I think veterans of other existing VR racing games are unlikely to be impressed in the same way we were a few years ago, but the novel value of having it available in the official F1 series is very strong. With its dedication to replicating the minutiae of the real thing, from the paddock to the track, the F1 series has been a wonderfully immersive recreation of the world’s premier motor sport for some time. Experiencing it through a VR lens is twofold.
However, not each new feature of F1 22 earns a place on the podium.
Pad Lifetime Toys
With Codemasters confirming earlier this year that new installs of the ‘Braking Point’ story mode it introduced in F1 2021 are on a two-year cadence, F1 22 won’t No include the next chapter in the airbrushed but serious version of F1’s behind-the-scenes fictional fairy tale study. In its place is F1 Life, a lifestyle-oriented mode that focuses on customizing your F1 driver’s outfit and living areas, but feels so bland that it largely amounts to little more than a backdrop. monetizable for main menu screens.
F1 22 puts the spotlight on this new mode by launching it straight into play with the default F1 Life settings on first launch. What’s nice about this is that afterwards… it can be completely ignored, and doing so ultimately doesn’t detract from the typically robust running experience that surrounds it. At best, F1 Life seems like a catch-all to justify a constant stream of rewards for your time playing, only those rewards are often just furniture and tiles. At worst, it’s a mechanism that’s here to squeeze some spare change out of people willing to shell out a few bucks for a cosmetic trinket. Other players can visit your space, but I really don’t understand why they would want to. It’s probably a sad sign of the times that, while previous F1 games featured iconic cars from the sport’s history, F1 22 features an extensive array of… designer rugs, armchairs and lamps. No one has been excited about a lamp since Jafar played fullback for Agrabah.
“
In theory, I understand the desire to capture a taste of that lucrative, off-track luxury enjoyed by real-life F1 superstars, and yes, I made momentarily distracted by the V6 coffee table, but I don’t know if adding interior decoration and the ability to dress your driver avatar as an aspiring Puma activewear influencer was the perfect way to do it.
The addition of collectible supercars feels a bit closer to the kinds of wacky toys real-life F1 drivers can afford, and there’s at least a gaming component attached to these. Taking extensive inspiration from the Pirelli Hot Laps program run at real grands prix, where F1 drivers are recruited to launch expensive exotics around the tracks with various VIPs on board, F1 22 features high-end supercars from Ferrari, AMG, Aston Martin and McLaren for both fastest laps and a selection of custom driving challenges. They’re an interesting novelty, very different from anything present in previous F1 games, but in practice they get a bit plain and I eventually found myself opting to skip them. Through no one’s fault, the supercars themselves are relatively sodden compared to the purpose-built open-wheelers that represent the pinnacle of F1 engineering today, but they convey a fairly decent sense of speed, grip and weight compared to their contemporaries. on rival runners. However, the drift is surprisingly unspectacular; a severe lack of smoke leaves it strangely sterile.
Very large rims, very large pockets
The real stars of F1 22, of course, are the new F1 cars, which are the slickest looking in years, though they have some interesting driving idiosyncrasies that call for some F1 2021 tweaking.
With their larger wheels and tires, plus their extra bulk, the 2022 F1 cars are the heaviest ever. They’re also lower and stiffer, with less upper body downforce and a renewed focus on ground-effect aerodynamics that suck cars onto the tarmac the faster they go. In F1 22 this has translated into cars that feel as if they have lost a fraction of their agility and feel especially stiff when attacking curbs and humps. Also, I found I needed to be even more delicate on the throttle coming out of corners than in previous years, though they also seem a bit more prone to understeer at times. within to them. The result is a handling model that I’d hesitate to say is better than the old F1 cars from 2021 and earlier editions, but it is one that feels believably in line with the familiar features of the new ones. It’s just different, and the nuances of the new cars are, if nothing else, an interesting challenge to tackle.
However, while some notable handling changes have been injected, the real essence of F1 22 – the excellent My Team mode first introduced in F1 2020 – remains largely the same. Campaign through GPs, full research and development, juggling finances; if you’ve played F1 2020 or F1 2021, you’ll know what to expect. There are a couple of nice amendments though, like the new option to start your first year of My Team as a richly backed operation with revamped facilities and a bank balance big enough to attract 45-year-old Mark Webber. of his comfortable retirement. The F1 series has always been one of the few racers that can make it exciting to seek a position in the lower order, but having the ability to contend with the top teams straight away makes a lot of sense for returning players who have managed their teams. F1. from minnows to megastars several times already. Sponsorship decals no longer disappearing from your car despite re-signing with existing partners is also a good thing; it’s a small fix, but it was always annoying having to manually reset them mid-season, even after renewing their contracts.
