With the new Formula One season still in progress, even in the world of videogames one of the most loved titles by fans of this sport is back, namely F1 by Codemasters. For the 2018 edition, the developer's goal was to refine and refine a formula that had worked last year, and maybe add a few more elements in terms of options. Will he have succeeded? The answer, we tell you right away, is yes, and in the next few lines we will explain why.
F1 2018 is covered by official licenses and therefore can exhibit the brands, cars, drivers, circuits and statistics of the current championship. As has become tradition, it also offers different game modes, from classic Time Trials to Championships, divided into tournaments and skill tests where it is possible to use vintage cars (20 iconic cars in the history of this sport), up to Special Events and the online multiplayer sector, with a whole series of options and challenges to try your hand at.
The most important new feature of internet gaming is the mode Super License, where the strongest players can compete against other users with similar driving skills and style.The selection of contenders takes place based on several factors, including the experience accumulated by the driver, his safety index, ie the number of times he has been involved in accidents in previous races, and the scores acquired in relation to the ability of the defeated opponents. In this way the races should be more balanced and more correct from various points of view. During our tests there were few online gamers, so it was not possible to "seriously try the system".
In short, today I can tell you that it seems to work well, but tomorrow? I honestly think it should be tried over time and "under stress", so I prefer not to overbalance it too much. The same goes for the stability of the servers.
But it's Career mode obviously the flagship of F1 2018, this year, among other things, enriched by new functions. Its structure remains that of the previous edition, with the creation of the virtual driver, the choice of the team each with very specific objectives to be respected and the race weekends made up of free practice, qualifying, races and invitations to special events. But the presence of the press and the ability to choose the rival seasonal they greatly expand the experience and deepen it.
These elements, in fact, influence various aspects of the protagonist's career, and from certain points of view shape his character. The game presents indeed a real reputation system influenced by the answers that the gamer gives, within one time limit, to the journalist Claire, who does the interviews before, during and after the races. A haughty attitude, by divo, will make the driver unpleasant to everyone, with direct consequences also in the race, "igniting" new rivalries and the determination of the opposing drivers, while one more sports it could calm the waters, and so on.
Last season F1 2017 introduced a detailed progression system to the series and RPG styles which allowed the player to focus on developing the engine, chassis and aerodynamics of their car. Such a system, called Research and Development, is confirmed again this year albeit in a more simplified way, seen that the majority of users he lost interest in this aspect of the game before completing the development cycle of the car. However, this always happens through points acquired by hitting certain objectives while driving your own car: the upgradeable features change But from stable to stable, each with different strengths and weaknesses.
Not only that: the development of the single-seater components can be stopped or limited by any changes made to the regulations between one season and another. This means that you have to pay attention to how to set up projects so as not to find yourself wasting time. Anyway, at some point in the championship, you can put an end to your development cycle and keep all future points for the next tournament.
The beating heart of a sports simulation remains the playability, and then once you get on the track it is impossible not to notice the changes made by Codemasters to a driving system that basically reconfirms itself as an excellent hybrid between arcade and simulation.
Scalability and versatility are the two keywords of F1 2018 gameplay.From this point of view, the system can be customized at will, using a whole series of adjustable aids which, together with the level of difficulty set, facilitate the gamer's task while driving or, vice versa, disabling the various types of media and betting everything on their skills as a hardcore gamer to enjoy a pure simulation even in the starts and in the manual entry to the pits.
And it is precisely by manually managing your car that you can better perceive the innovations introduced by the 2018 edition compared to the past: the guide is more refined, the physics of suspensions and frames are more credible and tire management has become more advanced since now it takes into account the variations of tire temperature even from the inside, influencing the times with the risk of overheating and consuming them quickly.
Road holding is also influenced by other factors, such as weather conditions, the number of revolutions or the ability to manage the ERS system manually under braking and then accelerating, just to give some examples.
All elements that personally forced me with some difficulty to change the driving style and strategy based on the situation, but at the same time exalted for the increase in the level of challenge, also thanks to the good artificial intelligence of the opponents.
Playing F1 2018 you have the distinct feeling of being in front of a real grand prix broadcast on television. In fact, Codemasters' EGO Engine offers the best of itself giving users a realistic graphics to say the least: drivers, cars and tracks, including the new Paul Ricard and the revived The Hockenheimring, each element is reproduced with a remarkable attention to detail, enhanced by the direction in television style and by a system of truly remarkable lighting and weather change management.
Not to mention the new visual elements such as ambient and thermal mist, runway mirage effects and new engine heat mists. All without the slightest uncertainty in terms of framerate, which on PlayStation 4 remains stable at 60fps.
If we really want to find graphic defects then we have to look at the facial animations of the characters, in my opinion that can be improved, and at some effect of slow loading of textures in the background that I noticed in some phases of the game.
Really the audio sector was successful, with the roar of the engines that are realistic and close from the point of view of sound to those of their real counterparts, the effects in general and the commentary from the pits which, as always, provides useful information on the state of the track and on what happens during the race. All in our language with comments by Carlo Vanzini and Luca Filippi.
USEFUL INFOI played F1 2018 on PlayStation 4 trying every mode, especially Career and online.
Duration- The title has a non-quantifiable duration both for the type of game and for the presence of different modes, including online.
- Different difficulty levels that can be selected immediately.
- Supports 4K and HDR on the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One.
- Italian in texts and subtitles, dubbing in Italian.
- There are seven views between inside and outside, and in some you can partially eliminate the newly added Halo, to improve visibility.
- Ability to activate or deactivate many aids, such as the level of damage to your car (realistic, reduced, absent).
- Challenges, even timed, to get points useful for the development of the vehicle or additional objects.
- Additional DLC, such as the 001 Brawn BGP-2009 and 25 Williams FW2003, available in the exclusive Headline Edition at launch and later as DLC.
- Game Name: F1 2018
- Release date: August 24 2018
- Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- Dubbing language: Italian
- Texts language: Italian
With F1 2018, Codemasters takes its sports series one step further. The work of the developers was not directed towards sensational improvements or upheavals of any kind, but rather towards a series of adjustments to a gameplay capable, as always, of proposing a good compromise between arcade and simulation, with the possibility of customizing it more or less to pleasure, and to a structure that is already solid in itself. Without forgetting all the various modes present and all those elements that have helped the series to become so popular, which here seem to add up once again to create a product of fine workmanship, embellished with some welcome structural novelties especially in the Career mode.
Review by Massimo ReinaGraphics
Nothing to complain about the quality of the cars, sceneries, lighting and atmospheric effects: a real feast for the eyes.
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SOUNDTRACK AND DOUBLE ROOM
Good dubbing in Italian, even if some phrases are repetitive and in the interviews sometimes out of context, the songs in the column are of excellent quality while the sound effects in general, especially the rumble of the engines, are very close to reality.
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GAMEPLAY
Excellent driving system, however, can be calibrated at will, and therefore suitable for beginners and experts, good controls with the joypad even if it is preferable to use a steering wheel, good artificial intelligence of the pilots at the most advanced difficulty levels, lots of contents, Career mode even more complete.
