And here we are once again discussing a title assembled in the British workshops of Codemasters, the 2nd in this 2016 (after DiRT Rally) and once again, after only 6 months away I find myself under my hands a racing title (and that racing title) developed by the nice Codies. Let's be clear, they are two driving games dedicated to a different audience, the first was made with a more orthodox approach, while the second (after 6 years) continues to be a title still in beta testing. After the disappointing F1 2010 and the excellent (but not perfect) F1 2012 and F1 2013, we found ourselves in our hands an anonymous F1 2014 as there was the questionable choice to publish it only for the old gen. At the end, F1 2015 was the title of betrayed expectations: although a giant step was taken from a graphic point of view, some small absences in the gameplay and in the game modes, had made the previous edition yet another missed opportunity to achieve the definitive F1 title. In spite of this, Codemasters certainly did not get down in the dumps and this year too it created the 2016 edition of the top single-seater car championship. But will it have succeeded in its intent? Let's find out!
Copycat
With the exception of some new features and the re-introduction of Career mode, the title remains virtually unchanged from the previous chapter, adding as already said, only some news (Manual start, race strategy, Warm up) but also sees welcome returns (Safety car, Career mode). About the manual start, it represents the real novelty of the title (one of the requests from the fans, among other things) and as in reality it will be necessary to engage the clutch, engage the first gear and increase the number of engine revolutions to obtain an optimal start. ATTENTION BUT, because an early departure will be penalized with a drive-through, or in a different case the shutdown of the car. At the choice of the player, who can decide whether to enable it or not, the famous reconnaissance lap (Warm up) has been added. Also introduced a voice recognition system to interact with your engineer via microphone, this will prove very useful to know the condition of the tires, times, position in the race, modification of the race strategy, etc. Also added the new Baku circuit and the US Haas F1 Team. After the unfortunate choice not to include Career Mode in the previous edition, in F1 2016 we see the return of the latter with new features.
If you decide to throw yourself into the "Career Mode", you will be asked whether to face it with difficulty "Normal" or to difficulty "Pro"; in the first we will be able to individually set the types of aid to be used in the race, such as the indicator of the ideal trajectory to follow on the track and the relative speed to be maintained: green= optimal speed; red= excessive speed; in the second instead, there will be no help whatsoever and the simulation will be 100% pure. In Career Mode you will have to choose an avatar and a number for your rider and you can even customize the color and livery of your helmet. Small note against the avatar: it will not be possible to change facial features or eye colors: it will be necessary to select one of those pre-set by the developers. Once these preparations are complete, the final choice will be made: the Scuderia.
The teams are divided by expectations: the high-end ones expect important results in 1-2 seasons, the mid-range ones in 2-4 seasons and finally the low-end ones in 4 or more seasons. By completing the objectives of the team points will be obtained with which we can improve the characteristics of our car, such as downforce efficiency or fuel consumption. Furthermore, depending on the qualifying and race placements, we will see our expectations of being hired by a top team increaseon the contrary, by obtaining poor results we could even be relegated to a low-prestige team. In any case, if you do not intend to try your hand in the long and very demanding Career (you can participate up to 10 seasons), there is the modality "Championship season". This mode recreates the typical weekend of a Formula 1 race. There will then be free practice sessions, qualifications and finally the actual race. It will be up to you to decide whether to participate in a "complete weekend" (free practice duration 90 min, complete qualifying and race length 100%) or the "short weekend" (free practice duration 30 min, single attempt in qualifying and race length 25%) . Alternatively, there is the "custom weekend", where you can set every aspect of the race according to your preferences. "Fast race" it will allow you to compete on a single track or create your own personal season; The "Time trials", are made up of fast laps on the various tracks, in which you will be confronted with a ghost set by the game or downloaded from the Codemasters servers.
The ultimate Formula 1 experience? Almost
I'll be honest: I must confess that it is the first time in many years (since PS1 to be precise), that I am putting my hand back into a title dedicated to Formula 1 racing, so much so that my expectations of recognizing the full validity of this title were quite low, almost not up to par. But after the experience gained with DiRT Rally, reboot of one of the most popular rally brands in the world, which surprised me with unparalleled realism, but so realistic that the game it was not very enjoyable to such a neophyte, making it suitable almost exclusively for a veteran audience of rally simulators. With F1 2016 was it the same thing? Not at all!
Despite the English software house, has opted once again for a tutorial that is limited to simply explanatory videos on what should be done and what should not be done in a single-seater car, I had no particular difficulties in maneuvering my Force India. Thanks to the trajectory indicator and a little patience, even non-expert players can fully enjoy the title (even with basic aids only). Apart from the dubbing phases, poorly managed by the CPU (you will often come across dubbed drivers who will not dodge when you arrive, or even ram you at the slightest change of trajectory when overtaking), there are no substantial defects in the gameplay.
At full throttle!
Although we are faced with a product of fine workmanship, the graphics of F1 2016 have been substantially recycled from its predecessor, however the new version of the Ego Engine (v3.0) holds up without problems the 60 fps per second on PlayStation 4 also on the most demanding tracks such as Monaco or Baku, both at the start and during the course of the race. Also this year the braking is impeccable, but the traction is poorly realized. The damage model has also been slightly improved: setting it to simulation level, even a trivial collision can be the end of a race. The ailerons, of course, break in the most disparate ways while, on the other hand, the damage to the body and bodywork is (still) only hinted at. Nothing to complain about the sound sector: the roar of the engines is faithfully reproduced as expected in the driving simulator and the voice of our engineer is always clear and well marked. We do not recommend playing with a pair of headphones as the voice of our engineer will be drowned by the deafening noise of the engine and you will be able to listen to the precious information that could be decisive for the success of the race, therefore limit yourself to the use of a single headset with microphone.
Unchanged multiplayer
The multiplayer is practically identical to that of last year. The real novelty is the participation up to a maximum of 22 players. It is possible to take part in a race in various configurations that with the collisions activated, it will turn into a crazy unplayable destruction derby. Better to throw yourself into the complete or Custom Championship with some friends and where the remaining cars are controlled by the CPU; set up right can be a source of great competitive and cooperative fun, especially if the host has a very good connection.
