PAL RETAIL BUILD REVIEW
- it is best F1 game I have ever played (and I've played them all I guess),
- driving model (all assists OFF) is the most sophisticated (AKA best) in the series history,
- algorythms for tyre wear and fuel consuption are exceptional - you take your car through "Car Evolution" process in Careeer or World Championship modes to gain some experience in handilng under different conditions of tyre and fuel. You can choose the way wear&consuption are represented - scaled or real - depending of the percentage of race length,
- AI for other drivers is much better then ever before. They brake better and you have no fear of having them smacked on your back after the straight. However, I still do not like "hard" AI setting, since they drive like a bunch of suicidal maniacs on amfetamins. "Normal" remains my favourite mode at this moment,
- supports FFB in 240 degree mode with only one lamp (motor) on - as in GT3. However, FFB is weak, but it's there,
- graphics and sounds are amazing, but we knew that from preview builds,
- Time Trilas with Bronze, Silver and Gold "gears" are one hell-of-a-challenge - and probably the feature I like the most at the moment (especialy because you drive it in different time-of-the-day setting then in "official" modes). You can grab Bronze with some effort, Silver is a hard-work which involves precise-set-up a Ferrari or Renault for each course, while Gold is pretty much still impossible,
- car set-up feels more sophisticated then ever in series althogh it remains in familiar settings - minor tweaks can do a big difference and I finally like what I can do with my Mechanical-skills in the field of precise set-up,
- Career Mode is still my favourite mode,
- game even supports tilt function of Sixaxis for steeering which works better then I've expected. It's not suitable for serious driving, but if one takes a time to train it, good results can be done I guess,
- you can choose to be a female driver if you like
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- you can't choose Croatia as your country of origin
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- Trophy Room is a nice penthouse apartment with car-and-trophys-showroom for wallk around,
- Jerez track can be unlocked as a bonus.
Only downfall is forcing the above-the-helmet view. It is pretty much impossible to drive from in-cockpit, since you can't properly see the track at all and real distance from other cars can't be percepted. Full-screen view is also not my favourite, while out-of-car is out-of-the-question. New side-view looks nice but it it's not intended for driving at all. If you can live with view above the helmet, then this is F1 game pretty much to die for.
It is a great game; while I have to be honest to say it has no major gameplay evolutions from the past games (like new game modes and so on), this game delivers best AI in the series ever, beautiful driving model and impressive visuals - which together works as a respectfull premium package. I do not hope they will add "use-PSP-for-rear-view-mirror" functionality as a download - since 2007 F1 game should be at the hard works right now and will probably have it first - but this driving model and FFB functions should do good for online multiplayer racing in next few months.
Multiplayer impressions coming soon, and I hope we'll see each other soon on the Bahrain straight
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