Hands On: F1 2010 (PS3)

Ever since Geoff Crammond managed to shoehorn an entire F1 season onto an Amiga I’ve been hooked on the sport’s videogame representations. Not so much the sport itself, which has long left me behind, but in terms of the high octane racing sims that come and go on a regular basis I’m usually there day one for my often annual fix of motorsport goodness. I even still have my launch copy of the PS3’s Formula One game that I bought on a whim with Virtua Tennis 3, Motorstorm and Resistance. Somewhere.

I don’t confess to be an expert, though, by any stretch, but I know we’ve got some hardcore F1 fans here on TheSixthAxis so I’ll try my best to be comprehensive with this preview and cover all the areas which I think I’d like to know in advance of the game coming out. If I’ve missed anything obvious that you’d like us to take a look at, drop a comment below and I’ll take specific looks at the game, within reason. What I’d hope you’d like to know first and foremost, though, is how F1 2010 plays.

Well, rejoice – it’s racing nirvana. Whilst the game takes much of its physics (and graphics) engine from Codemasters’ earlier racer DiRT the team have clearly made some tweaks to the handling here and thankfully ditched the drift heavy mechanics and opted for twitch-based steering that marries exactly how I’d imagine a car like the ones in the game to handle with what I’ve seen from in-car footage from the real thing. It’s precise, immediate and works at both speed on the straights and when navigating the toughest hairpins.

Speaking of hairpins, the courses in the game are, from what I can tell, as close as most of us will ever get to racing on them, let alone visiting them in person. From the night race of Singapore to the go-to circuit of Monza, every corner, every banking, every trackside detail is present and correct and the Ego graphics engine handles everything Codemasters can throw at it, albeit at 30fps. Still, that’s a locked tight 30fps that doesn’t falter regardless of how many vehicles are in view at any time, and yes – that includes the Monaco course.

F1 2010 also sports dynamic weather, with serious effects on both your pit strategy and your driving, not to mention your visibility. Probably the most impressive implementation of rain we’ve seen in a videogame yet, Codemasters have really pushed the visuals in order to create the right sort of sensations: uncertainty, panic and, when it all gets a little bit busy on the first corner, terror. The weather comes and goes, so if you’re taking your career seriously here you’ll need to plan ahead and keep an eye on your computer back at the pits.

Speaking of which, the way Codemasters have tried to keep everything in first person seems like the natural evolution of what they’ve attempted before with the DiRT and GRID series: all the menus are seen through the player’s eyes and the only time this fourth wall is broken is when the game needs to switch out to a loading screen. From the paddock, where you can choose your game time (from a fully customisable Grand Prix, through to time trial, multiplayer and career) to the onboard pit computer, everything is consistently presented, and very attractive too.

Once in the pits, you can check out the live race times, the weather and the race information on your computer ahead of you, or you can chat to the engineer to fix you up a pre-set car setup. Naturally, this being a sim you can tweak several aspects of your car’s mechanics yourself, from the aerodynamics and braking through to the suspension, gearbox and engine and you can load and save past setups too, so you can quickly swap out to another set of sliders should the need arise.

I haven’t yet had chance to test out the game’s full Career mode, only having sampled the Grand Prix and time trial options (there was nobody else online to test Multiplayer, either) but from what I’ve seen it looks like continuing the ethos behind the similar modes in DiRT 2 where you get a trailer and an agent and must fulfill certain criteria at each race event (such as finishing on the podium) to work your way up through the various teams and cars. All the racers, vehicles and brand are completely official, too, so don’t worry about any of that.

What did surprise me a little are the consessions to easing in players more used to arcade racers. A series of assists (braking, abs, traction control, racing line, gearbox and pit limiter) ensure that even if you don’t know the courses you’ll stick to the tarmac and not run off, and the flashbacks, again, another carry over from past Codemasters racers, offers the player the chance to correct a mistake should they make one, depending on how hardcore you make your race settings. Sure, it’s not a Forza III rewind (and it’s obviously limited to single player modes) but it’s something that some might find a little odd.

Still, F1 2010 is absolutely still a sim, albeit one that’s got a couple of arcade leanings. For me, that’s perfect, few of us could ever handle a car like this without years of training so it’s nice to be able to jump in and just fly around the courses without knowing them inside out. The in-car pit crew is a much better substitute for tv-style commentary, the game handles fine with a Dualshock and – yes – you’re looking at one hell of a good looking game. If F1’s your thing, your pre-order should already be in. Let’s hope the TSA community rallies behind this one and we can look forward to some great Meets down the line.