It may strike you as being a niche product that doesn’t sound as though it would be one of the killer games the PlayStation 3 so desperately seeks, but Formula One Championship Edition is nevertheless one of the very best launch PS3 titles and dedicated petrolheads, at least, should start to get pretty excited about it.
After our visit to developer Sony Liverpool, we posted video showing the game’s most obvious talking points – its lush rain and dawn lighting effects, the next-gen AI and the jump-in multiplayer games – but what is it actually like to play?
Structurally, it offers few surprises, which is what you would expect from a Formula One game; after all, you want the experience to be as much like the real thing as possible, and because F1CE is a next-gen game, it offers more realism than you will ever have experienced in an F1 game (even those made by the legendary Geoff Crammond). So when you jump into the game, you can opt for a Quick Race, a Time Trial, a Grand Prix Weekend, a World Championship or a Career.
Time trial lets you jump into any car on any track, and that’s where you get the cute dawn effect, which makes the usually ugly racing circuits on the F1 calendar appear rather beautiful. An added touch is that the sun gradually rises as you work your way through a lengthy session. Quick Race is pretty self-explanatory – just choose your circuit and which driver you want to be, and see how many places you can make up from the back of the grid over six laps (the default setting for Grands Prix in F1CE, although you can change it). A Grand Prix Weekend adds all the practice and qualifying sessions, but the real meat of the game lies in the Career and World Championship modes, which are identical except that, in the former, you race as yourself, rather than choosing which driver you want to be, and must work your way up from a small team to a big one.
Before you dive into Career mode – as long as you’re not a novice – it’s a good idea to tweak a few things. By default, all the driver aids are turned on, and the ones that nanny you the most also prevent you from putting in really quick laps. I chose to turn off the brake and steering assistance, and ditch the red-orange-green racing line indicator for so-called BTA markers, which show you where to brake, turn and accelerate for each corner and, effectively, teach you the basics of effective racing, as you should always finish your braking before a corner, turn in at the right time and accelerate at the right point mid or post-corner. If you do an ARDS Test (which gets you a racing licence), you will find BTA markers on whichever circuit you take it at.
The initial Career mode screen is an email inbox – containing a greeting for your agent – and, as is customary, you can pick a team to test for (from a rather unedifying list of Squadra Toro Rosso, Super Aguri or Midland). You will then have to lap a track in under a certain time, and you’re up and running.
At Bahrain, the first GP of the season, you learn what the drill is for a Grand Prix weekend. It starts off by fettling the car (dubbed Race Car Evolution by the game) in the two sessions (if required) of Friday practice. This setup session is pretty crucial, as it allows you to familiarise yourself with the circuit and also lets you improve the car quite dramatically. At first, you run with new tyres, worn tyres and different fuel loads – effectively to set a benchmark lap time (at any point of the process, if you drop all four wheels off the road, you will lose that lap). Then you are given the chance to see what effect tinkering around with aerodynamic downforce, suspension settings and toe-in/out have on lap times. The aerodynamic evolution of the car is particularly important.
Once you’re happy with the car’s setup, you get a chance to see how fast you can lap in Saturday practice, then it’s time for qualifying. Bear in mind that F1CE re-enacts the 2006 season, so qualifying is a three-stage process. And that also means you get to pit yourself against Michael Schumacher – it’s particularly satisfying when you beat him. Plus the historic Imola and the glorious Suzuka (rather than the dull Fuji) are still on the calendar.
On the Easy difficulty, you basically get an inordinately fast car – I had no trouble consistently qualifying my Squadra Toro Rosso on pole. But you get plenty of things thrown at you in the races, most notably rain, which really does make proceedings very tricky indeed. You do have to alter your lines to get out of the spray thrown up by other cars, and obviously grip levels go way down. Rain will randomly appear in qualifying sessions, too, which spices things up. The AI governing the other drivers is impressive, too —
When you start winning races and getting pole positions, you acquire items, such as trophies for your cabinet and unlocked cars (the first one being a 1960s Honda). And then you might be ready for a bit of online play which, in F1CE takes a rather innovative approach: the races themselves are long, but you can drop into them at any time, ousting the AI, so that you don’t have to wait around in lobbies.
In general, Formula One Championship Edition is a triumph – accessible to beginners but sufficiently authentic to thrill the most demanding of Formula One anoraks. Whether it will move people to want to buy PS3s remains to be seen, but it will be a compulsory purchase for the more discerning PS3 owners.
By Steve Boxer
This is one game for which im desperate to buy the PS3 for…
next to 2k NBA & MLB & Virtua tennis 3,
the only thing i hope sony announces the coming days is the “extra goodie” the pal region gets for waiting,
the USA got a BR-movie for starters.
Comment by Darkness — Feb 7, 2007 @ 5:49 pm
I am a big racing game fan but generally favour the more realistic racing games such as GT Legends and GTR-2 on the PC.
With aids turned off on a challenging difficulty, does this game feel like those games? i.e. easy to light up the rear tyres with too much throttle, easy to spin etc.? I like feeling like I’m trying to tame a monstrous race car, having to be gentle on steering and throttle… I don’t want to feel like I’m stuck on rails. The impression I got from the demo I tried around a friends house on his PS3 was ‘arcadey’ - I turned off all driving assists (not sure if these took effect in the demo) but it still felt simple in terms of handling.
How is the handling in the final version?
Comment by Obli — Feb 7, 2007 @ 6:05 pm
And what about online mode? I need it…If it won’t be included I think not to buy it!
Please give us online!!!
Comment by TixSoul — Feb 7, 2007 @ 7:17 pm
From what I’ve heard, this is one of the best games on the PS3… and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!
Comment by Timeless — Feb 7, 2007 @ 7:18 pm
Sorry…Online still present!!! Must have this!!!
Comment by TixSoul — Feb 7, 2007 @ 7:18 pm
Why doesn’t the demo support Logitech racing wheel controllers? Who wants to play a racing game with a pad? That kills the whole game.
Comment by psfan — Feb 7, 2007 @ 7:32 pm
Does Sony have any comment on the current “solid” rumors by Luke Smith from 1UP and CVG regarding Killzone being shown at GDC next month, possibly with a playable demo? Just curious if there’s any official confirmation or denial of that. *Keeps fingers crossed for a confirmation*
Comment by Andy — Feb 7, 2007 @ 8:53 pm
Rain
Can you turn on the rain effects in the downloadable demo? I want to see it before I buy it.
Comment by greendublin — Feb 7, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
To TixSoul,
It does have an online multiplayer mode. They told IGN a few weeks ago that it would allow for no less than 11 players at once, and that they’d try to get more players in the final version if they had the time.
To greendublin,
Yes, the US and Japanese demo features rain and crash damage effects, even though I believe you have to turn them on manually.
Comment by VG Aficionado — Feb 8, 2007 @ 1:16 am
I believe you can turn them on, as I’ve seen footage of people playing the demo with rain.
I’ve yet to see anyone who can actually drive an F1 car though, but they are all Americans. To them, a corner is unheard of!
Comment by Silent_Shark — Feb 8, 2007 @ 1:23 am
sorry guys but I got the japanese version of the game and for real racing fans it’s just rubish.
the handling is horrible - slow, unresponsive and you don’t get any feedback from the car - no rumble with pad, no forcefeedback with wheel. you’re driving like on trails…
the damage system is a joke. you can loos wheels and wings - thats it.
horrible racing game and just another useless Sony F1 game
Comment by Marc — Feb 8, 2007 @ 8:08 am
What about the PSP wingmirrow? :p
Comment by Tony Nibbles — Feb 8, 2007 @ 8:57 am
I played the Japanese version and I don’t agree with Marc. The game is great, cars are resposive - F1 is a sport where you need to adjust your car settings - if you don’t want to do so you can play on easy mode. The game is awesome and I’m buying it the first day it’s out!
Comment by ural — Feb 9, 2007 @ 8:44 pm
“no rumble with pad” …
The PS3 doesn’t have rumble, so I think it’s ok that it doesn’t have rumble, but force feedback with wheel is a good bonus. I guess they left that out.
Comment by JL — Feb 11, 2007 @ 7:54 am
Here is an old demo of F1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf3dWYQ9oNU&mode=related&search=
The crash that happens at 53 seconds looks very realistic. The damage to the wheels, the impact itself and the way they wobble is excellent - very believable. Is this kind of crash / damage possible or is this demo misleading?
Comment by Obli — Feb 12, 2007 @ 12:23 am
Hmm, both EDGE and PSM3 magazines gave F1 4.8/10. Main concern is unresponsive handling. What the hell happened? Does it really so bad or reviewers just didnt bothered with changing driving aids and car settings? Can you please clarify this with Liverpool studio?
Comment by Kinan — Feb 16, 2007 @ 10:18 am
Edge give this 4/10.
PSM3 give it 43%.
Yet ThreeSpeech loves it!
Go figure.
Comment by Toby Killigan — Feb 16, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
I seriously doubt if it will be better than the original Formula 1 on the PS1
Grand Prix 3 is all you need
Comment by FU666AR — Feb 16, 2007 @ 9:32 pm
i’m so tired of all these shitty ps3 games and their 4/10 ratings. wtf is going on? i spent $600, can i get a 9/10 for one game, please?
Comment by joe — Feb 16, 2007 @ 11:58 pm
Silent_Shark… Don’t be so quick to generalize All americans as drunken nascar fans! im a strong F1 fan and will buy a PS3 for this game! Plus the new Champ Car series looks like it is going to be a hit with the New Panoz DP01 Chassi but thats another story… I’ve read lots of reviews about this game and people just say its too hard. Now for someone like me, that is absolutely perfect since i enjoy the challenge! I havn’t seen a rating below a 7/10 for this game. EGM, IGN, Gamespot… all of them gave it around a mid 7. And as i said earlier, their main complaint was with the handling and how hard it was… The graphics are supposedly delicious in the full version and the online is getting good reviews… this game looks so sweet and im just saving up right now so i can build a cockpit with a DFP steering wheel and have it ready when i order my ps3!
Comment by The Cheef — Mar 23, 2007 @ 5:02 am
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