Sports games are a dime a dozen. Well, not literally – annual installments cost £70 a pop – but you know what I mean. There’s a lot of them. That means to truly be successful, these games need to stand out against the competition and remind their players why they continue to fork over their hard-earned cash for what can feel like the same game over and over again. Look no further than the disaster that was WWE 2K20 for evidence of how wrong things can go when sports series stagnate.
While it hasn’t ventured nearly as far down that road as its wrestling counterparts, it feels like Codemasters’ F1 series has been locked into cruise control for the past few years. Luckily, thanks to a nitrous injection of cash from EA and the arrival of the next generation of consoles, F1 2021 guns it down the straight at top speed. Playing it on PS5 feels like the start of something special, akin to Michael Schumacher joining Ferrari – the beginning of a new era. I didn’t think I’d say that after my initial impressions.
RELATED: F1 Driver Lando Norris Launches Esports Organization Team Quadrant
As soon as you rev the game up, you’re greeted by the same menu music used in previous games. Rather than piquing your nostalgia, it gives you the fear that this is just another retread – and those fears don’t dissipate when you initially load into a race. Like many EA Sports titles, F1 2021 allows you to take the game for a spin while it downloads. Sat waiting for the lights to signal the start of the race, I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed as I prepared myself for more of the same.
I sat patiently behind the wheel of my virtual Mercedes, feeling a lot less like Lewis Hamilton than I’d hoped. Then the red lights flashed across the screen, went out, and at that moment, everything changed. As soon as I squeezed the trigger and my car smoothly sped forward, I knew this time things were going to be different. Jostling against cars around that first corner, suddenly I did feel like Lewis Hamilton. It’s thrilling. If only I had his bank account.
While it feels like we’re pushing the limits when it comes to the amount of realism we can squeeze out of games, the real advancement here comes in how F1 feels. The PS5’s DualSense controller is a revolution when using it with racing games, and F1 nails every rumble of the kerb and jolt of speed. Until pulling away from the grid in Bahrain, I didn’t realize how much the F1 series was in dire need of it. The adaptive triggers resisting as you try to accelerate, or as you desperately avoid having your brakes lock up. The haptic feedback simulating every sensation. And yes, the genuine fear and guilt you’re hit with when you pile into the side of a fellow driver. That happened more often than I would care to divulge. Actually, maybe I’m more Chanoch Nissany than Hamilton.
The DualSense doesn’t just let you feel F1 like never before, though – it also allows you to hear it. While I’m unwilling to admit how many times I inadvertently bumped one of my F1 peers off the track, I will admit that hearing my team leader’s voice through the DualSense’s speaker for the first time scared the crap out of me. Pro tip: turn the volume down on the controller’s speaker before starting up F1 for the first time. Otherwise, the people you live with might think a stranger is in the house at 11 pm during a pandemic. Just a random example, definitely not something that happened to me.
So, F1 2021 looks great, feels great, sounds great. Great. It still needs more, and it ticks that box, too. As more studios opt to leave storytelling in the past, F1 2021 has gone in the exact opposite direction. Rather than just letting you start a season or enter the carnage that is playing F1 online, this game has a story. It’s a pretty flimsy one, but come on, this is a racing game. If you want to get lost on an emotional rollercoaster, F1 2021 or any other sports game for that matter probably isn’t for you. Might I recommend Fast & Furious 9?
Speaking of recommendations, if you haven’t played FIFA, Madden, or F1 for ten years or more, getting back into them can be daunting. F1 2021 tackles that somewhat, but the issue still isn’t gone entirely. The game’s controls are simple on the surface, but there’s a lot of depth if you’re willing to attempt to master it. The ability to Flashback – rewinding time to a point before you caused a ten car pile-up and trying again – has been moved to the touchpad. Much easier. However, changing your strategy in-race is still overly complicated. Then there’s the terminology. The team leader’s voice bellowing out of your DualSense, telling you to check the MFD for something or other. This stuff happens often. Even as an F1 fan, I was lost. By the time I had figured out what was going on, I had dropped two places to rival drivers, which earned me another scolding and some concerned housemates.
Last year’s F1 offering felt like it was waiting for something. A stopgap between generations that had arrived a year early. F1 2021 shows why F1 2020 felt that way. Like so many others creating games right now, the Codemasters team was clearly eager to show what it can do with the DualSense and everything else the new generation has to offer. Whether you’re looking for fierce competition or you simply want to get as close to driving around F1’s real tracks as life allows without becoming a professional driver, F1 2021 has you covered. It’s the closest you’re ever going to feel to the real thing while sitting on your couch, and isn’t that really what playing any sports sim is all about?
Version tested: PS5. A review copy was provided by EA.
NEXT: Pokemon Go Needs More Region-Locked Pokemon Like Corsola
