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Talen
Capellan Confederation
Sang-shao
Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
Posts: 1269
Location: United States
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 Posted: 08-Nov-2002 18:31 Post subject: Talen's Game Reviews: F-1 2002 (PC) |
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Its very hard for a developer to put a good amount of time into an American racing game if it revolves arounf F-1 or WRC, the worlds 2 largest racing groups. Despite being the world's most watched sport, F-1 suffers from a lack of popularity in the NASCAR and IRL dominated United States. EA Sports, makers of the Madden NFL series and countless other sports games is continuing their sucess with the offically licensed Formula 1 games by releasing the latest season on all the next generation consoles and the PC. The three console versions of the game take the arcade approach, allowing players to jump in and play the game with no real prior F-1 game experience. The PC version, however, is a simulation monster.
Gameplay:
Many gamers will tell you that racing games are not meant to be on the PC. In many cases, this is true. Very few games have been able to overcome the problem with using the keyboard to control the cars. F-1 2002 suffers slightly from this problem. As the keys allow no real pressure sensetivity like the console controllers aloow, a turn is either all or nothing: no middle ground. EA worked around this problem though by adding an option called speed sensitivity. Basically, the faster you are going, the less sensetive the steering keys are to respond, creating a more realistic effect. With a gamepad the control issue is almost fixed. Buttons respond with different sensetivity, allowing you to take the long right turn at the end of Bomber Straigh at Silverstone with a little throttle, just enough to keep it so you dont lose speed around the curve. A plethora of options and fine tuning selections will keep your car glued to the track. The best way, as always, is to have a steering wheel and pedals. Force feedbacl set-ups increase the enjoyment level of the game at least ten times. The quick S-series and chicanes become a simple series of turns with the right steering wheel set-up.
Difficulty options range from affecting your car to affecting the AI. If you are a newcomer, turn on the turning and breaking assitance. If you are hardcore, turn those off, and turn off spin recovery. Still not enough? Jack up the AI Aggressiveness meter. Witht he right options selected you can make the game handle, react and play liek the real thing, without the danger of a high speed collision. Damage handles much the same as you'd expect. The cars are fragile and cannot take too much damage before you lose a wing, or even a wheel. If you are lucky you can make it back to the pits, if not you are screwed.
Graphics:
Depending on your system, the game will look better or worse. All the tracks are almost perfectly modeled like their real-life counterparts, complete with stands, towers along the sides of the track, pit garages and even the stains on the turns where years worth of rubber has been layed down. Unlike the console versiosn where most of the terrain looked tacked on, the PC versons of the tracks are 99% accurate. Real-world advertisers are located in the right spots, adding to the realism.
The glory is the cars themselves. Each car is modeled to photo-realistic effects and sponsors. The only sponsors not in the game are the tobacco sponsorships. The West McLaren-Mercedes lose the "WEST" on the sides and back and repleaced with the driver names, just like in real-life. Each driver's helmet is realistically mapped and modeled.
The game runs according to your computer. On my system I have the full graphics turned up and I get an easy 60fps even with all 22 cars on the grid. Special effects, dust, tire smoke and car fragments are all rendered nicely, and the transparent effects and weather effects are incredible.
Audio:
F-1 games have always used canned SFX. For whatever reason they can never seem to get the cars to sound just like they do in real life, or on the TV for that matter. F-1 2002 is a step up, though. No longer do all the cars sound exactly the same. For the first time the Williams BMW sounds much much different from the Jordan F1 team. This just adds to the realism th game already has. The radio is constanly blabbing a you, spitting out times, oppoents posistions and pit data. it can get bothersome, but it serves its purpose.
Bells And Whistles:
All 11 F-1 teams are in the game, including the new Toyota team, and the newly owned Renault team. All 17 tracks have been included, and the PC version is the only version of the 2002 season that indludes the newly remodeled Hockenheim and Nurburing courses. Game modes are the usual assortment with quick race, season, testing and time attack modes. The one thing this game really lacks is the test modes that the console version has. On the PS2 you can take tests for each team. The tests dont do too much for you, really, but they add a new element to the F-1 game. the PC version lacks this. The online multiplayer mode is decent, if a bit slow, and there is a split screen mode included...but that is a bit difficult to play with.
Overall this is one of the best sim racers I have ever played, and reccomend it to any racing fan.
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 7/10
Bells and Whistles: 6/10
Overall: 8/10. Great for raceing fans...not much to draw anyone else though.
_________________
"Historians exercise great power and some of them know it. They recreate the past, changing it to fit their own interpretations. Thus, they change the future as well." - Leto II
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