Earlier this year, Electronic Arts signed a deal to acquire British publisher Codemasters and added the official F1 game to the EA Sports family. F1 2021 marks the return of the Formula 1 license to EA Sports and is also the first release of the game on PS5 and Xbox Series S / X consoles. The package is a refinement of last year’s game’s strong performance with a better visual presentation thanks to the stronger hardware of the latest generation of consoles. The new Braking Point story mode is in the foreground, but it drives awkwardly over the same terrifying speed bumps that made similar story modes like Madden’s Longshot a memorable distraction.
The team is in new ownership
The 2021 F1 edition still feels a lot like last year’s game. The EA acquisition came late in the development cycle and you would never really know this was an EA Sports title if it wasn’t for the short video stinger that plays every time you load the game. This is a cross-generational version and owners of the new consoles will receive a few bonus goodies for their investment. Raytraced shadows and reflections are available in repeats, in photo mode, and in the showroom. The 120 Hz support on PS5 and Xbox Series X, as well as the 4K60 mode, make for a premium experience for those with beautiful TVs.
PC gamers can turn on ray tracing features in-game, but the performance hit that comes with it means you’ll likely want to use NVIDIA’s DLSS to keep things running smoothly. When everything is booted up at high resolution, it looks great, even if it’s more of a refinement than a generation leap. Everything in the sound department is a carryover from F1 2020, with the exception of the new voiceovers for Braking Point. Some of the anticipated tracks won’t make it to the start, including Imola and Jeddah. They are expected to arrive sometime in the future.
Braking Point is the showcase feature this year and will be prominently billed on the game’s main menu screen. It drops players onto an F1 team trying to claw their way into the middle of the field. Casper Akkerman, a veteran F1 veterinarian, and Aiden Jackson, the new Hotshot driver, will compete against each other during the 2020 and 2021 F1 season schedule. You can choose from a handful of real-world teams for this mode, but the cast seems to stay the same no matter what you choose. Braking Point mixes short stretches of selected races across the seasons while also mixing artificial drama to add excitement.
As viewers of the popular Netflix series Drive to Survive can attest, casting characters and stories in real F1 can be incredibly fun. Braking Point tries to mimic the mood of the show but misses the point by focusing on the made-up characters. While playing for the Haas F1 team, I managed to get a podium finish (a rarity for the team) and received an email on the laptop on display by the team. It said that team boss Günther Steiner wanted to speak to me. I was excited to hear a voice over or something and instead I get a cutscene where my character bombards our teammate during a race which almost ruins the season. You can never interact with the real F1 stars.
You have no control over everything that happens at Braking Point. Even if you manage to overcome impossible odds and win every situation on the track that you got into, events play out right away. I won first place for a team that had never won one before. Everyone pretended nothing had happened while the fake drama was in the foreground of the presentation. At the end of the mode, the team celebrates a podium like it’s the greatest of all time. Every possible immersion goes out of the window if the game doesn’t acknowledge your winnings. Solo players will spend their time better in Career mode than in Breaking Point.
The best new feature in this year’s game is the cooperative career mode. It is now possible to run through all parts of the solid career mode for multiple seasons with a friend. It’s also got a few new niceties, including the ability to simulate through practice sessions and earn resource points and part discounts for your team garage. I noticed that I had random mechanical failures during Career Mode and it helped keep things fairer between the AI teams and me.
Things feel much the same on the track as they did last year. It still has the ability to attract me like few other racing games. F1 cars have insane speed and grip. It’s as intense as there can be no non-VR experience of doing clean laps at full speed while stuck in a bunch of cars. Even running half a race can be physically demanding with the necessary concentration. Controller and wheel users will find a lot to please here as extensive control settings are available.
Everything is in the air
The future of the F1 series is cloudy right now. EA is the new boss, but its influence is unlikely to show until next year. F1 2021 adds a couple of new fixins to last year’s game’s strong foundation, along with the Braking Point misfire. The ability to add dynamic dramatic events to the existing career mode would be preferable to the boring pre-rendered cutscenes that come with Braking Point. F1 2021 is a lot of fun, even if a real next-gen leap may not come until next year. 8/10 mazespins
This review is based on the PC Steam version. The game key has been made available for verification by the publisher. F1 2021 will be available on July 16 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S / X and PC.
Chris Jarrard enjoys playing games, turning tunes, and searching for fights on obscure online forums. He understands that breakfast food is the only real food. @ not him.
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