E3 2010: F1 2010 (Impressions)

by: Tina - posted: 6/23/2010 2:26:00 PM

The F1 series is quite the longstanding one. But, and apparently admittedly so for Codemasters, certain iterations weren’t as well received as they had been in the past. With that thought in mind, Codemasters set out to reinvigorate their racing franchise with F1 2010.

The first step on the road to recovery is F1 2010’s focus on bringing out the super star in the driver/player. By engaging in press conferences and building a media following as the driver becomes more and more well known, the player will see distinct differences in their experience as racers. Firstly, your initial interviews with the media will set the stage of difficulty for your game. Whatever route you choose to take your interaction with these game rules, your game will be a very personal one. Furthermore, players start out as young drivers earning ridiculous amounts of money (around 60 million £ per season) and thereby being able to afford lavish lifestyles. As they progress, they can begin to involve themselves in small or large scaled teams further complicating the storyline.

Media members will ask prying questions (as they usually do) to gain insight into your future plans with your team and what next career move you might be considering. By gauging your response carefully, you can maneuver your way around the media coverage to your advantage. This is part of how Codemasters is making an engaging career mode as opposed to what they termed “dry racing.” Progressing through the single-player campaign requires climbing your way up the ladder.

Whereas previous F1 tiles focused more on the spectacle of the race, this next iteration will switch focuses to the driver. Your agent, race engineer and team is built around you, with members of the media representing your standing as a driver.

Codemasters is also expanding the game by extending races all throughout the world in places like Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, China, etc. Specific geographical locations will play into the weather system that is integrated into gameplay. Therefore, based on your location and the general weather known to be predominant there, a driver can determine how best to proceed. Weather is unexpected and creates a dynamically changing track. You could be in the middle of a race when rain begins to pick up. This is where a player’s strategy comes into play by attempting to take weather conditions and vehicle performance into consideration on a track with 24 cars racing against each other.

F1 2010 has all the typical gameplay modes: of which time trial, multiplayer, and career were mentioned at E3. What is significant about this new iteration is plans for integrating your career experience from the title on to the next title to come thereafter. You can therefore race as the character you meticulously built in the seasons that transgressed under the F1 2010 title. With this continuation in the storyline, you won’t have to build your driver from the ground up for the next F1 title in the series.

The game releases September 24th of this year for the PC, 360 and PS3.