In F1 2021 everything is possible. It may not be the most appealing feature of a new game, but it does mean that you start a Grand Prix based on your own preferences. You can eliminate some negatives from previous parts yourself. For seasoned F1 players, for example, the interviews are not very interesting: the press always asks the same questions, where your answer doesn’t really matter. Precisely because you have those conversations after every race, they can get quite annoying after a while. That still applies in F1 2021. The big difference: you can switch them off with the push of a button. And that is also possible during an ongoing career. In that regard, Codemasters hits the nail on the head.
By smart ways to meet the needs of different types of gamers, Codemasters offers a versatile and in-depth racing game As a racing game, F1 2021 is not very surprising or innovative. Apart from some small tweaks that sharpen the road holding and handling, this is almost the same experience as F1 2020. There is little to argue with: the series has managed to create an excellent representation of Formula 1 and Formula 2 for several years now. – somewhere between arcade and simulation. This makes it a great title to start up after Max’s umpteenth podium place to relive the race, but there is also enough nuance for serious drivers to participate in championships online. (And in that area too, the Netherlands is at the top of the world. Last year Jarno Opmeer won the official F1 Esports Series.)
Flawless
Especially in terms of artificial intelligence, F1 2021 is making steps. Computer-assisted drivers now occasionally make unnecessary mistakes and are much more likely to fight each other. This occasionally leads to unexpected results, but also to situations on the track that you have to respond to quickly. The downside of this is that this does not always go smoothly. For example, the safety car often leads to dangerous situations. More often than you would like it suddenly stops driving, causing the entire field to collapse or, on the contrary, driving past the safety car and thereby being disqualified. If this happens three times in a season, it takes away some of the fun. Fortunately, this is the kind of bug that usually gets fixed with an update.
Then briefly about the feature that developer Codemasters shows off the most: Braking Point
Of course this does not detract from the total package that is F1 2021. By responding to the needs of different types of gamers in clever ways, Codemasters offers a versatile and in-depth racing game. And most importantly, the racing experience is still great no matter how you play.
F1 2021 will be released on July 13 for PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and PC. For this review, the game has been tested on PlayStation 4 and Xbox Series X.
