Get ready – this is a brilliant formula! PETER HOSKIN reviews F1 23
F1 23 (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £69.99)
Verdict: ahead
Evaluation: *****
It’s time to crown a new world champion. Not about Formula 1 – although to be honest I wouldn’t mind if Max Verstappen was dropped – but about sports games. And that world champion is F1 23.
what makes it so good It’s partly polishing. Being the official video game of Formula 1, it offers brilliant representations of everything related to this sport: the drivers, the circuits, the experts, the theme song.
It’s a true racing fan’s dream. Other sports games – like the FIFA series – are polished, but F1 23 has hardwood quality too.
Being the official video game of Formula 1, it offers brilliant representations of everything related to this sport: the drivers, the circuits, the experts, the theme song
It’s a true racing fan’s dream. Other sports games – like the FIFA series – are polished, but F1 23 has hardwood quality too
The race itself is hugely satisfying, whether you play the game (incompetently like me) on the easier settings and simply blast past Hamilton and Leclerc, or max the difficulty and treat it that way (I’m reliably informed). ) a remarkably accurate simulation of Formula 1 itself.
The Braking Point narrative mode, which is returning from F1 21 after a year’s absence, also has quality. This continues the stories of previous characters and adds a newcomer in Callie Mayer, a woman in a high-spirited man’s sport.
Braking Point is full of sports movie clichés — highs, lows, betrayals, hard-fought triumphs — but, my goodness, it’s well done.
With these annual titles, the question always arises as to whether they really differ from their predecessors. And maybe F1 23 is only slightly different from F1 21 and 22.
But often it’s incremental improvements that lead to podiums – and more. We finally have a new world champion.