F1 2021 | Review - The man at the center of the machine

Punctual as clockwork, this July also saw the debut of the new Formula One title by Codemasters. The big upheaval that saw the English house pass into the hands of the feared EA did not bring big changes to the game, which remained faithful to the line adopted last year. F1 2021 is a passing title, not a big leap forward as the previous one was, but still a game that deserves to be treated as an evolution and not an update. Let's see why!

What a story

As the most observant will remember, two years ago Codemasters had already tried to add an alternative story to the world of official F1 licenses. That attempt, however clumsy and certainly too little depth to appeal to fans, was removed in the 2020 edition to return, to the great one, in the 2021 one.

The story mode, called "Braking Point" is a very pleasant return to the hint of history that was seen in the past, much more immersive than anything ever seen in F1. The gamer will in fact have to take on the role of a young driver ready to jump from F2 to F1, taking with him the doubts, uncertainties, and emotional states of a talented as well as scared rookie. Not only on the track, where each race will have a goal to achieve in order to continue in the career, but also outside, with the media, interviews, conversations with members of its management and staff. An intricate system of fake news, social media, phone calls and cinematics that don't envy anything to recently released AAA titles. A product that stays together and that simply makes you say "wow", visually and emotionally, ending with the most apt of the endings. The only flaw of this system is that, having the player participate in races in progress, he will be forced to know the circuits in advance in order to advance without repeating the levels. Slightly bad, for a campaign that alone is worth the proverbial cost of the ticket.

The work in the narrative phase is surprising, much more than I would have believed. As a hardcore simracer with little talent and an unbridled passion for simulation I never thought this mode could enrich the experience so much. I was convinced it was a small addition that could complement multiplayer and YourTeam mode, but I completely missed the braking point. The more you run, the more fun the story becomes, the almost forced cinematics at the beginning turn into fundamental pieces that are expected by the player as much as the race itself, the characters are written with logic and criteria, and the narrative flow is perfectly orchestrated. through thick and thin. I voluntarily decided not to reveal any details about the characters, the plot and the number of races that make up this mode, do yourself the favor not to suffer spoilers and enjoy the game, let yourself be surprised and find out.

Despite shouting “I want more”, for the first time in its F1 history it truly manages to put a man at the center of the narrative, and not just the action in the car. For all-round circus fans it is wonderful to be able to see not only a well-known name like Will Baxton in commentary, but also DC's official social media accounts, Jimmy Broadbent, Aarava and others, happily commenting on our progress. Not to mention the fact that, in this mode, our driver FINALLY responds to Jeff, a satisfaction that we have all wanted to take away from us for years.

The new that does not advance

Maybe it's my impression, but Codemasters seems to have split into two souls, one that manages the gameplay and one that manages the technical sector, and every year one part makes a big release while the other only makes hotfixes and small updates. This year, net of the immense impact of Braking Point, there is nothing else new under the sun, at least in terms of gameplay. The MyTeam and Driver modes are still there, with some updates here and there in the reorganization of qualifications and objectives, but the gist compared to last year does not change much, quite the contrary.

The real disappointment this year derives from the lack of updating of the circuits, which have remained the same compared to the previous year. May Jeddah, which does not yet exist, pass, as well as new circuits such as Turkey entering and exiting the calendar. But the lack of updates on minor changes to existing tracks like Spain and Australia no, those have now become unforgivable. We know that Codemasters does not scan laser circuits, and that everything is done by hand, but a slowness of months and months to modify a curve can no longer be forgiven. F1 has become a sport with much less certainty, especially in times of covid, and the official game must keep up with the fans.

New machines but not too much

If man has finally returned to the center of the machine, the machine itself is still of primary importance, and Codemasters knows this. The harsh criticisms of the various Verstappen in the past years have contributed not a little to lowering the simulation demands of the players, and to remain a title with its own eSport class, the updates to the driving mechanics were fundamental. Have they arrived? Yes, but only partially. The biggest update has been made on the braking model, with a balance that is finally sensitive to the percentage point and which puts players in a position to be able to act from corner to corner while maintaining a realistic behavior consistent with the temperature and duration of the tires.

The other big update to the driving model comes from the damage cars can take, one of those departments that had been stagnant for years and needed to finally be revised. The front and rear wheels have different behaviors when they are worn or punctured, and the impact punctures return a different feedback from those of worn rubber. The addition of mechanical components such as the bottom and the suspensions also weigh heavily in adding realism. These are not drastic or epochal changes, but the model has been refined enough to make it significantly more realistic than in the past, and that's enough, at least for now.

Fundamental errors

As much as we regret to say it, we always get to the bottom of F1 with a “but”, and this year it's up to the curbs. Those who complained about the murderous curbs of Assetto Corsa Competizione will now have a new rival, the jumping curb of F1. The revised driving dynamics of sanapianta resulted in a different grip on the curbs, an element that Codemasters was not able to balance adequately and that we hope will be fixed later.

Another area where we would have hoped to see more updates is multiplayer, but even there the situation seems to be the same, with the usual kamikaze pilots ruining any unranked race. I wish I could be noob, finish last, but have a clean and honest race. But no, period. Either you go to competitive with long races, or you go to the wall with the children. Unfortunately, no one has yet the solution to this cancer that populates driving games, but the frustration remains. If you want to enjoy F1 in a competitive way with other people, or participate in some league, or play the single-player campaign in co-op, a welcome alternative but not very usable in the long run.

Checkered flag

When playing annual titles there is always a tendency to want to comment with "not much has changed", and in some respects it certainly is. But for a game of this type, the improvements are undeniable, albeit with major gaps. Codemasters seems to have decided to give a shot to the circle and one to the barrel, focusing one year on the technical sector and the other on the narrative one, and this year it was the second to be fleshed out and reinvigorated.

The real criticism that can be raised is on the update speed, a real problem of Codemasters for years now. The two structural changes to the already existing circuits have not yet been seen in game, as well as the new circuit in Jeddah is completely missing. Having a proprietary game engine comes with responsibilities, and it has been evident for too many years now that Codemasters' work has to focus on speeding up certain steps. We can understand that introducing new circuits in the middle of the season, as it could have been for Mugello or Imola last year, would have been very complicated, but this year it was just a matter of changing the layout of a single corner on a track that had been in existence for years. It is not justifiable.