F1 2010 Hands-on Impressions

From Malaysia to Europe, Formula One is a global brand that earns more than $3.8 trillion, so when Codemasters gained exclusivity to the license, it was a huge pick-up for the development team that excels within the racing genre. Focusing on providing a realistic racing experience, F1 2010 is set to debut Codemasters’ new weather effects that will be utilized from here on out in their future racers.

With the official license in hand, F1 2010 has access to real life sponsors such as Bridgestone, LG, Sunoco and many more. In addition there are 19 circuits that include representation at countries such Europe, India, Belgium and Malaysia. Having these sponsors and authentic tracks breathes life into the title that couldn’t be done without it.

In a surprising twist, F1 2010 supports car model damage – a rare occasion for officially sponsored racing games with such heavy emphasis on authenticity. Containing weather patterns to emulate real life racing, Codemasters has outdone themselves with creating a racer that simulation fans will be proud of. While not all the tracks will support rain, each one of them will have the weather conditions change over time. Slipping and sliding across the tracks and hitting walls shall now be a glorious event in consideration that the cars will take a blunt force of the damage.

For fans of arcade racers, assists can be turned on to ease the pain of crashing into walls and sliding around corners due to excess rain. Having water puddles form on the track, the arcade-like assists literally removes a lot of the control and allows players to not worry about tight turns.

The motto for F1 2010 though is “Be the driver, live the life.” Granted the arcade assists don’t necessarily promote that motto, the simulation features and career mode due. Attempting to give players the ability to live like a superstar, players will race through three set amounts of lengths for the career mode as they start out as the new kid on the block. Once they start forming a reputation through the lower end teams, players will earn invitations to join the elite and start forming friendships to gain teammates while also making rivals who will go to the media to voice their distaste. Interacting with the media is one of the key ways that Codemasters has eliminated countless stat screens to showcase what is going on in the game.

Last, but certainly not least, is the removal of any rubber band AI to allow the computer to cheat. Players won’t have worry about leading for the majority of the race to only be supplanted by an AI that utilized the function that propels from the back of the race towards the front. Not having rubber band AI is superb since it endorses players to race to their best of their ability for the entire race, rather than waiting for the last few laps. Instead of the rubber band, Codemasters has introduced personalities for each CPU that places bonuses of sorts on experienced racers so they don’t make crucial mistakes on the track.

The racing genre as of late has received a vital revival with exciting titles such as: Split/Second, Forza Motorsport 3, Blur, Need for Speed: Shift, and many more. With F1 2010 releasing later this month, you can add one more fantastic racer to the lineup that is ever growing.