F1 2012

The F1 franchise from codemasters has improved year-on-year, with the exception of bugs and glitches etc but this year F1 2012 is a HUGE improvement on 2011 and 2010. Virtually everything that was F1 2011 has been torn down and replaced with elegance and a much more professional feel. So, far so good.

The Good Points
- The Safety car remains in F1 2012.
- The Legend AI difficulty has been ramped up so that now until this game has been truly mastered by the online perfectionists, the offline gameplay is enough to challenge you significantly and even outpace you if your internet router is having a bad day. No more 3 seconds a lap faster than legend AI like in 2011!
-Expanded and improved online game modes like...
Champions Mode: Each world champion has a unique scenario challenge in which you must beat them within a few laps in a short race or the conclusion of a long one. e.g. You're on wets every one else is on inters. Beat Jenson Button in the last few laps of the British grand prix. It is a challenging game mode but I fear that once it is completed, it will be rarely used until the release of F1 2013. It's good but that's about it.
Season Challenge: Now, this on the other hand is much, much better and the longevity is there too. This is more of an arcadey twist on the long career mode. Instead of 100 races over 5 seasons, there is just 10. You start with either caterham, HRT or Marussia and have to pick a rival driver and outrace them over the best of 3 races. Win and you take their seat. You work your way up the grid to win the world title. Short, snappy 5 lap races are much more appealing than the long career and more fun too and also better for those of you with not too much time on your hands. However, there are little improvements to the main career.
- There is a new glossy feel to the Main menu too, making the game feel more sleek and presentable.
- The handling model has, in my opinion, reverted to a similar one that was used in 2010. The cars are more difficult to control, which is a better thing, as this made F1 2011 boring. You have to be careful not to slam your foot flat to the floor out of slow corners.
- The Austin circuit is one of the most fun on the game and immensley tricky too.
- Now, if you make an illegal overtake, you are given 7 seconds to return the position rather than just a straight penalty.
- Young driver test. A great little tutorial. For returning fans it may seem long and tedious but it does add to the realism of the game.
- One lap qualifying. Ever been bored having to sit through 10 minutes of online quali after crashing. Well, if your lucky and the host has chosen one-lap quali, then every one gets one shot at pole.
- The weather system is STUNNING. Remember the 2011 British Grand Prix? Wet on one half, dry on the other? well that's in F1 2012. Even more dynamic weather which makes wet/dry races, really, really fun!
There is a lot more, trust me but I feel I'm losing interest so I'll move on to the Bad and Ugly.

The Bad

- Tyre wear scaling has been removed. All races, no matter what distance race you do, its on tyre wear from 100% races.
- You cannot select multiple races in online Custom GPs and offline Grand Prix modes.
- Penalties just as rubbish as they were last year and 2010.
- Time attack mode is still in the game and to be brutally honest, I dont see what it adds

Overall, though a fantastic game with no glitches I have so far come across. A vast imprvement on its predecessors and just an all round fantastic game, which I'm sure any F1 fan would reccomend as a true simulation game. Better than 2010 and 2011 combined.

If you want it, in my opinion, buy it.

Graphics: 7/10 (much the same as 2011)
Longevity: 9/10
Gameplay/handling: 10/10
Game mode variety: 9.5/10
Realism and simulation of F1: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10

This is the second time I've written a review on this game but the first one didn't get published for some reason.

FOr the most part this is an improvement over last years game with the menus and in game graphics looking as good as you're going to get. Menus are the biggest visual improvement over last years game with everything looking smart and easy to find. There are several modes to play from career, season challenge (basically a small career mode), champions mode (specific challenges), time trial and online. Each of these areas adds something to the game with season challenge being quick and fun to play... Online seems a bit watered down probably because the achievements have been reduced to two complete 15 and 30 races (co-op games are included) so within a day or two you will have completed the online achievements... from my view point codemasters have created this years game to be much more single player based (which makes the fact that you need a code to play online even worse, although you get the code with a new game if you buy preowned you will have to lash out on a code which costs around £8.

As i said earlier game graphics are pretty good and certainly on a par with last years game but with noticeable differences, now the front wing actually bends and moves around when you bounce over a curb and tyres look as they should when you pick up rubbish. Tyre wear is better this year in my view and much more manageable, the point at which they go off the boil is much more predictable and added to this the loss of grip is more realistic to what it is in real life.

It's not all good however, the penalty system is probably as bad as you can imagine and for many reasons. As an example which occurs more than you think... during career if you start near the back of the grid you will undoubtedly get hit by the computer controlled AI, you will spin off with a broken wing most probably but here is the key, YOU will get a penalty for the crash and not the AI which instigated the crash. This happens all too often and if you ever come into contact with another car regardless of whos fault it was i guarantee you will get the penalty. Similarly, the corner cutting warning system is far too trigger happy and isn't consistent. Meaning you can go over a curb at the same spot for 10 laps with only one wheel on the curb and the other on the track and all of a sudden the game decides to give you a penalty for corner cutting (not even a warning not to do it again, it just gives you a straight penalty). Now this is fine every now and then but when you get penalized all the time and when you see the AI cut corners and they don't get any penalties it does make you a bit cheesed off!

PROS: Excellent graphics, different modes makes the game more exciting, DRS and KERS system works as good as ever, Tyre wear is vastly improved, 3rd person view of the pit crew is far better, Dynamic weather is fantastic!!

CONS: Penalty system is messed up, corner system is too trigger happy, Some of the achievements like get gold medals in each of the champions challenges and gold in time attack are very hard unless you are better than most people.

VERDICT: This is a good game and is an improvement over last years game BUT the penalty system really does spoil the career mode and the fact that AI willingly hit you off the track and they get nothing and you get penalized for it really ruins it for me, They've expanded the single player aspect of the game at the cost of online which is still very much there but slimmed down so you'll have more to do offline and many achievements require multiple seasons in different modes to get. I can fully recommend this game to you and it is an improvement over last years game just be aware of the penalty system and the corner cutting issue and you'll be fine, hopefully they will patch it given time.

RECOMMENDED!

F1 2012 is a fantastic game. I had the previous year's version and this one feels like a big improvement. Graphically it looks superior and to me the handling of the car feels better. The career mode is my favourite and the other cars seem more challenging this year. Makes for some exciting racing!

Online racing with Xbox Live can be fun IF (and that's a really big IF) you can find people who want to have a proper race and can handle their cars properly. Most of the time you'll find your race ruined by people who are either particularly bad drivers or are just out to crash into you and annoy. Racing line and proper braking seems to be a foreign concept to many. Having said that, get the right race and it can be great fun. Just wish Codemasters could sort some more stringent penalities to sort out those who are reckless from those who are really racing.

So in summary. a big improvement on 2011, a great game for F1 fans and a good online experience if you can find the right race.