EA Sports: F1 2001 (PC CD)

While EA's perennial sports release often come under fire for offering little more than tweaks over last year's iteration, there are some serious enhancements to F1 2001 that make it a more attractive proposition than usual. While it will come as no surprise to find all the new cars and drivers from the 2001 season, there is more to this title than a glossy makeover. Yes the graphics have been tweaked--and it does look gorgeous if your hardware is up to scratch, but the biggest improvement comes in the driving experience itself. With some help from BAR racing team, EA has revised the driving physics considerably, giving you a far more convincing feel for what it must be like to drive an F1 car.

For beginners, there is plenty of help to get you started, with a range of settings to make things simple, plus a driving school type tutorial which helps you get through individual corners--not letting you progress until you've made a half decent job of it. The interface will be familiar to any fan of EA titles, though, as always it looks more at home on a console than a PC. Despite this it is reasonably intuitive and won't cause any major headaches.

There are a variety of driving modes to cover everything from arcade-style racing to full-blown championship seasons. You can delve into advanced settings on the car, apply rules for proper F1 racing, complete with Stop/Go penalties requiring you to get in the pit lane within three laps, or you can just set it all to novice and go out and have a blast round the track. Whichever you opt for, you'll be impressed at the sense of speed, the looks of the individual cockpits, and the sumptuous circuits.

You may not be quite so impressed by Jim Rosenthal's repetitive additions, but otherwise the audio is also a treat--with helpful cues to your car's reactions on the track and the roaring engines of competing cars--a welcome new addition.

F1 2001 ultimately has to face comparison with Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 3 and as long-time fans of that series, it's a stiff test to face. However F1 2001 doesn't disappoint. There are pros and cons to each title--GP3 wins for advanced telemetry, while F1 2001 has proper F1 rules. Overall it's too close to call. We'd recommend that any genuine fan of F1 racing should have both these titles in their collection.--Jason Weston

Race against opponents who want to win as badly as you do. Every driver on the track fights, battles and reacts to take the chequered flag. All the drivers, tracks, and teams from the official FIA 200 1 Formula One World Championship are featured. F1 2001 takes you into a living, breathing Formula One world. Feel the anticipation on a buzzing grid during the build-up to the race as team personnel, engineers, and glamorous grid girls swarm about you. But watch the rain clouds. F1 2001 contains adverse and unpredictable weather situations, so look for the umbrellas to go up and be sure to switch tyres to change your strategy.

Get the inside track on your opponents' performance and position as the race unfolds via intelligent pit communication from your race engineer. Advanced pit crew information gives you weather and pit stop predictions, plus advice on how this will affect the race and what you should do about it. After the race, key events in the race are edited to provide a dramatic highlights package. Instant replays, director, curb, onboard, cockpit and swingman cameras break down the barriers of broadcast to capture and present all of the emotion and drama of Formula One.