F1 2002

GOOD

1) The driving is a lot smoother, and the cars are not so twitchy in the corners of circuits, although you can still take corners flat out on circuits such as Silverstone and Monza where in reality are not flat.
2) There's a new slipstream passing option, which when selected allows to pick up a big toe once you get behind another car and then you can zoom past which is a pretty good idea from EA sports.
3) Also new is a game breaker option which means you can view the last 4 laps of a race. Also when you reach the last few corners of a race the screen turns black and white and black bars appear at the top and bottom of the screen just like watching a movie.
4) All the current drivers are in the game, so you play drivers from the new Toyota team for the first time.
5) There are new challenge modes which are quite challenging.
6) The difference of each cars performance is more noticeable and realistic. The top 3 teams i.e. Ferrari, Williams & Mclaren are similar to each other, whereas the Minardis are much slower. In F1 2001, you could get a same time out of any car, but now that's not possible, as a Minardi for example is about 20mph slower on a straight.
7) The laps time are quite similar to real F1. The time I got for pole position at the Canadian grand prix was similar to Juan Pablo Montoya's time at this year's Canadian grand prix.
8) The racing is more closer and it is harder to overtake without the slipstream mode which I guess is more like real F1!!!

BAD

1) If you select one of the top 3 teams, it's pretty easy to get pole position. In F1 2001 it was much harder. Your times could be up to 1 - 2 seconds a lap faster than any other car if you know the circuit well in F1 2002.
2) The graphics don't seem to be as smooth as F1 2001, and the Renault car looks quite bad.
3) When racing, the cars behind seem to just smash into you, and brake to late.
4) If you select an action replay, there's no option to forward, rewind or pause the replay, You just get the last 30 seconds of the race. Also, if you break a wing or loose a wheel, this doesn't appear in the replay.
5) The circuits haven't been updated. The pitlanes for the Canadian & Japanese grand prix have been moved, and the circuits have been changed at Hockenheim and Hungaroring grand prix for this year, but F1 2002 doesn't show this.

As a conclusion, I'd say buy this game if your a diehard F1 fan, otherwise, maybe rent it, and then decide if it's for you.

This game is far from that. It is too "Arcade" to be a sim, when I first played it reminded me more of Mario Carts than F1! The physics engine is - if anything - worse than F1 2001. The controls are just as twitchy, and feel totally removed from the control pad.

F1 2001 was a step back from previous (Pysognosis?) versions of the F1 series, F1 2002 is even worse.

They have made some attempts at some nice features - slip streaming, cut scenes, actual pit stops (where you control the car throughout the whole process) but interest in these wane quickly and meanwhile the dreadful gameplay remains.

Sony and FIA should do the world a favour and put the F1 series in the hands of someone who can deliver against F1 fans expectations.

This woeful attempt is surpassed by several PS1 games and has no right to be a lead title in the PS2 stable. Save your money and get GT1 out again - the gaming experience is twice what this has to offer.