I am not one of those who fall asleep during Formula One races. I love these races, although I will not lie to you that before the era of Robert Kubica, I knew little more than who Michael Schumacher or Juan Pablo Montoya were. Also those several years ago, when Robert Kubica was taking his first steps in the “queen of motorsport”, I was not a big fan of racing games. However, since Codemasters started releasing F1 games in 2010, with licenses and real circuits, I started to play them with a desire. It is a pity that you could face / drive Robert Kubica only once – in this first installment. However, I hope that we will see him in real racing and in the game. However, it’s time to sit down for the next part of the series – on Sunday was the Belgian Grand Prix, today it is F1 2018 review.
Yes, the Halo system can be disabled from in-game view, but what for?
“Every place except the first is weak” – Robert Kubica
Nothing big in terms of content has changed – in the latest installment of the series, we have a choice of 6 game modes: career, championship, grand prix, multiplayer, competition and time trial. The player who starts his F1 driver career chooses a team from 10 participating in this season and a team partner with whom he will race together. The game has all the licenses, so we are racing with the “real” drivers of this series, on all tracks present this season. The season consists of 21 Grand Prix, and the player may only modify the length of the qualifying and race proper. It’s actually no different from what we saw a year, two, or five years ago, but I’m just mentioning it out of pure duty. After creating our driver and selecting the team, we can move on to racing.
We start the season on the track in Australia and the first training sessions, and then qualifications, give us the answer to what level our car is at. The teams’ levels are mapped on the basis of the middle of the current season, so even though the well-deserved Williams team was good in F1 2017, both in this installment and in reality, it is the weakest. However, this does not mean that this hierarchy cannot change – during the season we earn resource points that are necessary to improve our machine. This idea hit the bull’s eye – within a few races I managed to take the average McLaren to a higher level, already guaranteeing a fight for the podium. We develop our car in terms of 4 departments – aerodynamics, driveline, durability and chassis. Each upgrade costs a certain number of points and of course time – you usually have to wait for the corrections until the next Grand Prix, but the difference can be felt after a few laps.
Win with Vettel and the championship in the debut season? Yes, it is possible 🙂
“I’d rather have a working right leg than a beautiful face” – Niki Lauda
Mainly, the fun focuses on collecting resources during training – these are gained by performing simple tasks, such as completing laps at the right pace. Then qualifications, which of course determine the starting position. We can get a penalty if we exceed the allowed number of components for the season (or in the case of a gearbox – for 6 races). Then the race and the next goals to achieve – the first 10 drivers get points. Here, of course, it all depends on which team we are starting in and how our contract is structured. Every few races it is possible to change the goals in the contract and bonuses for the achieved results (such as, for example, more resource points for the Grand Prix), as well as changing … the team. Each team has an opinion about us, which means that it is easier to negotiate with some and worse with others. Several times during the season, we also have the opportunity to participate in special events in which we drive the car to achieve a special goal – to overtake 4 opponents within 3 laps, or cover the appropriate number of kilometers at a given time.
As every year, driving in Codemasters is fantastic – the driving model is of course not the simplest, it is best played on the steering wheel, but a good pad is also enough. Any mistake can end up damaging your car, especially at the very beginning of the race. Anyway, this year’s Belgian Grand Prix showed very well how one mistake can spoil a race for several drivers. The player has, of course, full freedom in setting the car according to his preferences, track configuration, and the conditions prevailing on it. Combining can pay off as Formula 1 is a thousandth of a second sport. Of course, in the event of a mistake, you can skip the last several seconds and correct the maneuver.
New cars, new cars… but driving older ones is also great!
“I’m an artist. The racetrack is a canvas and my car is a paintbrush. ”- Graham Hill
I will also not hide that F1 2018 gave me a lot of fun, thanks to the fact that I am a fan of this sport. This is not a game for everyone – you have to know this series, like and understand the rules. Otherwise, I could only complain about 10 teams 🙂 But it is not that bad, especially that the Code Masters once again give you the ability to control older cars, even from the 70’s. For me, it was a nice surprise to steer the car of the Brawn GP team, which had only one season (2009) in its history, but a winner (Jenson Button).
F1 2018 looks very good from the visual side, you can not complain about the graphics. The routes have been mapped with great care, and the optimization is also at a high level during the races. The character models look a bit pale, but this is a detail after all – it’s all about cars, weather (driving in the rain is impressive) and routes. The things that need improvement are interviews. Although the journalist interviewing us is nice, she is not very insightful and the number of questions she asks ends quickly. I discovered early on which responses helped my team’s reputation grow and which did not. There are no questions about specific racing situations, as well as more cross-sectional ones – about other teams, tracks, the future in a given team. On average, it just worked out. I also hope that with older cars, Codemasters will also add circuits where Formula 1 has not been racing for a long time, such as Turkey, Malaysia, India and Korea.
The photo mode, as always, allows you to take great screenshots for review. I’m leading Ferrari to victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
“I’m not here to be liked, I’m here to win” – Michael Schumacher
F1 2018 is more than a solid game, it is an absolute must-have for all F1 fans who would like to test themselves behind the wheel of a fast car. In this version, we have what in the previous ones, but it is enough. Great career mode, several older cars, good multiplayer, challenges – you can spend a dozen or so hours in this game. For my part, I highly recommend it and look forward to the next installment … hopefully with a Polish driver.
