➤ F1 2017, back on track 🎮

Having definitively filed the misstep of two years ago, Codemasters focuses on quality and content for the new edition of its most famous licensed racer, F1 2017. The various aspects of the gameplay have been consolidated and harmonized with a view to driving even in this case is very scalable and full of adjustments, able to make the management of the car accessible to novices or more nervous and multifaceted for those who instead aspire to a realistic experience, to be faced perhaps holding a good steering wheel. In terms of numbers, the offer is quite substantial: in addition to the individual Grand Prix, the Time Trial, the downloadable daily events and the online multiplayer (which has the same connotation as last year, but which due to lack of users we have got to test in a very limited way) in fact, the long Career and the novelty represented by the Championships mode stand out. The latter offers a range of tournaments with which to try your hand exclusively at driving historic cars, for a total of twenty different competitions that are unlocked by obtaining an ever greater quantity of the traditional "stars", flanked by single challenges that do a little bit of the verse. to the classic "scenarios", with skill tests in which you have to overcome a certain number of cars, respect certain times and so on.

Career pilots

In short, the F1 2017 approach is devoted to inclusion, in order to intercept the widest possible audience. The recent successes of Ferrari will undoubtedly guarantee excellent results for the Codemasters title in Spain, and it is no coincidence that artificial intelligence reproduces the current advantage situation of the Maranello team, placing Vettel and Raikkonen in privileged positions during the races. Quickly running out of the shortest and most accessible modes, we obviously dedicated ourselves to the Career, going to verify a whole series of elements that even in the last edition were underlined by the game: the lack of constraints during the initial choice of the car, but at the same time requests very different performances by the less famous teams, who will focus on comparing with our teammate and on obtaining points rather than on pole positions and overall victories.

Structurally, the differences are few and the "role-playing" vision is also valid this year, which allows you to earn experience points by trying your hand at all the sessions of each grand prix, from free practice to qualifying, finally moving on to the actual race, completing small focused challenges. on the development of the car: cornering trajectory tests, tire wear, fuel consumption and so on. The experience acquired in this way, just like in reality, will lead the team to study engineering solutions to be applied to the car for subsequent events., but it will be up to us to choose which upgrade to build by referring to a traditional type shaft, divided into four areas: powertrain, chassis, resistance and aerodynamics. The points earned with each victory and with the completion of the various tests will not be very many, but after all, the 1 F2017 Career also aims to transform us into real legends of the top racing series, with a horizon of ten seasons during which to pursue a consistent growth.

The rich side dish

If the novelties of the Career focus more on an adaptation to the new rules of Formula 1, with many facets (first of all the use of engines, tires and components subject to a certain degree of wear and their regulation) that affect in more or less marked on the races depending on the degree of difficulty selected, the Championships mode is undoubtedly an extra of great value: a mix of really enjoyable mini campaigns, characterized by different playlists and rules. Alongside a reproduction of the current championship, in fact, we have a classic championship of twelve races, sprint championships on six events, double comparison tours with qualifications and two race sessions, short series with inverted grids, classic series with particular rules and etc. In short, we are talking about a fresh, fun mode, capable of shuffling the cards on the table and delivering fast and immediate or more consistent driving experiences, combining this approach with the intelligent choice of a progression useful to unlock the most advanced tournaments. The same goes for the skill challenges, which are also randomly inserted between the Career races in order to increase the degree of realism and show in some ways what are the extra promotional commitments of the Formula 1 drivers between a weekend and the other. It is therefore a pity that simulation details such as the management of sponsorships or conference interventions have not been added to this aspect, but these are elements that perhaps will arrive with the next edition.

Driving!

As with any racer, even the richer and more multifaceted structure would prove useless in the presence of a mediocre driving model. Fortunately, this is not the case with F1 2017 which, while remaining anchored to a predominantly arcade vocation, it boasts a large number of adjustments capable of making the experience behind the wheel more full-bodied and interesting. The speech applies to both the controller and the steering wheel (in our test the excellent entry level Thrustmaster T150), even if the latter manages to really give great emotions and a feeling of top speed when you have the right setup. There is no shortage of views, and even in this respect there is something for all tastes, in this case two third-person shots and various first-person interpretations: from the pure cockpit to the shot from above, from the absolute first person to a solution mixed in which the nose of the car remains visible.

There are presets (beginner, amateur, experienced, professional and elite) that modify the settings globally so as to give us a more or less simple car to control, with automatic or manual gearbox, variable traction control, braking assistance and so on; And the difference from one extreme to the other is clearly visible, given that with the more complex setting the rear axle is often lost, you have to be gentler in acceleration and study the circuit thoroughly in search of the best possible set-up. The latter can be customized equally on the basis of five presets or with targeted changes, thus meeting any type of approach: from those who do not want to waste too much time and throw themselves on the track to those who have set the skill of their opponents at the maximum level and therefore it cannot afford to lose even a tenth in the passage from a tight hairpin bend to the next straight.

Speaking of artificial intelligence, F1 2017 does well on this front: opponents do not give up easily and you often have to overtake them in braking, but generally try to avoid collisions and have an approach that is as conservative as possible, as in reality. Also in this edition it is possible to activate the Safety Car and the reconnaissance lap, as well as make the start and return to the pits more or less complex. Using a headset connected to the DualShock will ultimately allow you to ask the team for information using your voice, referring to a list of commands: a very nice and well implemented feature.

PlayStation 4 Trophies

The 1 F2017 Trophies are often based on "scenarios", ie the completion of certain races under certain conditions, but there is clearly no lack of achievements related to the experience gained with the various race sessions, career, upgrades and victories, both those of single events and entire championships.

Glance

The technical realization of F1 2017 rests on the solid foundations of previous editions, using the Codemasters EGO Engine to provide the most consistent performance possible and an excellent level of detail. The work done on the single-seaters is clearly excellent, the polygonal models are faithful to their real counterparts, the reflections on the bodywork make their mark and the historic cars are also very beautiful to look at, with the instruments modified accordingly. The first-person views convey a truly enviable sense of speed and the sixty frames per second help to offer an engaging and reactive experience, always very well "readable", but net of some problems that the franchise has been carrying around for a while now. ': a fairly marked tearing in the tightest hairpin bends, when therefore the scenario rotates very quickly, and evident uncertainties in the fluidity when there are several cars on the screen and perhaps the location is one of the richest from a visual point of view, such as the Singapore circuit, with its many buildings in the background. The yield of the sky and rain is decent, but from this point of view the standards are growing rapidly and already this year we have seen much more sophisticated titles. As for the audio, the sound of the engines seemed quite faithful to us and the commentary in Spanish does a good job of presenting the grand prix, but the phrases recited by the engineer are often too "neutral" with respect to the situations in which they come. pronounced.

Comment

Tested version PlayStation 4 Resources4Gaming.com

8.6

Readers (45)

8.7

Your vote

F1 2017 consolidates the work done by Codemasters with the past edition, adding further facets to the single player sector, adopting the new rules of the current championship and introducing a full-bodied and interesting mode, able to entertain us for a lot of extra hours. The driving model, oriented towards an arcade experience but equipped with numerous adjustments that can make it deeper and more complex, knows how to give great satisfaction, whether you use the controller or the steering wheel, the latter highly recommended where a greater involvement is desired. . On the technical front the game is a great sight, although there are some problems that we hope will be solved with the updates. Formula 1 fans, however, can be satisfied.