F1 2011 (PC Game)

Codemasters F1 2011 is the first Formula One sim/game I have bought since I think F1 2002. Despite being a keen sim racer in the years prior to and preceding the turn of the millennium, I have in recent years failed to keep up with developments in the racing simulator world.

A recent PC upgrade tempted me to get my old Logitech Momo steering wheel out of the cupboard and reinstall some old racing titles. In-particular  GT Legends, a game I've had for a number of years but never had the hardware to run it properly.

As my interest in sims was re-ignited, I became aware of the impending release of F1 2011 by Codemasters. I was familiar with Codemaster titles from the 90's such as TOCA and Colin Mcrae Rally, which were fun if not totally accurate simulations.

Unfortunately Codemasters in the past decade or so seem to have come not very far at all in the realism stakes. F1 2011 is quite a fun game (sometimes), it can at other times be rather annoying. For a start there are only two axis of motion available, left and right and forward and backwards. Even if you hit the back wheel of another car with your front wheel, you stay firmly on the ground, where as in real life your car would be launched into the air. There has been the ability to roll your car in racing sims going back to Grand Prix Legends in 1998 and possibly before that. I know it's not what you're meant to do in a Formula One car but the fact that the car doesn't behave as it should in those situations does spoil it a bit.

The speed of the computer controlled cars, the AI, is also a bit woeful. At some tracks they will be several seconds faster per lap than what I am able to achieve while at other circuits I will be as fast or faster than them. When it rains I am usually many seconds slower per lap on tracks I was competitive on in the dry. Strangely I was horribly slow at Valencia in the dry yet when it rained I was dominantly quick. It's a bit disheartening when your speed is good enough for pole position on one track but only 18th on the grid on another.

Despite these and many other gripes, it can be a fun game. It's by far the best contemporary F1 racing game since 1996's GP2 for giving you a feeling that you're in an actual Formula One race. The AI despite their inconsistent performances are probably the best silicon heads I've raced against. Codemasters, unlike other games developers, obviously realise that not everyone wants to/or can race on-line. I have had several cracking races against the AI where the excitement of the race and the chase has helped me forget about any of the games inadequacies.

So, yes, a not bad racing game, for the realism fans though there is rFactor 2 just around the corner.