It is difficult not to fall year after year in the same topics to start F1. Words like adrenaline, speed or improvement are usually common if we review the revision history of the game. The other most repeated is probably “complete”, perhaps we have abused it in the past, but this description together with the great fun they offer is the most appropriate for this F1 2021.

The truth is that Codemasters and EA Sports have fulfilled their promise. The one that they did to me about a month ago and of which I was able to play a glimpse in the impressions that I already brought you of the official driving title of the Formula 1 championship. The game fully complies in almost everything it does, it is true that there is some shadow, but the content pack is so extensive, versatile and ambitious that F1 2021 is the best game in the series so far.

It achieves it with many additions, perhaps the one that had aroused the greatest curiosity has been the one that has left me the worst taste in my mouth. I’m talking about Braking Point, a story mode driven by a strong narrative component in which we take over from Aiden Jackson and Casper Akkerman. The first is a promising pilot recently promoted from F2 after winning the world championship in the 2019 season, the second, a recognized veteran of the discipline who is already retiring. Through the use of these two characters that coincide on the same team (one to be chosen among five possibilities by the user), we are told a story that promised to be Rush , but that is more reminiscent of what we saw in the first season of Hamilton with Alonso at McLarenand at one point it is too much like the Cars script . I’m not saying this is bad, it shows that Codemasters has made an effort to create a good narrative throughout three seasons. Proof of this is the cinematic finish offered by its cinematic scenes, which look at a high level, arriving completely dubbed into Spanish like the rest of the game.

The problem lies more in the fact that the tension transmitted by its cinematics is not well accompanied or maintained in the rest of the sections in this way. The interviews feel a bit empty, and the false social networks or emails do nothing more than hinder the passage between the 16 chapters that make up this mode in total. The best by far is the playable approach; designed to start in the game, know some basic concepts and face both complete Sunday races, as well as special moments in which you will have to achieve specific objectives within a certain number of laps with the race already started or facing some type of adversity.

Braking Point has potential, but needs improvement

I really liked those sections in what they propose in terms of challenge, but I have missed a greater coherence or inclusion of the narrative while riding on the asphalt, something that will push me a step further and keep me hooked on the story in the 7 hours it took me to complete it. Radio prompts feel empty, sparse, and many times the events that occur on the track don’t quite square with the story in case we’ve been too far above the game’s expectations. Obviously Braking Point has its shortcomings, but I liked the inclusion in this way, I think it has a lot of potential and can also serve to open the game to a new audienceafter the promise of a fast-paced story. I just hope they learn from these mistakes and keep improving the formula in future installments.

In the single player plot, the authentic “chicha” is still in its My Team mode . From this we create our own driver and team, we choose their colors, we give them a name and we hire a partner. The control in this section is total. Accessibility and engineering development have been significantly improved with four fundamental groups such as Aerodynamics, Chassis, Engine Group and Durability. The development tree is easy to understand and greatly encourages the fact of getting points of improvement and reductions in the cost of development thanks to the training programs during the free sessions.

Knowing the circuit is a good reason to ride them, but making our racing car and its progress depend on it helps to complete the weekends in a much more entertaining way. However, those who want to go to the races directly and not lose these advantages have the possibility of simulating these trainings quickly where the success of their failure will be related to a percentage, establishing a kind of minigame where you have to be time pending. Of course, it is not an option that I recommend, but its inclusion is definitely a success and a deference to players who have less free time or who already know the circuits well.

 Financial management is not complicated, as long as you meet the sponsors on the trackThe marketing and personnel section is not neglected, where little by little we will improve through events such as meetings or interviews. The truth is that they are not as well integrated as desirable, the consequences of our responses are very predictable, but it helps to balance the morale of each of the teams in this modality. The financial management is not a complicated section, as long as your results on the track are those that mark the different sponsors that you are going to acquire depending on the prestige that your team achieves, the eleventh of the grid, since none is eliminated of the real ones, incorporating two more racing cars in each Grand Prix.

Of course the control over the car, tires and engineering is total. We can choose absolutely everything, including the race strategy. However, this level of depth is something that can be overwhelming, so it is appreciated that F1 2021 always gives us the best possible combination by default based on our possibilities. It is really a joy to see how the Grand Prix unfolds and, as we improve the vehicle, we are climbing in the driver and team rankings. The sense of progress is well measured and implemented.

F1 2021 is designed for all types of players

The shortcuts with R2 allow you to give quick orders to the team, control the wear and the condition of the car.

Of course all this depends on the style of competition we have chosen. I’m talking in terms of a standard experience, but Codemasters have managed to create a program that reaches all users, being able to alternate between casual, for those looking for a more arcade and expert experience, an addition this year that will delight for those looking for a game system that is closer to simulation. Despite the fact that these three modes come with their default settings, F1 2021 is tremendously versatile, being able to adjust a huge number of parameters generating a completely personalized style of play for each user.

I like this very much, because you can touch these parameters in the middle of the competition in any of its modes, so that, as you gain in skill and mileage, the body asks you for a greater challenge , being you who adjusts the difficulty curve to the that you want to face, making each new route pose a new challenge that makes it very difficult to detach yourself from command.

Thanks to its different modes in F1 2021 we can adjust the duration of the sessions to our liking.

If the absolute control of all the facets that make up the team is not what you are looking for, you can opt for the professional driver career mode. Here you forget all the management section and you will start from a team from F2. In addition, you will be associated with a driving school, something that will give you a greater affinity with some F1 teams that offer you a seat in their cars. The training sessions are still present, but the whole development of the vehicle goes to a more secondary level, being a much lighter experience . Recommended posts, My Team remains the quintessential single player mode in F1 2021.

Of course we still have time trial and Grand Prix modes, being able to create your own championship by selecting the tracks you prefer. The extras are varied , we have a fairly complete photo mode, you can save your best replays and view them from the projector and even see the news of the highest motorsport competition from the home screen of the game. F1 2021 wants to be the nerve center from which the fans follow the championship from within. The only thing missing is that the races of every two weeks could also be seen from the game, I leave it there, as an idea.

In fact, from EA Sports and Codemasters they announced to us in the presentation of the game that the championship can be played updated in real time with what happens every two weeks in the races. The game will be updated depending on what happens, in a similar way to what is seen in other games such as NBA 2K. This is something that, unfortunately, I have not been able to verify first hand. First because the title was not officially launched on the market at the time of the analysis and, second and probably the most important because the next GP will be at Silverstone from July 16 to 18. Without a doubt Codemasters will have to be very aware of these updates since recently the Australian Grand Prix has confirmed its departure from the calendar this season for reasons related to the pandemic.

Career mode with friends is tremendous fun

If something goes wrong, you can flashback and resume the race without having to quit.

A classic of driving games that we should never have missed and that is present in this F1 2021 is the competitive mode for two players in local split screen. But the last great addition to this installment is the professional career for two players . This has two modalities. A competitive one called Contracts, in this we can change teams by individually negotiating the contracts with the different teams. It may be the case that you race for the same team or that you end up being rivals on the track. The other responds to the name of Cooperative, in it the host negotiates the contracts and your colleague always accompanies you in the same team automatically.

In the case of Contracts, racing against a friend following different directions depending on the performance of each one or the best that we do to the vehicle is very entertaining. However, it is in the theoretically called Cooperative mode where the pique is more than assured . This is because we both drive the same vehicle and there are no excuses if we are behind our partner. The engineering progress is shared, the only downside is that only the host can decide what improvements are implemented in the car.

Although I agreed on the steps with my companion at all times, it would have been good to see a double check system or turn-based decisions so that this would be more accurately reflected in the game. Each of the pilots can play with their own settings, although there are some elements such as certain practices or qualifications that you will not be able to skip. In addition, the host can change the partner without problem once the professional career mode has started, so you will not be linked to the availability of the other at any time. The hours that I have dedicated to this modality have been, definitely, one of the funniest of the whole game.

In the multiplayer section is where the game will stretch to infinity for many: with quick encounters in a friendly tone, ranked games, weekly events and leagues created by the game community, as well as the possibility of creating games on LAN. This is where the most experienced will jump to the section dedicated to eSports that can be followed from the game itself once the season begins with sections dedicated to Challengers and Pros. Obviously here I am only talking about the audience spectrum more concentrated in the simulation.

F1 2021 makes good use of DualSense on PS5

For those of us who enjoy the game with a controller, the feelings are really positive. On the track, everything works like a charm and, although sometimes the AI ​​of rivals can play a trick on you, I consider that it is very well balanced within the different levels of piloting that exist. The cars respond differently based on their engineering and the improvements are palpable on the tarmac as you progress. However, the great addition of this delivery in the control comes from the hand of the DualSense of PS5. The sensations that the controller transmits thanks to the haptic vibration and the use of resistance in the adaptive triggers create an overwhelming gaming experience .

It’s mind-boggling to see how the triggers respond in the wet, locking up or stiffening from lack of tire slip on the track. In steep and difficult curves there is a point of vibration that drifts into the angle that corresponds to the centrifugal force produced in these, creating a sensation of cornering that, somehow, manages to transmit the G-force of the accelerating car. . A great success and a very good implementation that is accompanied by a level of sound as detailed as the saga has accustomed us for years for each of the different engines of the game.

The jump from 60fps to 120fps is not noticeable as much as from 30fps to 60fpsTo round off this whole set contributes the excellent performanceof the title on PS5, reaching a resolution of 4K and 60 FPS in quality mode or, 1440p and 120 FPS in performance, I have been able to test both functions and the truth is that I prefer the first one. Despite having a lower frame rate, I think that the jump from 60 to 120 is not as noticeable as from 30 to 60 and I have preferred to keep the graphics as good as possible. Obviously, the public more focused on the competition will prioritize those FPS of more above all in a title that is right on the track in terms of lighting, reflections and drawing distance, but that is still somewhat austere in the environments of Pre-race presentations or in the animations of reporters and interviewers who are not quite as well finished as Codemasters could do. Sometimes I have noticed some lip desynchronization,

The cameras range from the spoiler to the third person furthest from the vehicle, with an excellent implementation of telemetry on the steering wheel of the car in the case of the cockpit camera. It goes without saying that we have all the circuits of the present and last season and that the level of recreation of them continues in the same line of fidelity of previous deliveries. As a bonus, those who get the Digital Deluxe Edition will be able to count on iconic pilots of this sport in My Team mode such as Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, David Coulthard, or Felipe Massa.