F1 2016 (PC) Review

Forget the bugs that littered the previous instalment. The worse thing about F1 2015 was the fact that it felt like a half-done, unpolished piece of digital mess. After all, what's the point of paying full price for a triple-A racing title, when there's not much to do? Thankfully, things have changed quite a lot, with the best taste of things to come being the return of the career mode… God, just the sentence "return of the career mode" sounds silly - again, what was Codemasters thinking when developing the previous game?

The career mode is back, and it now makes it possible to experience it all for 10 seasons, in essence giving fans the opportunity of "living" their favourite sport to its fullest, by engaging in frequent rivalries and team change-ups, not to mention the pleasure of starting from scratch and becoming the next world champ! Oh, and by the way, Azerbaijan's new Baku City Circuit course is absolutely fantastic, mixing long, endless straights, with extremely sharp corners, and a few tricky spots… that will annoy beginners.

Visually… nothing special. Granted, it all looks great, but, like many major sports franchises, the graphic engine gets a small boost with each additional instalment, and that's it, nothing to write home about. With that being said, the attention to detail is quite good, and F1 aficionados will surely appreciate it… although the race commentary feels somewhat scripted, almost like the canned laughter used in sitcoms.

Enough of that, though, back to the game. Remember how handling was a bit… arcady? Well, kiss that thing goodbye, because steering the car no longer feels like Grand Theft Auto, plus, the increase in realism was handled quite well, so don't expect any vehicles to hit the grass unless it's your fault. As a side note: the damage system has been tweaked too, with the new Simulation level turning small collisions to an abrupt end of a race, something that the hardcores will surely love.

The practice mode sections have also become quite better, a change that, although will only bring joy to those who want to live F1 to its fullest and not the "casuals," it's, undoubtedly, a welcome change. It's possible to try certain practise goals, and then view an analysis after the end of a practice session, and, once out of this mode, the telemetry data will give the player some tips on what needs some more work. Now, is everything's perfect? Far from it. In fact, the few problems available are enough to slightly taint what is an otherwise well-designed title.

There are some tiny flaws here and there that aren't really worthy of mention, but the AI isn't one of those. The beginner, the one who just wants to have some fun, won't really have any problems with it since it's not broken, the pro/realism fan, however won't really like how much of unskilled chicken the opponents can be (unless they decide to get into Destruction Derby mode); opponents who play it so safe, that in a full season or more, few would ever get disqualified or retired, which gives a… plastic feeling to it all.