Review: F1 2016

When an annual franchise like Codemasters’ F1 has been going on for as long as it has — where each year’s title is based off whatever track listing and team liveries the actual season includes — it’s difficult for the developers to do much in terms of changes innovations. In the early stages of the series’ life there are physics models to perfect and details to refine, but after eight years the leaps and bounds between each title become minimal.

Despite this, F1 2016 solidifies itself as a well-rounded and enjoyable racing experience… and dare I say it, perhaps one of my favourites in the series.

It was my second last lap of the third race of the season — the Shanghai circuit, China. It’s not particularly one of my favourite tracks — certainly in comparison to the likes of Kuala Lumpur later — but I had spent the time during the race weekend to familiarise myself with the circuit. As a result, had started the race in pole alongside Nico Rosberg. Things were going well; I pitted on-time when instructed by my team, I had built a sizable lead between myself and second place and I was monitoring my tire wear to ensure they’d take me to the end of the race.

While my race engineer had asked me multiple times on whether I wanted to change my tires yet again, a two-stop strategy against the rest of the grid running a single-stop, I felt confident. I’d checked the telemetry and my front still had about 25% of wear left in them still as a approached the start/finish line for the commencement of the final lap. Pitting would mean a 18-second stop, which would certainly allow the rest of the grid to catch-up and overtake as I returned the circuit. I decided to press on.

Four corners in the wear on my front left tyre went from 83% to 100%. At that same moment I received a call over the radio, telling me that I’d lost pressure in my front tyre. It was at that moment that I knew I’d lost. With 50% of the track still left to go and my tire limp from the lack of air, I knew my win was no more. I hobbled around the circuit, the second place finisher first overtaking me, then third, then fourth and then eventually fourteenth. I crossed the finish line in fifteenth place, down from pole. No team objectives met and no championship points won, as is the life of F1 2016.

There’s certainly something different about F1 2016 compared to the last few titles. Something that makes me actually want to continue into the career mode more than just the first few events. Whether it’s the different elements involved in organising your race weekend and car setup, the improved practice sessions or even the pre- and post-race videos, but this game does put you in the driver’s seat.

Beginning with the race HUD, you can scroll through pages of dialogue options and telemetry to your race engineer for both race and car updates. With the full HUD on, it seems somewhat redundant and a bit of a cluster. As you strip away the rev indicator, track position and driver’s names, these dialogue options begin to show their usefulness. Halfway through your race and you’d like to know who’s in-front and by how much, just four quick clicks of the D-pad and you’re there. Admittedly it’s a little difficult to scroll through with the D-pad as you’re cornering, but it works.

The garage is where the majority of F1 2016’s changes have taken place. Firstly, Codemasters has introduced Practice Programmes into the practice sessions during your race weekend. These cover four main areas – track acclimatisation, tyre management and qualifying pace. The fourth — team objectives — are a combination of the three.

Track acclimatisation requires you to drive through markers indicating the racing line throughout the track. You’re judged on speed of entry and lose marks for any markers missed. Even as a long-time racing gamer this feature has benefits, allowing you to better understand the track layout without the use of the racing line feature, which is a beginner’s crutch to rely on. Tyre management is perhaps the weakest of the four purely because it seems like a hit-and-miss challenge. You’re told that how you come onto the power and approach corners impacts how much wear your tyres go through, but you’re never told exactly how to improve, so I’ve found that there are some courses I’ll pass easily with and others I’ll fail completely. Qualifying pace provides you with a theoretical lap time to meet and three laps to achieve it, while team objectives provides you with certain targets to hit – whether it be set a fast time in the first sector, complete practice with two different car set-ups or hit a certain average speed.

Completing each of these four programs will net you points that you can then use in another new feature to F1 2016, car upgrades. These range from chassis weight to fuel efficiency, engine power to drag, and improve the performance of your vehicle. Earn enough points from a race weekend, select an upgrade to use and by your next event it’ll be installed and ready to go.

Further to points for car upgrades, hitting team objectives and racing well will also earn you points that go towards upgrading your position from the second to first driver in your team, new team contracts and also rivalries between other drivers on the grid. I’m unsure what impact the rivalries make, but I have out-performed both Daniel Riccardo and Lewis Hamilton within the first four events of my F1 career, so that’s nice.

Of course, amongst all this positives there is one negative that irks me with each and every race – the visuals. Make no mistake, F1 2016 is pretty, but in some areas and not others. Cars look amazing and crisp and the tracks are recreated well, but it’s all the other additions that don’t just miss the mark, they’re well off. Codemasters have made the effort to include videos of race crews talking to drivers, of the pit garages and even of their own chill-out hub where the team sit and talk between race sessions and weekends, but it’s all very pixelated and poorly done. If I’m honest, faces and environments looked better last generation with LA Noire. It’s a case of, if you’re going to do it then do it right, and this many years into the current generation, it doesn’t sit well. To make matters worse, the screen still jitters throughout the race, not to the point where the screen lags, but there are clear lines that seem distorted as your move along the track.

I didn’t think I’d enjoy F1 2016 after all this time, but let me be honest: I really am. Graphical issues aside, the racing experience delivers and there’s enough detail for race fans to appreciate that sense of competition between themselves and the other drivers – whether changing car and tyre set ups to shave down to a thousandth of a second off your time, or even being forced to hold the clutch in at race start so your reaction speed impacts you off the line. It’s those small graphical features that hold the game back a little, but overall, it’s certainly a great addition to the franchise.

F1 2016 was reviewed using a promotional disc on Xbox One, as provided by the publisher.

Review: F1 2016

The good Polished physics model. In-depth and advanced career mode. Solid race driver experience.	The bad Detail on non-car/track models and environments is lacking. Screen looks jagged at times during racing. Rewind feature is still frustrating to work with.

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