Every year there’s been the exciting release of a new F1 game thanks to the talented people over at Codemasters and we’re already pretty hyped for 2017 without even knowing much about it.
But, while you may expect the games to get better and better each season, that isn’t really the case – some of them just aren’t as good, or take the franchise down the wrong route.
Of course, this is all subjective. We all have a different ranking of Codies F1 games, but this is ours, let us know what you think in the comments:
After a bit of disappointment (more on that later), Codemasters brought the F1 franchise back with a bang in 2016 with undoubtedly the most refined and immersive game in the series – and F1 gaming history, many would say. Beautiful graphics, improved handling and an awesome ‘live the life’ career mode means we’re still playing F1 2016 many months later and absolutely loving it.
Of all the F1 games released for old-gen Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, it’s clear F1 2013 was the best of the bunch. It just had so much to offer – great looks, fun but challenging handling and an engaging career mode. But, best of all was the classic content, bringing F1 history to the game with old tracks and cars. Fever.
F1 2015 was a good start to the series’ move to new-gen consoles, but it was pretty bare. The steps forward in terms of handling and graphics were impressive, plus the AI were much better. It made the actual gameplay so much more enjoyable but the main thing that let F1 2015 down was the lack of game modes, mainly with career mode, which left it feeling a bit empty.
F1 2012 definitely had a lot going for it, with steady improvements all round, new game modes and plenty of features to help new players. Experienced gamers weren’t too fussed about those, but they certainly opened up the game and there was more to do. Graphics and handling were better than its predecessor but the removal of a few features was annoying.
When compared to the first F1 game for old-gen consoles, 2011 was a step in the right direction and was a decent improvement over the previous year’s title. The whole ‘live the life’ of a driver features in career mode were expanded, while AI and graphics were improved – although handling wasn’t great. Lots of multi-player modes were good additions though.
It was their first venture for Xbox 360 and PS3 and finally brought fans what had been missing. F1 2010 was great at the time – weather, graphics and handling were all good – but quite a few glitches and the way these games have progressed means it’s unsurprising F1 2010 doesn’t feature high on this list.
Here’s the F1 franchise’s final game for Xbox 360 and PS3. While handling and graphics were tweaked, it was effectively a mildly updated F1 2013 with classic content and other features taken out, plus – obviously – that year’s tracks, drivers and teams. It fell short of expectations, that’s for sure.
This will probably surprise some (that it actually existed) and be expected to others (because it wasn’t great). To be honest, we can’t hate on it too much, because it was made for the Wii and PSP – so it was limited. But, that doesn’t mean an F1 game suited those consoles and it looked awful. After such a long stint without a proper F1 game, too, a lot of people were pining for more, including me.
What’s your favourite Codemasters F1 game? Let us know in the comments below
