
	Platform PC Genre Racing Publisher Ubi Soft Developer Video Systems ESRB E (Everyone) Released Q2 2001

- More options than you can shake a stick at - Crash damage! - Achieves a sense of speed - Realistic physics and weather - 16 different courses - 22 drivers - Solid graphics and sound - Excellent driver AI - Robust instant replay options - True to Formula 1 racing - Teaches that F1 racing isn’t as easy as it looks

- You’ll get dizzy if you play with full realism - Easy to get stuck on walls - Multiplayer can grate - Uses 1999 stats

Review: Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec (Playstation 2) Review: Ridge Racer V (Playstation 2) Review: Project Gotham Racing (Xbox)
Newsletter
Be notified of site updates. Sign-up for the Newsletter sent out twice weekly. Enter E-Mail Address Below: Subscribe \| Unsubscribe

F1 Racing Championship

Score: 9.4 / 10

WHEEEEE! That sums up F1 Racing Championship (F1RC) from Ubi Soft and Video System. I can think of no other recent game that lets gamers travel to Montreal and drive faster (and more recklessly) than their cab drivers then watch it again and again from a variety of angles in replay mode. Whether you want to simply cause a massive pile-up of really expensive cars or go on the circuit and test your metal against some of the best racers in the world complete with visits to the garage, F1RC fits the bill.

F1RC exhibits a tremendous amount of speed, so much so that, depending on your view, you’ll miss more than a few turns. You can race from directly behind the wheel or outside from about 10’ away – and all points in between. There are so many perspectives you’ll lose track of how many there actually are. No matter which view is chosen there’s always the feeling of speed. Granted, some of the views are typical TV angles and

make driving an exercise in spatial guess work – just how are you supposed to drive while looking at the car’s hood? It’s not until you enter the replay mode that you’ll appreciate all the available options. It’s during these times at the "post production" phase (the instant replay mode) that you really have time to enjoy the graphics. F1RC looks great – the car models, tracks (modeled using GPS coordinates and spanning the globe, from Monaco to Budapest to Montreal), smoke, and weather effects are terrific. Depending on your rig, you may want to turn the detail settings

Advertisement

- PC Game Reviews

- Racing Game Reviews

- Reviews of Games Published by Ubi Soft

down slightly but if you can, keep everything turned all the way up. This is with the understanding that you’re not playing on-line. Racing against other people on-line can throw things into a bit of a slideshow depending on your connection.

The single-player game is good enough that you probably won’t miss the multiplayer if you bypass it. There are many different racing options – the most technical and arduous being the

Advertisement

Championship circuit. It follows F1 racing faithfully and as such you can expect to do a lot of warm-up laps and making adjustments to your car in the garage. The garage menu is easy to navigate and making the tweaks is a snap. But consider reading the manual before you start going too crazy so you know just what you’re doing. You’ve got to take several factors into consideration such as weather when deciding tire pressure, etc.

The weather and physics models are realistic – although both can be altered. Trying to drive with the realism pumped up you’ll find yourself spinning out at just about every corner if even a small mistake is made – and some of the tracks have many, many corners. Some of them on hills. Factor in eerily smart / fallible AI drivers in front and behind you, doing their best to screw you up or at least make you eat dust, and you’ll understand the value of practice. The game defaults to "no damage" meaning you can crash into walls at 300 km/h without a scratch. It’s way more fun (and realistic) to turn this option all the way up and watch bits fly off after taking a corner just a little too tightly or a wheel being fired across the track as you create yet another big pile-up. Even when you’re off the track in the gravel or grass the physics never ease up. Be warned that it’s at these times you become at risk for becoming stopped by a wall. If you’re head-on to the wall there’s no way to get back on the track – realism means no reverse! Whenever this happens there seems to be no recourse (unless I’m missing something) other than to restart or retire. It’s not so bad when you’re completing a single race or time trial but when you’re halfway through 44 laps and you’re fighting for top spot in the overall standings it’s enough to give you conniptions.

The emphasis on realism extends to control. Playing via the keyboard is straightforward and the keys are laid out in a logical manner, but using a wheel and pedals brings you that much closer to having an experience rather than just playing a game.

F1 Racing Championship is what you could call a "gateway" game. It’s friendly enough for first time players, but it’s got all the things to keep you playing and become a hardcore racer. (It’s even got options to show you the best trajectory and supply driving tips.) But even the hardcore simmer will find F1RC a challenge and realistic. Good fun.

- Omni


PC \| Gamecube \| DS \| Wii \| PlayStation 2 \| PlayStation 3 \| PSP \| Xbox \| Xbox 360
News \| Reviews \| Previews \| Features \| Classics \| Goodies \| Anime \| Forums