The Codemasters F1 series of games seems to have found a ‘safe place’ these past few years. A formula that not only works, but is fun. And hence, Codemasters feel they don’t have to really reinvent the wheel season after season, but more polished at the core. But just like the real sport, things happen. Things that you wouldn’t ever see coming, and that’s half the appeal. For example, Hamilton going to Ferrari next season. F1 24 mirrors that tendency, to an extent, insofar as the game builds on the truly solid foundation, but sees some impactful changes emerge from nowhere.
Chassis Changes
Changes that can be felt right away in how the cars handle. F1 24 is probably the most controller friendly the series has been in a long time. Dare we say, too friendly in ways.
In a lot of ways, the handling has lost its simulation edge and, at times, feel more of an arcade affair. F1 24 often feels like you can brute force the car through most situations. That said, if you jump into the menus and spend a bit of time dialling in settings and assists, you can recapture the weighted feeling of past games.
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Changes have also been made to the AI which is apex-perfect on anything above medium difficulty. This can feel a bit cheap. It also feels like a step back from the ‘expert’ AIs of yore, which seemed to simulate those human traits, like errors, fatigue and analogue variation, while keeping them appropriately hard to chase.
At the highest levels, the AI can often seem like they are swanning around the track, hotlapping at a canter lap on lap, while you give 110% to make it to 16th. But, again, you can always head under the hood and tweak it to a welcome level of challenge.
Paddock Progress
A more positive addition to the racing side of things though is the engineer objectives, which task you with mini challenges during a race. Such as, not taking damage to set areas of the car, not burning too much fuel or having you push for the position above you. These make for fun distractions during what could be a bit of a boring procession.
You’ll likely spend the most time in the career mode, which has been revamped. Now, you can take a current driver through the mode, as well as a custom-built driver in the Driver Career. Oddly enough, you can also choose F2 drivers, as well as Legends like Michael Schumacher, in Driver Career.
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The Driver Career of F1 24 is perfect for those who don’t have to get as involved R&D or any pit lane antics. You can just focus on the racing. And this will be a welcome change of lane for some.
Entry Series
However, can still take your dream rookie through the ranks via every detail the game has to offer. My Team Career mode sees you micromanage all the R&D points you could ever want.
F1 24‘s My Team Career also serves up more than its fair share of backroom drama. There’s some cloak and dagger moments that give you the chance to bag a better drive while keeping your dirty deeds from your current employer.
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Challenge Career, on the other hand, lets you play through key moments in a number of drivers’ racing careers. Max Verstappen is the man of the moment for and adds a more skill-based feeling to the career mode, as you can up or lower the difficulty as you see fit on them.
World of Formula One
F1 World also makes a return in F1 24, bringing its brand of CarPG to the mix. F1 World is an epic time sink. A place where you can easily get lost in this multi-layered gameplay loop, which goes far beyond just pulling off a win on a Sunday F1 World is the mode where most of the hardcore fans of the sport will be found.
Of course, with it being an EA published title there are microtransactions present once again but they are minimal. F1 24‘s microtransaction are mostly for cosmetics or animations. You buy these with Pit Coins, or the F1 spin on the battle pass like in previous entries in the series.
Liveries, Licencing and Lighting
Visually, F1 24 is breathtaking at times. However, it does have a few rough edges. Great progress has been made on drivers models. Credit where it’s due, Alonso, Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen and co. look like actual people now, rather than dead-eyed dolls.
Audio is also solid across the board, with some good voice acting within your crew. F1 24 even features actual audio lifted from the real racer’s car radios mixed in here and there. Engine sounds are mostly spot-on, but some of the cars don’t sound like the real deal. And this is especially noticeable when you push it to the higher end of the gear box.
However, the commentary feels very basic at times as the game aims to cover all bases. The undetailed, coverall commentary often fails to capture the more epic moments. Worse still, some of the commentary feels misplaced and detached from the action.
This may be a place where AI might pick up the slack in future. Being able to tailor commentary to the action would add a lot to the race.
Populist Racer
F1 24 feels like the instalment where your weekend warrior race fans will be able to win a race out of the box, as it has lost its SIM vibes, which some likely long-term fans will feel cheated by.
Yes, it’s a very solid and compelling instalment of the series that builds and refines on what came before it, but it’s also gone soft. So, Joe Bloggs with his Red Bull hat and McLaren polo shirt can have a blast on a wet Sunday, after watching the Brazilian round.
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And before you cry “gate keeping” it’s far from that. It just feels like what was a razor-sharp racing title – based on the world premier motorsport – has lost its challenging and rewarding edge, so that it can get in a few more Drives to Survive.
As such, it’s the perfect stepping on point for newcomers and fans looking for some virtual F1 thrills. On the other hand it’s a hard sell to the hardcore, as it’s a solid update but with a few questionable core tweaks.