F1 2010 Impressions (PS3, 360, PC)

[Sundown2600]

Noticed something else from the onboard cam view in morning practice. The reflection of the sun on the Mclaren almost gave the car a cell shaded look. Also guys what are your opinions on fuel loads? I'm still testing I'm gonna make my comments in my full impressions post later on.

[hitch450]

I've heard that slicks are faster in the wet than the intermediate tires or full wets, and that it doesn't feel any different or punish you for using slicks in wet weather. Has anyone tested this out? Really hope that isn't true.

[lnin0]

Its here!

Man, I almost cried at the intro - seeing the official F1 logo on a Microsoft console. It has been a long time coming. Thank you Codies.

So far I am having a blast.

I would say the physics take a nice middle ground. It has a good feel but doesn't venture all the way into the deep end. I think Race Pro is the closest thing to true sim physics on the 360 with Forza 3 being second. I don't think F1 is quite at that point with the physics but it does still have a good degree of difficulty. It is not going to make any arcade racers happy...at least not with assists off.

Graphically the game is very good looking. Probably not the best looking racer on a console but in the top 10-15%. Considering it is doing 23 AI cars, dynamic weather and some pretty good physics while rendering all these glorious real life F1 cars and tracks is pretty marvelous feat.

Where the game really shines though, is in its execution. Not since N09 has another console game really focused on racing as a sport like F1 does. I think that is what separates F1 2010 from the rest of the console racers.

F1 brings you an entire drivers career. Seasons. Agents. Engineers. Testing. Practices. Qualifying. Race Weekends. Teammates. Weather. Flags. Rules. Tires. Fuel. Sure, it might not get all the pieces perfect but it assembles more of the 'real' race stuff than any other console racer to date. The kind of 'real' stuff that everyone expects from their NHL and NBA games that is typically absent from console racer - even the so called 'sims'.

I used the controller and 360 wireless wheel. I set the environment effects to 8/10 and left everything else default. The wheel worked well and gives you much smoother control. I typically never used the wheel for Forza 3 because that game actually plays better with the controller but not F1. F1, RacePro and N09 are some of the few games that actually play much better with the wheel. The feedback is merely serviceable and something I hope Codies works on for future versions but overall the game is still better off with the wheel.

The damage is also another minor disappointment. It does not appear you can destroy your engine even if you over rev. The contact to damage your car also seems random - and then usually its a nose. Still, it is cool to pit and see them fixing it. I have not had a flat but did drive on some option tires a few laps past their prime and the lack of grip was very noticeable. When you get right in someone's dirty air and the car gets pretty skittish. I also ran the car down to empty to see what would happen. When you run out of gas you get a bad hesitating sputter for about half a lap. Then you slow to a crawl but don't come to a stop. You can always limp around to the pits.

I play with no assists so my taste run for the most extreme realism but I can understand why they didn't want to randomly make people suffer a blown engines or a suspension collapsing for no reason. Overall there is enough little stuff to make me happy about the damage and wear that it kind of balances out the shortcomings.

The last thing I will say is that I like the overall presentation. Getting around the trailer is odd at first but once you get used to it, it works well. I do also dig the fact you can just run time trial laps alone or in a party and compare that to a tt leaderboard. The one thing about the presentation that was annoying is the lack of info during the race. It is very hard to tell where you are in relation to the guy ahead/behind you if you can't see them. I would really love to see a TV style presentation option with stat overlays during the race.

Anyway, I'm not saying F1 2010 is perfect. But overall its a great experience that is rare to find on a console. We'll have to dig more into the other MP features sometime.

[bjf1377]

Took me about an hour to find a copy tonight, but I got one. I've been playing off and on (filling the breaks with watching season premiers on TV). I definitely have to play this game a lot so I can memorize the courses. I used to be a champ at Moto GP cause I had the tracks memorized. So far I suck at this, but partially cause I'm not familiar with the tracks

[Alistair]

What view does everyone use?

In most racing games, I usually like the camera that displays as if it was attached to the front of your car (not sure of the name).

Although in F1 2010, I find this one to be too close to the ground and my visibility of upcoming corners is zero.

The cockpit camera is ok, but the constantly moving hands of the driver distract me too much. As such, I've settled on the slightly elevated cockpit camera where it feels you're sitting a bit higher.

I really hate chase cams.

Would be interested to hear what angle everyone else likes driving from.

[Lakers 24 7]

Quote: Originally Posted by hitch450

I've heard that slicks are faster in the wet than the intermediate tires or full wets, and that it doesn't feel any different or punish you for using slicks in wet weather. Has anyone tested this out? Really hope that isn't true.

I haven't fully tested this out yet, as I've only ran a few laps in the wet on slicks. But, the reason why I only ran those few laps is because I just couldn't get around the track anymore. This was in a practice session where it started to rain half way through. I ended up spinning multiple times on the same lap and had to pit for the wets. This is on the PC with assists off. Unless someone posts a video doing this I wouldn't believe it. Sure, you can get around on the slicks, but I can't see anyone being able to push the car hard enough in order to set respectable laps consistently.

[Chaos81]

Quote: Originally Posted by hitch450

I've heard that slicks are faster in the wet than the intermediate tires or full wets, and that it doesn't feel any different or punish you for using slicks in wet weather. Has anyone tested this out? Really hope that isn't true.

I had a qual session where I was able to grab pole by over a second (After being a second slower in practice) using slicks in the wet. It wasn't extremely wet, but it was wet enough to see spray come off the tires and all of the AI cars, at least the ones I could see, were on inters. That said, I also tried running slicks in both heavy rain and light rain and struggled like crazy.

Pretty strange and I don't know what to think as of yet.

[T3B0W]

I just got home and have the game in front of me. I won't be able to play until later tonight and I will post my impressions from there.

From what I've read, sounds good thus far as expected.