Formula 1 06

"The best F1 game in years! Hats off to Studio Liverpool!"

Until last year, I did not own a PS2, so if I wanted to buy a licenced Formula 1 game, I had to buy the EA versions. These were generally good, but turned out to have a lot of bugs and were a little too easy. I bought myself a PS2 last year because I desperately wanted an up-to-date F1 game and Sony had the exclusive licence. Formula One 05 was also a good game but the AI was far too easy to beat, even on hard mode. I bought Formula One 06 hoping for an improvement and, boy, did Studio Liverpool produce.

Graphics: The graphics on this game are pretty standard considering the PS2 graphics we have come to expect. The cars look good and so does the surroundings, but there is little, if any improvement from last year's game. I understand that the reason for this is the inclusion of two new cars to the game engine, the Super Aguris, and so the engine was pushed as far as it could be and improved graphics were not possible. Still, there are a couple of minor issues namely the McLaren cars looking far too light and not like the beautiful chrome models in real life, and the drivers' helmets are too dark in colour. Of course, these issues do not take away much from the enjoyment of the game so all-in-all, the graphics do the job.

Audio: This game includes all the sounds you would expect to hear in an F1 game; car engines, messages from the pit crew and TV-style commentary. The car engine sounds have been altered this year to sound more like the new V8 engines used in the sport and the difference can definitely be noticed. Many have said that the new sounds are not realistic but they do the job for me. The messages from the pit crew are pretty standard and give you much useful information. The real improvement comes in the commentary for this year (in the English language at least). Martin Brundle and James Allen still go through the race positions like they did last year, but this time around the commentary has been greatly developed. The commentators will tell you about incidents in the race and what damage has been done to the cars, they speculate on when the drivers will pit and keep you up-to-date with how the gaps are being widened or shortened. Unfortunately, this commentary has been watered down slightly in career mode, but nevertheless the team has done a great job with the audio this year.

Gameplay: So far, the improvements to the game have been fairly minor. This is the point where all that changes. The gameplay is vastly improved from last year's game in many different ways. There are a couple of new features introduced since last year's game; race car evolution and the parade lap. Race car evolution allows novices to car setups to set up the car much more easily using the Friday free practice sessions and the parade lap allows you to warm up your car's tyres by taking part in the formation lap before the start of the race. The AI has been greatly improved, so it is now much harder to win races in slower cars, much more difficult to overtake and even if you manage it, the opposition drivers will try their hardest to make their way back past you. This makes for a much more challenging and enjoyable game. The handling of the cars has been made much more like real life which means that to get the best lap times you must take the proper racing lines, proper braking points and not try to steer and brake at the same time, which will now result in spinning your car. Another aspect made more realistic is the damage. In last year's game, it was possible to drive at full speed into a wall and continue the race with the car intact. This year, contact with other cars and surroundings will often result in damage to the car such as front or rear-wings flying off or even the loss of wheels, which will put you out of the race. Fans have been crying out for this more realistic gameplay and Studio Liverpool have definitely produced.

Lifespan: The key to many sports games is its replayability factor, because after all you are essentially doing the same thing over and over again so there must be something to make you continue playing. The career mode is the main part of the game, and it can be a very enjoyable five seasons of racing. You start at one of the small teams at the back of the grid and attempt to move yourself up the grid and eventually win the world championship. From my experience, I have found that this progression takes quite a while to do, so this mode will keep you playing for a substantial amount of time. There are also the options of doing a quick race, a full race weekend or a world championship season with any driver on the grid. These modes offer good alternatives to career mode if there is a particular circuit you want to race at, or you want to jump straight into the championship-winning car. Another mode which adds to the lifespan is the test session or time trial mode. This allows you to pick any car and attempt to beat pre-set target times to achieve medals. This can take a while to finish and offers rewards such as classic cars and the famous test circuit in Jerez. There are many modes to play through in the game and I am sure that the game is enjoyable enough to play through these modes over and over again.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/13/06