F1 Championship Season 2000

"If you enjoy a good racing simulator, give this game a go."

F1 Championship Season 2000 is the first racing title in EA's library of sports games. As usual, EA attempts to make a game that captures the realism and mood experienced by the competitors in a particular sport. Whether it's basketball, football, boxing, or as in this case, grand prix racing. A deadly and adrenaline rush of a sport, and perhaps the most thrilling of them all. The question is, does F1 Championship Season 2000 deliver the thrills found in the real sport? The answer: yes, or at least, it keeps you on your toes.

Gameplay

EA Sports has done a good job of giving a realistic edge to this game, as they are expected to. The physics are very well done, and have been improved since the porting of this game from the PSX to the PS2. Suddenly getting on the brakes too hard from high speeds, and quickly getting on the gas as you steer out of a sharp corner will likely result in you spinning out and losing your spot. In motor racing, there is a very fine line between perfection and error, meaning you will need to take the time to practice and get to know the track better before going all out - this has been translated into F1 Championship Season 2000 perfectly. You'll feel the satisfaction of having taken the right line going into a sharp hairpin, hitting the apex smoothly, and hearing the roar of the engine as the RPM increases up to 200 miles an hour on the long straight away. It's quite enjoyable, and when there are 21 other competitors behind you, exciting. Beginners would be better off equipping soft tires, turning the difficulty to easy, and negating fuel use and tire wear for a start.

Graphics

The cars look just as they do in real life, with little to no visible jaggies. Some parts of the roads include streaks of burnt rubber, and the worn rumble strips, tough barriers, sponsor signs, motion-captured pit crew - all look authentic. For instance, when using a particular driving view, you can see the particulars of the grooves in your tires. When you spin out and end up in the grass or dirt, it's color will rub off onto your tires, and if you make it back onto the road in one piece it will fade off due to the constant revolutions of the wheels. Fortunately you won't notice the 2D audience much, you're supposed to be scanning the road ahead after all. The smoke from crashing and burning, the rain drops spraying water from out back of your car as you kick it up, all look decent as well.

Audio

The music featured in this game is nothing but typical electronica with no purpose but to break the silence, which is actually preferable while navigating the menu screens and racing. It's not like race car drivers have a stereo tuned to their favorite FM station with them anyways. This is very different from the actual sound effects you will hear in this game. The mighty whine of the engine as you work up to 7th gear is very cool, though it gets repetitive quickly and makes you want to shift up sooner than usual so you don't hear the awful crackling noise of you hitting the rev limiter. It's just as bad, if not worse, while your watching a demo of the car going around the course where the limited amount of camera angles catching the pitch identically every time. The best, and least annoying part about the sound is the introductory commentary you'll get at the beginning of each race. The commentators are easily understood, and provide information about previous results that happened on that course, make remarks about the teams and drivers, and just before you start, go down the list of what driver placed where on the starting grid.

Replay Worthy?

It depends on the player. If you're the kind of gamer that plays and completes a game on every available difficulty level, or wants to do things differently on the second play through, then you'll have fun experimenting with different teams (though they're all very similar in performance and no big differences exist), number of laps, fuel usage, tire wear, finding the best pit strategies, and trying to win the Driver's and Constructor's championship on Hard difficulty. On the other hand, if you're looking for unlockables and things of that sort, look elsewhere. There is essentially nothing to win in this game but your own satisfaction.

Rent or buy?

If you have 5 extra dollars to throw away and enjoy a good racing simulator, then pick this game up. It won't hurt. Just don't expect it to be as good as any game in the Gran Turismo series, because it is far from being that good.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/08/07