F1 2002

"The Best F1 Game Out for a Console, Serious F1 Fans Please Read"

Before we start the best F1 game out IMO is F12kCS for pc. the game is the business, anyway on with the review.

Graphics 6 / 10
Sound 8 / 10
Controls 5 / 10
Game play 6 / 10
Lastability 10 / 10
Overall 7 / 10

F1 games have come a long way. The most remarkable IMO was the ''F1 96'' (titled ''formula 1'') for the PSX. This was the bench mark.

So F1 2002 for PS2.

Graphics 6 / 10

The graphics are good and are very authentic to the tracks but I played the XBOX release of the game and it was like going from a ps2 game to a PSX game. Graphics IMO don’t make the game but we are at a stage now where jagged lines and horizon draw ins are really unacceptable. F12k2 suffers from very jagged, bitty graphics; they are not THAT bad but can pay dividends to your overall comfort when you address the game. In a sentence, the graphics are good but are by no means the finer points of this game.

Sound 8 / 10

Yes the sounds are good, nice engine sounds, good brake sounds, lock ups and all sorts. Great. Music can be selected and the intro theme is the ITV sound track (slightly altered in parts but man its good).

Controls 5 / 10

To me a disappointment. They are too twitchy. At some point on every track ill be catching someone and going for the move and I’m all over the grass cos of the car twitching on the pad. It’s hard to explain but if you’ve played badly controlled car games before then you know what i mean.

Game play 6 / 10

i.) Options

Ok this is the meat and stuffing.

You can have all the regulars, quick race, championship, custom champ, head to head, multiplayer stuff, and EA have incorporated their training ground where you have to do sections of tracks or race a track in an amount of time. Also they have included this card thing where every team has certain tasks for you to do over the course of a grand prix season such as complete a full race distance, keep the car on the track for a lap, score over an amount of points which to me deliver an extra replay ability to the game.

ii) Race

Ok I have to say this is one of the hardest of the f1 games to outright win every track, so this to me is why I’ve kept hold of it and not traded it in. However the racing is in all honesty not that good.

you can set some really good options like failures, damage and FIA rules. This makes the game more realistic but they are badly implemented and unable you to really race a track.

Ok here’s the scenario

Settings are normal (you can have simulation as well where you can really adjust parameters of the car.... the usual stuff) damage on - FIA rules on - failures on

Ok I’m 6th on the grid Australia lights go out, I lose 2 places and shoot to turn 1, as you get to 50m everyone slows down and bang you lose front wing, as this happens people are smashing into the back of you. Ok say you play cautiously you may get out of the first corner without incident (you would be near the back of the grid tho now) FIA rules come on and you have to slow down to under 130, and no overtaking, during this you are being overtaken like nobody’s business and your finding it hard to stay below the speed limit so stop go penalty is implied and well that’s your race over. So for all you lot wanting to play have damage off, fia rules off, failures on.

The Ai of the game also is not that smart and drivers are very slow into some corners. Saying this tho if ur not playing simulation then you can brake from high speeds click down to 1st gr on a whim. Even on normal mode I would of expected this to have a little effect on the balance of the car but...No....also grass in normal mode makes no difference to the grip and no penalty is incurred for the cutting of large sections of the track. There is a lot to say about this but these are the main pains I have with the game.

This brings me nicely onto simulation and normal. If you were reading the above and said to yourself play simulation if you want all the above effects then you obviously don’t want an f1 game that is playable. Ok if you work with the simulation mode for a length of time you may get the hang of it. Simulation is too hard. There is no compromise; the car is all over the place, very slow. (This is speaking from a very quick point of view cos me on the other hand will try and play it but IMO simulation is not the way to go if ya want fun)

Lastability - well its F1 do what ya like 10 / 10

How long can a serious racing game last???? It will take you a long time to get all the cards get all gold’s on the training and finish a few championships. Then there is bettering ur times...hell do what ya want to me f1 games are infinite in life span.

Overall 7 / 10

Like i say the best console game out IMO (even better than the xbox) there is a slipstream effect on this game, which is very nice but is spoilt by control issues. Hitting the opponents is easily don’t and they go cruising off the track while you say put. i hate racing a guy hitting him and then having the place I WANT TO RACE FOR THE PLACE WITHOUT TAKING EVERYONE OFF ALL THE TIME. Unfortunately this happens all the time in this game.

This game is a definite rent first cos there are aspects of the game that are jus plain annoying.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/02, Updated 08/30/02