F1 Career Challenge

"Not for Novices or Diehard F1 Fans"

EA Sports has definitely made a name for itself over the past few years with its F1-based series. There has been a nice, steady progression from F1 2000 (on the original PlayStation) to F1 2002. With F1 Career Challenge, however, the progression seems to have ended, and in a very mixed way.

Whereas previous games in EA Sports' F1-based series have focused on single-season action, F1 Career Challenge covers the 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 seasons. This is a great step forward for F1-based games in general; finally, F1 enthusiasts can participate in multi-season careers, just like players of many other racing games (most notably NASCAR-based games). This multi-year system is available both in Career Mode and in Quick Race Mode, allowing the player to experience how a particular circuit (such as Monza or Hockenheim) changes over time.

Certainly, Career Mode is the core of F1 Career Challenge. Here, the player must first complete a series of tests to acquire a Superlicense. Once the Superlicense has been obtained, the player's performance in the tests dictates which teams step forward with offers for driving contracts. Interestingly, driving contracts are good for only half a season; at the midpoint and end of each season, the driver may be forced to leave the team if race performance during the time of the contract has been sub-par (by the team's expectations), or the team may extend a contract renewal/extension in addition to the offers from other teams.

Real-world F1 teams are constantly testing their vehicles, developing new equipment and software and trying them out both on the track and in simulations. This is also an integral part of Career Mode, as successfully passing the many in-season tests will slowly improve the performance and reliability of each team's vehicles; this is especially noticeable if the player remains with the same team for multiple seasons. These in-season tests are completely optional, but the benefits can be substantial, and may well mean the difference toward the end of a season in a close race for the Drivers Championship and/or the Constructors Championship.

One of the nice innovations for Career Mode is the ability to earn car points in races, and then spend those car points on vehicle enhancements at future races. In a race, car points are earned for various feats - passing numerous competitors in a short period of time, successfully cornering at high speeds without dropping a wheel off the pavement, etc. The various enhancements include Perfect Pit Stop, Invulnerable Car, and engine and brake enhancements. The player can also spend car points on various ''treats,'' such as an alternate helmet, racing in the evening (F1 races are generally conducted in mid-afternoon), and even changing the clothing worn by the Grid Girl who stands in front of the player's vehicle before the start of each race.

However, the innovation ends here. The positives about the game end here. While all this is definitely great for the game, there are a number of things which are bad or ''wrong'' with F1 Career Challenge.

First, the graphics could definitely be better. There is fortunately very little dropping of frames despite having up to twenty-two vehicles on-track at once, but the graphics quality actually seems to have DECREASED compared to F1 2002 (the predecessor to F1 Career Challenge). While graphics pop-in is not too common in the game, it is quite noticeable when it does appear (such as along the run-up to Turn 4 at Sepang), and is highly distracting to the eye.

Second, the AI in Career Mode is INSANELY aggressive. There is NO way in real-world F1 that drivers could act in the same manner without being given the Black Flag and disqualified from the races!!! Often, the player will be driving along safely, then suddenly get rammed from behind - this usually results in a loss of control, which ultimately results in losing numerous positions (and any chance at a race win). If the damage from the collision is severe enough, the player may be forced to limp back to Pit Lane to have repairs effected; or, in a worst-case scenario, the vehicle will simply be unable to continue, resulting in a DNF which is definitely NOT due to any bad driving or improper behavior on the part of the player.

F1 Career Challenge uses the rules in effect prior to the 2003 season; this is most significant for qualifying. Prior to 2003, real-world F1 had all drivers qualify within a sixty-minute time period, with all drivers permitted on the circuit at once; each driver had a total of twelve laps (including out-laps and in-laps) to qualify as best as possible, and drivers could run multiple qualifying laps at once if so desired (so long as they returned to Pit Lane before the end of their twelfth lap). F1 Career Challenge, however, does NOT permit the player to have more than one hotlap at a time, and the player can ONLY have a total of four hotlaps. Further, real-world F1 drivers had to qualify within 107% of the pole time (if outside the 107% limit, only special dispensation from the race stewards would permit a driver to participate in a race); F1 Career Challenge does not honor the 107% Rule, which is a major point of controversy amongst F1 purists.

However, perhaps the most glowing failure of the game concerns a very incredible feat: winning the Drivers Championship in all four seasons of Career Mode. This is definitely NOT an easy feat to accomplish, especially since the AI becomes more and more overaggressive with each race. Career Mode races are all short - six, seven, or eight laps each, with a required pit stop timed at the discretion of the team boss (i.e., the CPU). However, even if the player is able to win the Drivers Championship four times, there is NOTHING unlocked ANYWHERE in the game - Career Mode races are still six, seven, or eight laps in length; the player still has no right to choose a pit strategy; the player is not even shown a special cutscene for such a feat. To add insult to the situation, the player must restart Career Mode by again working through all the Superlicense tests.

With each passing season, many circuits change. Often, these are minor changes: adding grandstands, widening sand traps in key areas, etc. Beginning in 2001, many circuits began paving over sand traps, so that runaway vehicles could be easily brought back under control and the driver able to return immediately to the race... yet F1 Career Challenge generally does not honor these sand-to-pavement changes. Also, the initial section at Nurburgring underwent a major reconfiguration for the 2002 season, but the game continues to use the 2001 version of the circuit. At least the game IS faithful to the massive shortening (and destruction of history and tradition) at Hockenheim in 2002.

A major flaw in F1 Career Challenge, however, is that only ONE Career Mode profile can be in use. This is not, however, because the Career Mode profile is saved as part of the main game datafile on the player's memory card. The Career Mode profile is saved separately on the memory card, but only one profile can exist per memory card. This can be a major problem if F1 Career Challenge is a favorite game in a household, a dorm room, etc. Further, there is no method within F1 Career Challenge itself to erase a saved Career Mode profile short of overwriting it by creating a new profile; the only other way to erase this profile is to restart the console without a game in the disc tray, go to Browser, select the appropriate memory card, locate the profile file, and erase it manually.

However, the biggest flaw in F1 Career Challenge is that the tuning options have been SEVERELY dumbed-down since F1 2002. F1 2002 permitted the player to tune virtually every important aspect of an F1 vehicle: wings/downforce, ride height, spring rate, dampers, brake bias, tire pressure, tire compound, gear ratios (globally and individually), and numerous other tunable parts. F1 Career Challenge, however, only allows three GENERAL tuning settings: downforce (which is not even split between front wing and rear wing), steering (which will only induce or reduce oversteering/understeering conditions), and gear ratios (only adjustable globally). This very much takes the simulation aspect out of the game series, and is also quite likely to dissuade diehard F1 purists from playing the game.

In the end, diehard F1 fans (especially those preferring simulation-based games) will definitely find a lot to quibble about in F1 Career Challenge. On the other hand, this is the most novice-friendly game in the series since the original F1 2000, yet this game will still have a rather steep learning curve. For those with solid F1 knowledge who are not overzealous about simulation or purism in the gaming experience, this game will likely rate 7/10; for everyone else, however, F1 Career Challenge will likely fail to meet expectations.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/16/03