Start your engine folks, as its lights out and away we go for the latest instalment of the official Formula game. The question posed today is, will F1 2023 cross the line and take home the glory or will it limp back to the pits needing to be repaired?
Let’s start with main feature that has been advertised for this year – that being the return of Braking Point. The original Braking Point story was rather cliché and predictable but did its job in setting the story up for when it returned. Braking Point was missing from last year’s game as the main focus seemed to be aimed at the super cars & F1 Life. Thankfully it’s back this year with Braking Point starting off where we ended. If you didn’t get round to playing the first one in there is a story recap so you’ll feel suitably prepared for what lies ahead.
Fan Favourite Devon Butler returns, as does the forever thorn in his side Aiden Jackson, as this year they find themselves partnering together at the newly founded Konnertsport Racing Team. A few others make their return as do a few new faces; I won’t spoil the story too much here as I know not everyone would’ve been following the exploits across the many social media platforms. What I will say is this – it’s certainly a marked improvement on part 1. I’m almost at the end (I think) and I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve experienced so far!
The other ‘new’ feature is F1 World. F1 Life launched last year and if I’m being honest, it fell flat on its face. Thankfully it looks like the team saw this and gave it a facelift as well as some new features. F1 World is now the place to go for both single and multiplayer modes, whether it’s time trial or online lobbies, it’s now under one roof.
When I first read of F1 World I was sceptical, as one game mode sounded like it was FIFA Ultimate team, but with Formula One instead of Football. To give credit where it’s due, it doesn’t feel like a FIFA mode rip off. In fact, I can see this mode being the place where I spend the most of my hours playing F1 2023. There are challenges, both on and offline for players to complete. These challenges will grant you rewards to upgrade your car, these challenges come in weekly, seasonal and milestones. Examples of these are Complete 5 ranked games, drives 100 miles at Canada and win 50 races. There are also Vendor goals where the rewards will enable you to upgrade the parts you already have.
However, upgrading your car will also increase the difficulty of the AI you drive so if it gets too hard then it’s worth hanging on to any lesser upgrades to find the best level for you. Another cool thing here is when you race against the AI, the drivers will be any friends you have that play the game, so if you’re like me and you have over 50 people (not a brag honest) that play F1 you’ll be surrounded by people you know.
The home screen UI has a fresh look as well which is welcome as it was starting to feel a bit cluttered and hard to find the things you wanted to get to.
During the Pandemic, drivers such as Lando Norris and George Russell were live streaming the game, since then Codemasters have claimed to have been working with some of the drivers to gain feedback on how to make the car feel more realistic. As someone who puts A LOT of hours into the Formula games, I could tell there hadn’t been much change with each passing year; the car usually felt unbalanced and could spin at any moment. That changes with F1 2023. I think this is the year Codemasters have nailed the handling of the car and will have people trying to take assists off to better themselves if that’s a path they want to go down.
Two new circuits find their way in to F1 2023; the Qatar Losail International circuit, as well as the new circuit in Las Vegas, meaning players will be able to experience the circuit before the real-life drivers do thanks to both circuits being meticulously recreated in-game using thousands of reference photos and photogrammetry data. Other circuits have had tweaks as well, so fans of Catalunya and Austria will be able to enjoy the up-to-date layouts of both circuits.
Red Flags make their comeback as well, they’ve been missing since 2014 and I already know one Tavern member who’ll be seeing how many they can get in a single race! 35% races make their debut this year as well which is a nice compromise as sometimes 25% felt too short and 50% a tad too long.
No F1 game is complete without a career mode and both My team and the Vanilla career mode return for F1 2023. Not much to report here I’m afraid, My Team Launched with a bang a few years back but it seems to have stagnated somewhat and isn’t particularly appealing for return players. The main highlight is being able to use some of the drivers from Braking Point if you have the Champions edition. So yes, Devon Butler will be joining me at Seventh Gear Racing!
Conclusion
With the new handling model, Braking Point 2 and F1 World, F1 2023 has the fresh coat of paint the series has needed for some time. For the first time in a while, I can see myself dusting my wheel off and racing rather than settling for just commentating.
Become a Patron!This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
