F1 2011- Review by Panda

[sevenpanda]

I decided to make a review for this seen as no-one else has yet, so here it is: (it's not perfect, I know)

F1 2011- REVIEW

GAME-MODES: Career: Loving the new menus and the intros (the fact that you can choose from 5 teams, not 3) Nothing much has changed, except they've gone for emails instead of that stupid agent . Gameplay is so much more interesting eg. with sims on a Lotus has hardly any downforce and is pretty difficult to drive. But it gets very boring after a while.

Grand Prix is exactly the same, except obviously updated cars and now the use of a Safety Car. It's pretty easy to get the SC to come out, you just need to cause a giant pile-up at Monaco. :P

Online has two new modes (more about those later), and Sprint, Endurance and various other modes return for a second year of online. The only bad thing is that every time someone joins or quits, the 'time to race' timer resets to 30 seconds, so you could be waiting hours to race. Lap times and gameplay are so much better than 2010 though.

Proving Grounds is a new mode for F1 2011- there are 6 scenarios to challenge, some are hard, some are easy. Time Trial returns with online leaderboards to track your progress.

SCORE: 7.5/10

GRAPHICS- Many people are complaining about this, but I don't think they are too bad. But T-Cam (my favourite camera view on F1 2010) and split-screen gameplay graphics are horrible. I don't really think anything has changed for the worse, so I award it:

SCORE: 8/10

SOUND: Nice music on this game, and the engineer is ten times better, as he actually gives you info that you need to know this year. The only trouble is, as like it was in 2010, when you get alongside someone, usually you can only hear their engine and not your own.

SCORE: 10/10

DAMAGE: I have to admit, the damage system is pretty awful this year. Codies say they had a better damage system ready, but FOM (no idea what it stands for) wouldn't allow them to use it. Gone are the days when you could slam Vettel into a wall and not get a penalty...

SCORE: 7.5/10


GAMEPLAY: Gameplay is extremely good. With the addition of DRS and KERS, it makes it much more exciting. In a Lotus against a Mercedes with DRS, you can find yourself going at least 30km/h slower. I really like the gameplay, with the added addition of the competitive AI making the game more fun on the highest difficulty.

SCORE: 8.5/10

CAMERA ANGLES- Camera angles are a huge part of the game, so I recommend choosing a good one. The T-Cam on a lot of cars (especially Ferrari and Red Bull) are pretty awful, but if you are a newcomer to Codies games, use it. I personally use the cockpit cam a lot because it feels like you are in a car. Undoubtably, though, camera angles are pretty good.

SCORE: 8.5/10

ONLINE MODES- This gets it's own category! :P Co-op championship first, this is a fantastic feature. It's you against a friend in the same team. You'll have to put in a lot of commitment to win the title, though. Be prepared for it to take at least a month to get two seasons done.
If you have local friends or family that love F1, split-screen is for you. You only have a choice of three views, and it's a bit difficult at times when you're laughing at your friend slamming into a wall at high speed. :P

SCORE: 7.5/10

FINAL SCORE: 57.5/70

[sevenpanda]

*Reserved for extra space if needed*

[THOMBER]

Is T-cam worse than in 2010? Because I don't think the T-cam in 2010 is bad.

[sevenpanda]

It is on some cars, like Mercedes and Ferrari. It's not really that I don't like it, it's just the cockpit cam is so much better this year.

[Leicester_Lad_93]

6.5/10

Improvements:
- The handling of the cars has been improved
- The HUD, sector times, gaps between cars have been improved.
- Updates like KERS, DRS and Pirelli tyres are good additions.
- Weather effects and marbles off line are better.

Disappointments:
- Graphics are somehow worse than 2010
- AI is still awful. MOVE!
- There are still endless errors and glitches that need patching. For instance, me and Smallville_kyle are on a co-op season with the AI set to Legend. We lap them within 6 laps and they hold you up so much.
- Online is worse. Disconnecting and lag is common. The lobby 30 second reset is retarded.
- Minor gripe, but music is worse on the laptop.

All in all I'm disappointed with F1 2011. It's good, but it was promising to be AMAZING on the build up. Roll on F1 2012.

[jamie9000000]

Originally Posted by sevenpanda

but FOM (no idea what it stands for) wouldn't allow them to use it.

That stands for Formula One Management

Anyways, a good review you've done there

I haven't been able to pick the game up yet not got enough money

[Leicester_Lad_93]

Originally Posted by jamie9000000

That stands for Formula One Management

Anyways, a good review you've done there

I haven't been able to pick the game up yet not got enough money

Don't be too disappointed Jamie. The game is far worse than Panda depicts in his review. Decent, nothing spectacular.

[sevenpanda]

Originally Posted by jamie9000000

That stands for Formula One Management

Anyways, a good review you've done there

I haven't been able to pick the game up yet not got enough money

I thought you were in FOCARTA?

LL, it's pretty awful in some respects but tbh, it's not that bad. Shouldn't really have given it the score I did.

[Threnzy]

I would score it way way less. currently im not really interested in playing a realistic career because its impossible to make it realistic. I really hope they do release a patch but codemasters didnt bother to fix the bugs from last year so Im not holding my breath...

[sevenpanda]

Originally Posted by Threnzy

I would score it way way less. currently im not really interested in playing a realistic career because its impossible to make it realistic. I really hope they do release a patch but codemasters didnt bother to fix the bugs from last year so Im not holding my breath...

Yeah, I'll change the ratings for you guys.