My TRANSLATION
hope you like the six pages review
"The wait was long and stressful , but after years without a decent f1 game we can now re drive a f1 car in our living room!
In the last times , the f1 fans managed to drive with the pc simulations like rfactor or the various amatorials mods about the f1 world , but we missed a real and complete f1 game.
Codemasters does the job , they've managed to work on their fantastic EGO engine to recreate a realistic open wheels simulation.
But it's a completely different approach! In the recent games the cars slides on the tarmac (grid)or in the gravel (dirt) , but this time they have to recreate those f1 cars , with an incredible Grip and complex aerodynamics!
So they had to change completely the driving stile and the damage too (usually the ego engine is fanstastic in that aspect).
But let's talk about the game now!
Codies managed to give us the opportunity to become a world champion , by starting from the lower teams.
We will travel the world and drive in the 19 traks of the f1 circus!
The difference between two cars like ferrari and lotus is huge , but we have to mantain a clean an smooth driving style in all the cars to compete well in f1.
Codemasters aimed to recreate an interesting and complete career mode.
The begin of the game is during a press conference , were we have to answer the journalist's questions , doing this we set parameters like name , race weekend options (race lenght , session times ) , how many season race (from 3 to 7) and the team we want to drive (like tororosso , force india , lotus).
Ah we have to choose te sim level too (arcade or simulation).
all these parameters can be changed during the season as well.
AFter the press conference we get immersed in the paddok , were we can choose to drive in a single race , time attack , multiplayer or enter in the motorhome of your team and start the career , driving in the 19 race of the f1 season.
We start from the free practice , soon we will get sit in the cockpit of the car in the box.
If you move the head , you will see your engineers and mechanichs at work on your car and here you can change the setup too.
Usually the default setup is pretty good for each tracks , but who wants to have the fastest lap , have to work on some parameters like wing inclination , tyres pressure ecc ecc.
If you are not able to do that , you can talk with your engineer , asking him if we want more grip , more understeer or oversteer.
After we adjusted the setup well , we can finally leave the garage and get in the track!!!
Even you choose the arcade style or the sim style you soon understand that f1 2010 ISN'T an easy game.
Is hard to stay in the track and is even more difficult to mantain the concentration in all the session.
If you ask a f1 driver , what is the most incredible and terrifing feeling of the f1 car driving , he will sure answer the sense of speed.
You haven't time to take a pause when you are getting at 300 km h in a fast corner , especially when you have a monster capable to brake in some metres and to take the curbes at incredible speed!
After some laps we managed to take confidence with the handling.
But the unexpected can always suprprise you!
The car in front of us can spin in every moment , and the aggressive drivers can pass you in the minimum space.
In the first minutes of play , you will have many accidents and spins and only after some laps you will take the right confidence with the game.
When you have took confidence you can push the limit , taking the curbs with aggression when in the first times you drove away from that with caution.
But even you have managed to take the right confidence you need to drive WELL to win.
Doing the career you have to learn what to do if you loose a front wing for example.
The damage model is quite permessive so the minor contacts have no conseguences on your car , but a mayor contact can cause you the damage or the break of the entire front wing.
You can reenter in the box to change the wing if the damage isn't too bad, but if it's not so bad , you can change real time the wing parameters , by pressing a button on your steering wheel.
is easy to say , but when you are during a race you cannot stop and doing this manouver is difficult.
Another aspect that you have to take under control is the weather.
You can easely start a race (the long races , with 100 % laps ) with the sun and after a few laps a monsoon can change completely the track.
You have to choose when change the tyres to gain grip in the wet conditions , but even if you have the wet tyres , the visibilty on the track is compromised!
WHen you splipstream a car , a wall of water will smash into the cam , and the only thing we can see is the red light in the rear of the car in front.
We have to change often the traiectory to see in front of us , but doing this you will miss the ideal line in the track.
F1 2010 isn't a real simualtion , but it give the opportunity to live the feelings of the real f1 drivers ; the inaffidability of the car is one of the most dramatic situations you can have in the race.
A frustrating situation was when we were in battle with the lotus for the first position of the race , after a huge serie of great overtaking manouvre.
When we were attacking the third place , our engine leteraly blow up and our car stopped in the track , losing the race.
F1 2010 isn't an easy game , the aggressivity of the opponents is incredible , every race will be fightfull.
In the online mode too , you have to stay focused.
Every one can finish a race without errors after some training , but not all the people can drive with consistence and at the same time , driving fast.
Maybe the grip is too exagerated , you can take some corners with incredible aggressivity without begin punished , and even in the wet conditions it isn't really compromised.
But this isn't very important , you have to be concentrate in all the sessions aniway , especially you have to stay focused and understand how to pass the car in front of you.
An aggressive manouver si often the key to pass , but if the driver in front is a shumacher or a hamilton , you will risk a crash.
It's better to wait the right moment and pass him in the heavy brake corners , but we have to pay attention to don't cut the track or the chicanes , beacause the penalization is always possible.
If you gain position by cutting a chicane you can be penalized with a stop and go or a drive thru.
In the game the race stewards are incredibily efficents (not like the real ones ) , they will punish all the irregular manouvers like passing with the yellow flag , chicanes cutting and aggressive driving.
We were fascinated by this new codemasters title , all is recreated with a monster detail , from the cockpits , to the steering wheels , exactly like the real cars.
Even the hands on the wheel are incredibly realistic.
And the damage too (we can't show here beacause bernie would be got angry) , is so believable and realistic that we are sure you will want to see a crash from all the replay views possible!
Ah in the replay system there is the possibility to have the "flash back" , rewind the time to repair some errors.
They are limited , short and disabled in the hardest difficulty level but we have to admit that they are useful some times.
f1 2010 is great , we have to admit we had high expectations from this game , here we are all f1 fans and from this game we expected a lot.
And f1 2010 satisfied us greately , the defects are small , like that in some cars you can't see the mirrors in the cockpit cam.
This force you to push buttons to turn the head , not very intuitive but realistic indeed.
The AI is one of the most aggressive and tough we have ever seen in a racing game , shumacher , alonso , hamilton and kubica are extemely aggressive and often you will get touched and you will spin by a contact with those drivers.
AT the max difficulty setting the challenge is incredible.
Before we close this review we have to advice you to buy a good steering wheel , like Fanatec porshe 911 turbo s and not the Racing wheel wirless by microsoft.
Is fun to use a joistik too.
If we want to have a comparison with forza motorsport 3 , maybe this game is more realistic than f1 2010 in some aspects but f1 2010 is more fun , more exiting and more terrifing.
Good work codemasters , we waited years for a f1 game like that!
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
+ Great career mode
detailed recreation of f1 championship
excellent graphic , expecially in the rain
- you have to buy a good steering if you want to enjoy well
flash backs too shorts
final verdict
9.2
after years of wait f1 backs in seaddle. and WHAT A GAME!
oh what a long translation , hope you like it
