2020-08-01_PC_Gamer_(US_Edition

Now you can play through a whole

ten-year career across multiple seasons,

starting in F2 and working your way up to

F1. But the big difference this time is being

able to make your own team by creating a

driver, hiring a teammate, choosing a

sponsor, building facilities, and even

selecting your engine supplier. This is

probably the most dramatic overhaul

of the game’s career mode to date,

taking the series into deeper

role-playing territory.

As usual, Codemasters has secured all

the appropriate licences. F1 2020 will

feature every official team and driver from

this year’s championship, and all the

proper branding. The character models

are impressive, with stars like Hamilton

and Vettel looking eerily lifelike. There’s an

impressively high level of incidental detail

here too, including crowds of reporters

interviewing the drivers before a race. F1

2020 also includes two new circuits:

Vietnam’s Hanoi Circuit and, making its

first F1 appearance since 1985, Circuit

Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

Circuit Zandvoort, which motorsport

fans will know well, has two dramatic

banked corners, including one tilted at a

nerve-racking 18 degrees, making you feel

like you’re in a corkscrew. With its

abundance of blind corners, this is a

challenging, technical, and relentless

course, and it’s great to see it make an

appearance here. As for Hanoi Circuit, this

modern street track features some of the

longest straights in all of F1, letting you

reach terrifying top speeds.

If you aren’t the most accomplished

driver, and the thought of screaming

around a track like that gives you the fear,

F1 2020 has you covered. A new

accessible handling mode, which enables

a series of assists, means you can enjoy

the drama of F1 without worrying about

spinning out constantly. This is a neat way

of bringing new players into this typically

unforgiving driving subgenre.

WINNING FORMULA

Elsewhere it’s business as usual.

Codemasters’ F1 driving model is pretty

much note-perfect, and has been for

years, so it’s perhaps no surprise to see no

major changes here—accessible mode

aside. It still feels great in your hands,

whether you’re using a wheel or a

gamepad. It’s twitchy and intense, as

an F1 race should be, and carving a

perfect line through an apex without

losing control is always a thrill.

Several races in this year’s F1

championship calendar have been

postponed or cancelled due to the

coronavirus outbreak, but Codemasters

promises that F1 2020 will still allow

players to experience all 22 tracks—

including Monaco and Albert Park—as if

things went ahead as normal. A nice idea,

which F1 fans missing their favorite sport

this summer will get an extra kick out of.

F1 2020 is set for release in July, and

it’s looking like another great entry in the

series. It has all the authentic presentation

you’d expect from Codemasters, and the

handling is a dream. But the real test will

be that ambitious career mode. Building a

team sounds fun, but how deep will it be?

I’m not expecting something on the level

of Motorsport Manager, but I would like

something to sink my teeth into. The last

game was superb, but it’s heartening to

see the developer not resting on its laurels

and trying something different once again.

Andy Kelly

W

e awarded F1 2019 an impressive 91

percent in our review last year.

Codemasters elevated its racing series

with the inclusion of F2 racing, and a

fun, story-driven career mode. Not much changed

in terms of visuals or handling, but the package was

a big improvement over previous entries in the

series—and the next game is taking things further.

Take your own Formula 1

team to victory

F1 2020

THIS IS THE MOST DRAMATIC

OVERHAUL OF THE GAME’S

CAREER MODE TO DATE

RELEASE

July 10, 2020

DEVELOPER

Codemasters

PUBLISHER

In-house

LINK

codemasters.com

NEED TO KNOW

PLAYED

IT

The unmistakable

pink livery of BWT.

F1 2020

PREVIEW

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