No matter how many new buzz words can be ushered, and no matter how much PR speak can be divulged, it has to get harder and harder for development teams to make meaningful changes to the plethora of annual sports game releases; each one changing the most minor of things from the previous yearly entry.
That’s the case for Codemasters, even more so when they have the might of EA Sports behind them, pushing things on. Now some may criticise for such actions, others will complain that it’s another case of EA stamping their authority, pushing out cash cow products with little intention or desire to change. Personally, I care little for that. All I want is a decent F1 game. And that’s what we have in F1 24.
The problem is, the changes and new features brought about this time round, as Codies look to build on F1 23, are about as minuscule as you can get. In fact, it’s taken a bit of a step back from the release of twelve months back.
That was always going to be the case for an F1 game that is running to market without the inclusion of the Braking Point story mode. For me, that’s a big deal, even fully understanding the need to hold that narrative as a bi-annual feature. But it does mean that F1 24 feels a little lacking in content, even with the addition of some new ideas.
Those new ideas are thin on the ground though, and F1 24 comes across like a bit of a stop gap, something to tide players over before things move on at pace next year, hopefully with that story in tow.
Obviously it goes without saying that F1 24 focuses on the latest moves of the real world circus, and that means you’ll find all your favourite drivers at all your favourite teams, racing around all your favourite tracks, with all your favourite rules and regulations to keep track of. You do have favourite rules and regs, yeah? There’s no change in that respect to what the F1 games do. It comes with the slightly tacked on inclusion of the F2 grid as well, albeit from an earlier point in time.
Dive in, perhaps going from the 2023 edition to F1 24 and that feeling of familiarity hits hard. Menus have hardly been adjusted and that means whilst the Career is complete with both single player and cooperative options, it’s very much as it was before. There’s plenty in there though, from the standard Driver Career, through that of a My Team option and into Two Player Career. Possibly more exciting than all of that is the Challenge Career which takes you through various Episodes, earning points and leaderboard placements.
Aside from some splitscreen and league racing (each of which will probably only appeal to niche drivers), F1 World then plays host to everything else: Time Trials, Grand Prix’s, a World Series, multiplayer and the like. Unlockable Goals will probably be mostly on the cards here and again, progress through the various sections of F1 World sees car upgrades, currencies and more chucked out with regularity through a Podium Pass system. Honestly, if it wasn’t for some very slight changes, you’d think you had fired up last year’s effort.
Track- and race-specific stuff rarely deviates either. There is the inclusion of some driver radio, copy and pasted from the real world into the virtual lands, and whilst that’s nice initially, it doesn’t take long for it to just become part of the scene. So too for the off track secret meetings, budget restraints and such like, as you try to compete with the best of them, both on and off the track.
Really though, little of that matters as long as we can get behind the wheel of some of the fastest cars in the land, marvelling once more at the stunning visual accuracy as Codies flex with what they are good at. And what they are really good at is racing. F1 2024 again handles that with ease.
Feeling about as good as you’re going to get away from the real world, we’ve again found ourselves pounding the laps, shaving milliseconds off personal bests, smashing segment times, pulling off overtakes, slamming the DRS button and mixing it with the best of the grid. And again, much like we’ve done for the last few decades, we’ve enjoyed nailing every apex, appreciative of every minute of our time with F1 2024; at least on track. It’s the racing that drags us back, the time trials, the shortened Grand Prix, the multiplayer as we’ve climbed leagues.
If you too are looking for that, for some brilliant F1 seat-of-your-pants racing, then by all means jump behind the wheel of F1 24. Don’t expect too much excitement away from the racing, as the omission of a story mode is a real whack. And certainly don’t pin all your hopes on the smallest of new features and this year’s buzzwords. Join for the racing, and enjoy what is provided from there on out.
For us, we’ll ply our trade, lapping over and over again with our favourite drivers, cars and tracks, participating in the multiplayer angle of F1 2024 as and when the desire hits. All the time, we’ll be left crossing fingers for a return of the story with next year’s instalment.
