For the past two years, Codemasters has been tweaking their F1 game for the last few entries, and it has been interesting to see how the handling model changes that mimic real-life happenings of the sport, for better or worse.
And thanks to EA, I got to try out the latest iteration of the game, which from what I have played so far, is one of the best handling F1 games ever, all thanks to all of the improvements and one neat feature that makes driving so much better.
And it’s all thanks to their new Precision Drive™ system that makes controller inputs feel more nimble and so much more responsive. Like now, pushing over the limits is more feasible, and when your car is about to experience a slide, now you can save it, something that was possible in the likes of 2020 cars but not that much for last year’s car.
It’s these sorts of improvements that make hotlapping quite fun once again because nothing says more about a game’s longevity than the fun of driving one circuit without getting bored (and I can tell you based on experience, that’s a good sign).
And while the preview build is limited in what you can do with the racing part, again having more smoothness of the steering makes racing side-by-side with the AI right more engaging and I applaud them for this pretty good addition at this juncture.
Really, this new handling, to the untrained eye, isn’t something significant to talk about but the fact that they have gotten feedback from actual drivers and teams to make the virtual cars more manageable for the majority of the racers, paints a good picture for its full release.
So, Codies has nailed the first two sectors so far, can they get the fastest lap honours in three weeks’ time? All the signs are pointing toward a YES.
F1 23 is set to launch on June 13 for the Deluxe Edition on the PS4, PS5, PC (Steam, Epic, and EA App), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
Played on PC. Preview build provided by the publisher