I think it’s kinda neat that we’ll be getting an official 11th team in the F1 games by an American team, bringing together the youth and an experienced hand as they join in the cut-throat business that is F1. Why the other newcomer resembles Hollywood movie star Brad Pitt raises so many questions.
F1 25 is perhaps the shot in the arm that the series needed. The lingering question marks whether their publisher would want to go for another lap after this is up in the air. This 17th entry of the series would make a good swansong if we play it by hand, with its fate undecided.
Presentation
Finally, the F1 series has moved onto the current generation of consoles and you can tell with the jump in fidelity and lighting that they can now push into its aging EGO engine, with even the smaller details like the shininess of the tires and light now reflecting on some of the teams’ colors during the night race, makes the graphical increase quite noticeable.
The audio side also got some refresh with Marc now doing Radio checks with the actual drivers getting responses and sometimes, even the team principal might chime in if you win a race, which adds to the immersion factor.
Most of the menus and UI did have a sort of refresh (much like the actual series) but it mostly feels similar to its previous edition and that’s fine. There’s also the return of the Breaking Point mode and a new mode promoting the upcoming F1 Movie, which has some implications on its other modes too.
While in its current state, the F1 Movie option on the start menu is basically a teaser to the movie tie that’s coming during the movie’s launch. And by the looks of it, follows the cinematic experience quite well, with the first chapter being Brad Pitt’s character testing the APX car on Silverstone, complete with their F1 car that has the steering wheel from the F2 car for authenticity.
It’s a neat way to bring together the experience together and if you have the Iconic version, could also mean that APX GP could also be a team within the Career mode grid as well, along with the Breaking Point fictional team of Konnersport for all owners of the game, making it a taste of 22 cars racing on the MyDriver career mode before the arrival of Cadillac next year.
However one nitpick I would put is the usage of the Nvidia Audio2Face test doesn’t really look good in usage, which looks stiffer than other game implementations and it feels like straight out of Uncanny Valley.
Gameplay
The big topic of last year’s game was the handling model being too twitchy at launch before a mid-season switch makes the handling close to what players would deem acceptable but this year, EA and Codemasters have already nailed it from the start. Just the right amount of cornering input and the wheel animation showing the cornering just like real life without too much exaggeration, does make this the best handling game from the last three releases.
The hits keep on rolling, as the AI is also mightily improved with them being able to race you and each other side-by-side without issues, with the driver of the car being unique in how it deals with the racing. Like Hamilton would go side-by-side with you, or Verstappen will try to push drivers off legally, and that makes racing exhilarating for even casual racers.
So now we turned our attention to the MyTeam career mode, which has had its time in the overhauling port to make it more inspired by F1’s previous dabble into managerial duties, with now your player character being only the team boss as you hire drivers to pilot your machine into P1. It does feel in-depth with how there are layers to make sure your team would be running with skill trees and even the occasional choices you have to make. 
And while I do like that you can choose who you’ll drive as before any race in the MyTeam-verse, there was a missed opportunity to have the ability to switch drivers on the fly for the moment-to-moment gameplay events that could have influenced your race, a thing that was present during the PS2 era of racers.
The new livery editor feels like them taking a page of their WRC game and putting it here, which I don’t mind since you can place them in areas that before you couldn’t access, and while it isn’t as in-depth as its rivals, a quite of a welcome edition for painters to make their cars look like icons from the previous era of F1 or something original entirely. 
As for the normal MyDriver career mode, its refresh from last season is still active and perhaps made more engaging now you can also put in Icon drivers into the fray from the likes of the previous F1 Esport champs like Jarno Opmeer, or even both APX and Breaking Point drivers joining when the driver transfer happens in the 2nd season. It’s a neat add-on that makes its already famous career mode engaging.
Content![]()
This year’s F1 game is once again jam-packed with stuff to do, with the Breaking Point storyline that still is quite engaging for a Sports game to have. With the twists and turns of the plot reminiscent of Codie’s old TOCA Race Driver 1 that had a pretty solid story as well, mind you. With plenty of racing and dialogue choices to make as the chapters go on.
And technically, with the F1 Movie mode coming in later in June, F1 25 could have the distinction of being the latest Formula One game that has included multiple seasons in one package, last seen within EA Sport’s own F1 Challenge for the PS2. As the movie mode is based on the 2023 season, Breaking Point takes place in both 2024 and 2025, and finally, the MyTeam career mode is a sort of “Sandbox” mode after, still in 2025.
The multiplayer side is still mostly similar to the F1 World stuff, being the hub for the Fanzone and such, and even now an Invitational mode where you and a co-op partner could race in your F1 World cars to get challenges done and even rank up the Pit Pass for more customization stuff.
The new reverse tracks are a neat feature but being unavailable to use in the main modes is a bit of a hit-and-miss, in my opinion. It’s fun to relearn a track you have probably driven for decades at this point, now reverse but unlike its usage in GRID where you could be racing in reverse during some races, no luck for F1.
Personal Enjoyment![]()
If, and this is a big IF, this is going to be the final F1 game by Codemasters, then this is them ending it on a high note, with how well everything gels together. From the car’s handling being fun to drive, to the AI being incredible to race with, and even just embracing the fictional side with the availability of Brad Pitt as a driver, makes me feel like coming back to playing this when it’s all said and done.
And really, F1 25 deserves all the praise after last year’s disappointment.
Verdict
F1 25 builds upon its previous iteration to make this edition quite memorable with the pretty hefty amount of content that you could do within the price of entry. And while it is still a yearly F1 title after the falters of last year, you’ll be surprised by how good it is.
Played on Xbox Series S, Review copy provided by Electronic Arts.
F1 25
Builds upon its previous iteration to make this edition quite memorable with the pretty hefty amount of content that you could do within the price of entry.
- Presentation 8
- Gameplay 8.5
- Content 8
- Personal Enjoyment 8