F1 22

For all of the previous iterations of F1 that I've reviewed, I've often pondered how the next title in the franchise will improve or what new features will be added.

- Steven Dawson

However, this year a sizable chunk of that questioning has been taken up by the new cars. A new aerodynamic profile means that the racing is closer and harder than it has ever been, making for much more exciting racing the likes of which we've seen in the real-world version of the sport. Codemasters, to their credit, has been hard at work implementing the new cars, along with a significant rework of the underlying physics systems to ensure that the experience is a good one when driving the new model. They've also added a long term player request with support for VR but all these changes have come with a price.

Notably, this iteration of F1 doesn't feature anything in the way of a narrated story mode like "Braking Point" from F1 2021. A shame, as I found myself wholly engrossed by the story despite its linearity and had quietly hoped for more of the same. That said, the improvements to the rest of -the title more than make up for the omission of a story. So onwards to those instead.

First and foremost are the new cars, and the tyre and physics models that go with them, arguably being the most important aspect of this year's title. A significant amount of development time was taken to ensure that they got it right; having raced around the many circuits (more on these later) in F1 22, the cars certainly feel more stable overall, and in practice allowed me to push a bit harder during racing with more confidence.