F1 2013

Race through generations of different cars on all the same tracks you're used to.

F1 2013 is Codemaster's entry into their racing game franchise for that same year. Fans of the racing simulation genre will find everything they liked about past games present and a few small things tweaked, upgraded and improved, but nothing spectacularly changed. It's the problem of many annual game franchise in that there is a steady evolution instead of noticeable jumps in content and quality. The main reason to buy into the newest version is the updated content for drivers, tracks and cars to mimic the actual season of F1 racing. There's a lot of depth in F1 2013, but comparing to F1 2012 will have you wondering if it's worth spending the extra money to upgrade. By itself, F1 2013 is a complete and satisfying F1 racing game.

Game Play

true to form, F1 2013 has all the necessary ways to race. it has multiple cars to choose and unlock, a career mode that will have you working through each of the twenty circuits as well as multi player; both 16 man online and same machine split screen. In addition to the career mode, there's casual play that lets a player just start the game and play, and Young Driver's Test. The test puts the player through a rigorous set of tests meant to challenge and train. The play mode was available in the 2012 version of FI racing, but its a nice addition here as well. Scenario Mode is the last way to play and proposes different challenges to the player, which is different than just racing against the clock or other players and the AI or if you don't have the time for a full on, 100+ lap race. There's a mid race save function now as well, just to make playing through a full 2 hour long race somewhat plausible for those that can't spare that much time all in one gaming session.

Presentation

F1 Racing looks great, for what it is. There are 20 tracks, which encompasses all the actual tracks that exist in the world. The landscapes are nicely rendered but are literally no more than back drops for the races themselves as cars are restricted to the track. The cars are what people care about anyway and there are cars a-plenty. Buying into the DLC content for 2013 gives access to even more cars, with models going back as far back as the 1980's. Graphically, the game isn't much of an upgrade from 2012, but the game retains it's modern polish and holds up well. Soundtrack and sounds effects are both adequate and adds to the game instead of distracts.

Pros

• Great handling and simulation of F1 Racing
• Great selection of Cars
• Different play modes add some variety to choose from instead of just racing on a closed track

Cons

• Very little upgraded from 2012 version of the game