The all-new F1 22

KOCHI: Sports videogames are typically unfair to an audience that knows nothing about the sport. I hoped F1 22 would be different. It is essentially car racing; I have beaten the competent AI on Forza, how complicated could this be, I told myself. While it isn’t that difficult, it is different.

Considering that I have never seen an F1 race, it took me a couple of laps. After piling up sizable penalties and handling a few losses, I finally understood how this works. The cars here are faster, but also quicker to respond to the steering and breaks. There are rules that cannot be broken, as mistakes are not easily forgiven. This means I cannot just offroad, crash cars and make an easy top 3 victory. F1 22 is not a casual car-driving simulator. But this is not to discourage beginners from trying this game.

The latest F1 game is improved in more ways than one. The game features both online and split-screen multiplayer, a career mode, and single-player races. If I am ever tired of the F1 cars, there’s the new Pirelli Hot Laps feature which has the road supercars. The cars are all generally very shiny, and it’s overall a good-looking game.

F1 22 also includes “F1 Life”, an interesting tangent from the rest of the game, primarily being a social feature with trophies and personalisation options. And did I mention the VR mode? The PC version has one now. EA has pulled out all the stops to ensure the game satisfies probably every requirement of someone keen on a good F1 game.

Personally, I loved the customisation options in the game. In specific, the auto-steering mode came in handy. It helped me get quick wins but salvaged my dignity by giving me just the right amount of control in the races. The cut scenes provide an interesting insight into the game as well, for novices in the sport. The game was released in July and is the official videogame of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently available for the PlayStations, Xboxes, and PC. I rate it a solid 4 out of 5 gears.