Another year, another F1 game. You never know whether you’re going to get integral improvements or new modes that change the series, or small tweaks and arbitrary features that do little to earn the significant price tag. Codemasters are at a point now where the presentation is at its pinnacle. Visually, it is masterful. In terms of gameplay, the control on the cars is as good as it has ever been. Fans might not have been happy with it last year, but there’s significant improvement in F1 25 to make race day as realistic and exciting as ever.
Throw in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, and F1 25 is stunning. From the presentation of its menus to the realism of the tracks, cars, and surround environments, it is something truly special. Like the sport itself, the style and wealth that flows through it has been captured wonderfully in every mode. Braking Point is back for its third outing. For many this cinematic take on F1 is what brought a lot of new players in when it originally debuted. It doesn’t quite hit home like the other stories, but there’s still plenty of drama.
From some of the darker turns to the excitement of race day, Braking Point 3 is still enjoyable. It feels more team-centric this time around rather than focusing solely on any one driver. Konnersport is at the mercy of its fearsome owner Davidoff Butler. There’s some heavy story beats, but the on-track racing at least tries to do something different with the various objectives. Callie and Aiden are back, and you’ll get to play as both, as well as take part in the usual interviews.
That aura of celebrity and the Drive to Survive Netflix era of F1 also bleeds into F1 25 thanks to the inclusion of upcoming movie F1. Seeing Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem on screen felt surreal. There’s a mode that focuses on the film, whereby you play through objectives bookended by clips of the movie. Despite only having one of these at launch, it was pretty cool to see it featured. The team of APXGP can be used in Career mode, meaning you can take Brad Pitt through an entire career if you so wish.
While you can play through an entire career as a driver, taking on a whole team is my favourite feature of F1 25. You can play as the aforementioned APXGP, Konnersport, or a custom team you can build from scratch. Managing everything from R&D to your drivers and staff, there’s plenty of depth on offer. As for racing, you can play as any of the two drivers in your team on race weekends. It has been refined to the point I can’t see what more it needs. It’s a solid mode that never gets boring.
As for the racing itself, the control system feels much better this year. That fear of going full throttle to potentially losing control is lost. A lot more attention needs to be paid to every turn, with the slightest bump causing a potential disaster. While it sounds terrifying, the design of the cars and the technology on offer rarely causes you to lose focus. With that realism in the grip of the tyres and the detail of the tracks, racing is about the best I’ve ever seen in Codemasters’ F1 series.
For those that adore the sport before it stepped into the modern era, or those that are die hard fans of the various courses from around the world, F1 25 features three mirrored courses that change everything you think you know. Silverstone, Zandvoort, and the Red Bull Ring have been remodelled so that everything is reversed. It gives players new challenges as to how to race around the three iconic tracks. It offers a nice distraction for those buried in the career mode.
F1 25 has tried to find a balance by those fans that are obsessed with the intricacies of the sport and those that love the thrill of it. When you strip away the stories and the drama of Braking Point and the F1 movie, racing is incredible. It offers more realism when handling, as well as AI that can’t always be predicted. Focusing on ever turn and decision is the difference between first and second place. It might not feature any huge improvements, but it is still one of the best racers on the market today.
