Summary
Developer – Codemasters
Publisher – EA Sports
Platforms – PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC
Before we start, I’d like to make one thing clear: I am a huge racing game fan. I enjoy a good arcade racer and occasional race against a friend. Sadly, the arcade racing genre as a whole is not something that has thrived as of late. Outside of Forza Horizon and the Dirt series, new arcade racers are so few and far between. So have been looking outside of arcade racing to get my fix. Thankfully, F1 22 goes further beyond arcade racing and refines and builds upon the excellent F1 21.
Grid Legends featured a fun take on arcade mixed with sim racing. The later Horizons lost that smooth blend and Gran Turismo doesnt have a great in-depth racing feel on the track. F1 22 takes place in several different environments. The story mode is gone, which I miss dearly, but the overall refinements to the racing itself shine through.
Speaking of old sim racers, F1 22 blows away the competition with its top-class online feature set. Every single mode that you play, be it career mode or standard races, can become an online lobby seamlessly. A friend can hop online, and smoothly integrate into a career mode as a fellow team driver and it’s such a stellar feature. For accessibility-minded players such as myself, co-op helps even the playing field, and co-op is sadly a feature not commonly seen in many racing games.
Every individual tune and upgrade imparts a noticable change in driving, The visuals are not quite GT7 or Horizon level but do a fantastic job on this front. Damage modeling is also superb.
My only desire as a deaf player was better subtitle options. What is presented is servicable as most of the action is focused in menus or on the track anyways.
Progressing through the campaign, performing and discovering objectives such as high placements and wins can all help with career progression. Having a racing team and coordinating with friends online has led to some tense moments.
F1 22 caught me off guard with how skill-based it is. The AI on harder settings can be tough, and one slip off the track can end any hope of victory. It features an excellent array of options to customize the entire experience with. The moment-to-moment racing is very tactile, and mastering its driving mechanics is essential to victory.
There are multiple ways to play multiplayer with the inclusion of co-op online racing! It’s not often racing games allow this, and it was fun to blast around the track while my son was blocking cars for me in career mode.
If you’re itching for a fun but deep sim racer, you can’t go wrong with F1 22. The tracks and car graphics are solid, the core gameplay is fast and there are plenty of things to keep you engaged.\
