Review F1 2022 - Race met de nieuwste generatie supercars

De F1-serie begint steeds meer op FIFA te lijken. Felle kleuren, hippe muziekjes en de eerste contouren van wat weleens F1UT kan gaan worden. Ook nieuw is F1 Life. En het is hier dat de game echt uit de bocht begint te vliegen. Je kunt een The Sims-achtige ruimte inrichten met - nu nog - beperkte interieuropties, likjes verf en te verzamelen super cars.

Als simulator biedt de game uitdagende race-actie en voor beginnende coureurs. Toch is lang niet alle potentie benut. Het nagenoeg volledige hergebruik van de carrièremodus uit de afgelopen edities illustreert dit. F1 22 is uitgebreid, leuk en degelijk, maar is buiten de nieuwe bolides en circuits nauwelijks een meerwaarde ten opzichte van F1 2021.

The game also looks better than expected in VR, the addition of which is F1 22's biggest new feature. Racing in F1 22 feels as good as it ever has done in the series. However, considering the wholesale changes in the sport this year, there isn't much new content if you don't have access to a VR headset. Playing in VR for the first time is a thrill, but the other new features haven't been implemented well.

Brilliantly replicates the thrill of driving this year's F1 cars and even the cynical F1 Life, and it's awful microtransactions, can't spoil the excitement. Cars feel thrillingly, and authentically, different to drive. Clever tweaks to the general realism, testing programmes, and My Team. Looks fabulous and surprisingly accessible to novices. F1 Life feels incongruous and cynical. No story mode this year.

F1 22 isn't going to blow your mind with its new features, especially when it comes to F1 Life. It does offer some compelling, fast-paced racing backed by some great Career modes, tracks. and presentation Familiar as it may be, it's still the definitive way to experience Formula 1 racing in video games. Bugs and glitches which can hamper the overall presentation and realism.

There are plenty of other modes to play around in, including online and splitscreen multiplayer (you can even have a two player career, joining the same or opposing teams). Less great is the new 'F1 Life', which is a thin excuse to try and extract cash from its players. You have your own apartment to furnish, supercars to collect and clothes to buy with the game's, sigh, 'Pitcoin'.

Everything comes together to make F1 22 the most realistic Formula One game yet. For Formula One fans, it’s easier than ever to recommend F1 22. Significant changes have been made here to not only keep the game up to date, but also more immersive, more expansive and more fun. The only real disappointment is F1 Life, which feels a like a good idea in principle but very poorly executed.

What makes F1 22 great are the improvements to the core technical aspects. The new cars look and sound amazing as the game is buttery smooth across the board. The new physics will challenge even the pros up front until they figure out their setups. The supercars on the Pirelli Hot Laps are fun to play around with. The limited gameplay mode selection and the reduction of major aspects does sting.

F1 2022 does a fantastic job of keeping up to date with the sport, managing to tweak the rules and feel of the cars, and in turn giving returning players an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the all new season. The absence of a story mode like last year's Braking Point is felt. There's plenty to love about F1 2022, though. It's amazing just how good it looks and how well it plays.

F1 2022 is a fantastic racing game and the best Formula 1 game to date. There are some very nice improvements to the gameplay, a smattering of new tracks, and a realistic representation of the changes the sport has seen in the latest season. If you really want to get your hands on the new era of cars and feel how they drive, F1 2022 is a must-buy.

F1 2021 is the best-looking and most customisable instalment of the long-running series to date, and the ability to tinker under the hood of the core career experience and play co-op with a friend is very welcome. With the addition of Braking Point it's also the boldest F1 game so far. The characterisation is a little underdone and the E for Everyone approach means it's quite an airbrushed take.

The revamped driving physics pair with the sport's new regulations to give you far better, far closer competition than anything you've experienced. And the improved accessibility makes this a racing sim for experts and newcomers alike. For people new to the series, the lack of a storyline and just giving players a car and a track to play without any motivation can make it a little hard to get into at first.