F1 2014 doesn’t fix many of 2013’s problems, least of all the one we just talked about. But that’s not a bad thing- F1 2014 takes the best of its predecessor and builds on that, but also ends up taking a few missteps in its attempt to streamline its experience for potential players.

"The PS3 and the Xbox 360 are ancient consoles, and no one expects those systems to be able to match the visual prowess of the games that will fully take advantage of the Xbox One and the PS4, but F1 2014 has managed to utilize the two old systems’ technical potential rather well."

The first thing that you notice when you start playing F1 2014 – and the thing you notice even more minute by minute as you play more of it – is that it is a stunning game. The PS3 and the Xbox 360 are ancient consoles, and no one expects those systems to be able to match the visual prowess of the games that will fully take advantage of the Xbox One and the PS4, but F1 2014 has managed to utilize the two old systems’ technical potential rather well.

F1 2014 looks beautiful- the environments, the racetracks, the cars, all look stunning. The visual effects as a car veers off-track, the tiny little details as you start noticing the damage on the body of your car and as the wheels of your vehicle start to wear away. There are a few instances when the visuals don’t hold up as well- the side mirrors of all vehicles, for examples, are a travesty- but overall, the game looks beautiful all around. Participate in just one race on a soaked racetrack while it is raining and you’ll see what I mean.

The visuals are not the only thing that is authentic about F1 2014 though. The races are as real and as challenging as you would expect of a game that bears the name of the F1 motorsport. Nothing is more satisfying that a perfect turn around a corner, with the exception of successfully overtaking a rival, or nicking a race just as you are about to finish the home stretch, or even something as simple as a perfect gear shift.

"However, the one major change that is there is not a very good one- the Classic mode has been removed, and that comes as a bit of a shock."

The racing feels just right in F1 2014. And all the while, you have to be careful about your car. You have to make sure that it hasn’t taken too much damage, or that the wheels and the tires are in a perfect condition, or that you aren’t running out of fuel, and taking all of this into consideration, you have to time your pit stops perfectly.

Sometimes, however, the game can be stubbornly difficult, almost frustratingly so. The controls aren’t always as responsive as you would want them to be, and when you’re punished for making a miniscule mistake, and that mistake results in you losing a race, it can be very frustrating. It may have been done by the developers to add to the feeling of authenticity, but it ends up making the game maddening at times.

There’s another thing that disappointed me in F1 2014- there’s a general lack of content here. First of all, other than a few new cars and some minor tweaks to the visuals and the mechanics, the game isn’t all that different from 2013’s installment. However, the one major change that is there is not a very good one- the Classic mode has been removed, and that comes as a bit of a shock. Sure, the Career mode and the Scenarios mode are as good as ever, if not better, but it just feels the game is a little lacking in terms of content.

If you’re an F1 fan, there’s a very good chance that you’ll end up buying (and liking) this game for its authenticity. If nothing else, just for the new cars. While the lack of new content will disappoint you, you will ultimately find that F1 2014 is a very enjoyable game, albeit with a few undeniable flaws.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 3.

Long renowned UK based developer Codemasters, best known for releasing autosport based games such as Dirt, GRiD, and the F1 series, appears to be in trouble- the studio, it has been confirmed, was just hit by a round of layoffs, with 50 jobs being reviewed, and as many as 30 of those slated to go.

“As Codemasters continues its programme of strategic realignment in line with market changes, the company has reviewed its current structures to focus on areas of increased importance and decrease resources in areas where work requirements have been reduced,” a company spokesperson told Eurogamer.

“As a result of this review, a small number of roles have been proposed as being at risk of redundancy. Those in potentially affected roles are now involved in a consultation period to discuss the proposal. The proposal does not affect the on-going production of titles in development and no projects have been cancelled as a result of the proposal.”

I’d love to tell you that games you are looking forward to, such as the new Dirt game, won’t be affected by any of this, but then I would be lying, as it has been confirmed that the team working on that game has been reduced to just about 20 people- which is, incidentally, far less than the number of people who were working on Grid Autosport. Codemasters assures us, however, that work on that game is continuing uninhibited.

The studio currently has at least two games in the pipeline- the next generation version of F1 2014, slated to release some time in the first half of this year, and a new Dirt game. We will keep you posted.

The final location that the F1 2014 season sees is the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, and true to their word, Codemasters will be showcasing that location in F1 2014 as well. When they announced the game, they promised that it would be authentic and faithful to the F1 2014 season, and now, they seem to be living up to their word. If you want to see what the Yas Marina circuit looks like in the game, you can check out the trailer above.

F1 2014 is currently out on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC; Codemasters has promised that the game will also be out on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 next year, developed fully from the ground up for the next generation so that they are not held back by the current gen versions, a strategy for development that I personally find admirable.

Anyway, stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information on these games.

It’s been a while since I’ve brought some F1 news to you all, so here I give you an update on how the Hot Lap videos have been coming along.

Surprisingly, the quality is improving with less of the long sweeping angles that make racing look extremely boring and more of the up close and personal camera angles that we all love so much. The latter half of the video is without a doubt the better portion with nice sweeping corners that are taken well and without the slips ups that I’ve spotted and pointed out in the previous videos which, oddly enough, really knock the whole experience down a few pegs.

So this is the F1 2014 Brazil Hot Lap which will take your around the track in typical roaring fashion at break neck speeds. Just how we like it around here. But what about you? Let us know in the comments section below.

F1 2014 is almost here- well, if you wanted it on your Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or PC, that is. As we all know by now, Codemasters won’t be releasing a next gen version of F1 until next year, but in that period, they will develop a version of the game for those consoles from the ground up, and also ensure that the product that goes on sale next year is reflective of the F1 stats as they are then rather than as they are now.

Anyway, that aside, if you want to know more about this version of the game- the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC version that goes on sale in October- you’re in luck, as the new trailer for the game, that you can see above, walks you through all the new features that we can expect in the game.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage of F1 2014, both, the current gen version as well as the next gen one.

F1 2014 is a new step for franchise as the title will be powered by an all new EGO engine which was developed for the new consoles. Although the game will not be released on new consoles, the latest iteration will act as a benchmark for the next entry in 2015. In order to know how they are going to achieve that, GamingBolt recently got in touch with game’s senior designer Lee Mather. Check out his response below.

Rashid Sayed: Why is F1 2014 not coming out on the PS4 and Xbox One?

Lee Mather: We have a team of people who have been working on new gen for some time now.  There have been a few titles announced for new gen that have slipped or failed to meet expectations.  Formula 1 is a huge deal to us, so we made the conscious decision to give ourselves enough time to make sure we get it right, both in technical and in gameplay terms. We’re investing a lot of time on the technical side, in fact new gen F1 will be the first title to utilize our all-new EGO engine; we aren’t simply upgrading our current engine, we’re engineering a new future-proof one to take the series forward in the best possible way.

"You can just look to the sport itself to see how different the gameplay is going to be this year. We’ve seen some of the biggest rule changes in the sport’s 60 year history and now we have the new turbocharged power units and new aerodynamics, which combine to place more emphasis on racing skill and control in cars with more explosive power delivery but less downforce than previous seasons."

Rashid Sayed: One of the changes in F1 2014 is to let the player drive any car he wants in career mode. Is there a specific reason behind this decision?

Lee Mather: The decision to allow the player to start their season with any team was made for multiple reasons.  Primarily it was done to try and lower the entry level for the less experienced, or time constrained gamer.  In the majority of racing games, starting out with a lower spec car is actually an easy way to get used to the game.  Slower generally equates to easier, but in F1 all of the cars are blisteringly quick.  The teams near the rear of the grid often lose out in stability and cornering performance, because of this we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to drive the best cars from the beginning.

Another key reason was feedback we received from the Codemasters gaming community.  We all read the forums regularly and often collate lists of the most requested, liked or disliked areas of the game.  Something a lot of people asked for was the ability to start their Career in a top team.  Not because they don’t relish the challenge of starting in a less dominant team, but because they couldn’t commit the time to working through multiple Career seasons.

So ultimately it’s all about player choice, allowing the player to enjoy the season how they want to enjoy the season.

Rashid Sayed: Other than that, from a gameplay perspective, what has changed in F1 2014? Is it going to be a totally different experience from last year’s iteration?

Lee Mather: You can just look to the sport itself to see how different the gameplay is going to be this year. We’ve seen some of the biggest rule changes in the sport’s 60 year history and now we have the new turbocharged power units and new aerodynamics, which combine to place more emphasis on racing skill and control in cars with more explosive power delivery but less downforce than previous seasons.

We have the new circuit at the stunning Sochi Autodrom, and the return of Austria’s Spielberg circuit and that’s a classic track with dramatic changes in elevation that we haven’t had in the sport for over 10 years. There’s the return of the drivers’ favoriteHockenheimring we get to experience Bahrain as a night race for the first time.

Rashid Sayed: How are you making sure that users who already have F1 2013 will make the transition to F1 2014?

Lee Mather: We have introduced the new Driver Evaluation Test, which pits players against AI drivers of differing pace.  At the end of the test players are rated on their performance and a difficulty and assists level is suggested to them.  If you’re not satisfied with the outcome, players can take the test as many times they want until they find the perfect difficulty level for them and take those settings over in to in to Career mode.

Then, in Career, players can choose to race shorter seasons if they prefer, including seven race and 12 race options. Players can also adjust the number of laps to be completed in every race; in effect you could complete a modified F1 season within the time it takes a full race to be broadcast in real life or replicate a full length race in real time.

"Two of the biggest changes this year are the reduction in aero, with the lack of the blown diffusers, and the major changes to the power units. The combination has given us the opportunity to add a lot more movement in to the cars, especially when on throttle."

Rashid Sayed: Tell us about the kind of research you have done to accurately capture Red Bull Ring and the brand-new Sochi Autodrom?

Lee Mather: Modeling the new circuit at Sochi was large undertaking for us, mainly as it didn’t actually exist in real life when we began work on modeling it!  However, we’ve experienced this previously with the likes of Korea, India and Texas, so we’re getting particularly good at building new circuits from limited reference material and we’re proud of the end result.

When creating a circuit we start out with CAD data provided by the circuit.  We then cross reference this with the data we acquire from multiple mapping companies.  We also have a photographer who takes full 360-degree shots at 10 metre intervals around the circuit.  This allows us to concentrate on the fine details, such as surface texture changes and drain and rain gully placement for example.  Finally we scrutinize any race day footage, picking up on any last minute changes made to the circuit or sponsor board placement and adjust these where possible.  From here we liaise with the circuit and FOM to ensure all sponsors and the circuit itself is represented accurately in game.

Rashid Sayed: What kind of improvements have you made to the cars’ handling and aerodynamics this time around?

Lee Mather: Two of the biggest changes this year are the reduction in aero, with the lack of the blown diffusers, and the major changes to the power units.  The combination has given us the opportunity to add a lot more movement in to the cars, especially when on throttle.  Balancing out the power delivery of the new units and the levels of downforce the car are running has given us plenty to keep us busy.

Rashid Sayed: Can you talk about the multiplayer modes?

Lee Mather: The online component of F1 2014 is split in to 3 defined areas.  There’s Quick Match which allows the player to very quickly and easily get in to a race with minimal effort.  The predefined race types in this mode start with a short sprint race of 3 laps.  Also available are a 7 lap GP and a 25% Race Distance GP.  This is the mode for people who want to enjoy shorter online races.  The second online Custom mode offers the player the opportunity to set the lobby options up to suit their own race preference.

This is where weather and tire strategy really start to come in to play.  It’s also where League gamers can host their weekly tournament races.  Finally we have the Co-op Season.  This mode allows you to team up with a friend online and work together to take the Formula 1 Constructors Championship whilst fighting for the Drivers Championship.  With equal machinery there are no excuses here as to why you’ve been beaten by your friend.

Rashid Sayed: The game will not feature classic content. Will there be something else as a replacement?

Lee Mather: We wanted to make use of the Classic content for a long time; in fact it took us 3 previous titles to finally clear all of the licensing issues and pull together the required assets to allow us to do justice to the classics in F1 2013. We were especially keen to do it last year as the sport hadn’t seen any major changes and we wanted to add a different F1 experience to the gameplay mix.

However, with the changes to the cars, the new tracks and rules this year, we feel the sport’s mixed things up to deliver a really different F1 racing experience in the game over past editions. Saying that, the classic content is something we all thoroughly enjoyed working on though, and would never dismiss doing something similar in the future.

What we have done is to expand the popular Scenario mod with even more exciting and challenging scenarios. It’s perfect for those players who don’t have hours to dedicate to full race weekends, to still enjoy some of the key aspects of Formula 1 in more manageable bite sized chunks.  Plus there’s the new Driver Evaluation Test to help players find their perfect difficulty settings.

"The important thing is that it marks a fresh start for us. As mentioned, it’ll be the first title to be powered by an all-new EGO engine; an engine which has been developed with the new generation consoles and the future in mind. The increase in power, memory, storage space and our new engine is allowing us to improve in all areas."

Rashid Sayed: How do you guys feel going up against the likes of Forza Horizon 2, DriveClub, The Crew and Project CARS? All of those games are on new consoles. Is there a feeling that F1 2014, regardless of whether the game is better than its predecessors, faces tough challenges sales wise?

Lee Mather: Thankfully I’m not a sales guy who has to make those predictions! However, as a designer, I can say that it’s a great time for racing gamersand, of course, these titles are spread very differently across the various formats and generations. F1 stands alone as a sport and we’re the only official game, the only way players can get a full F1 experience in gameplay terms. F1 has a massive fan base that’s far more widespread than many realize; it’s huge in Asia, the Emirates  and Latin America and we continue to see the game’s popularity grow in those regions every year. 

Rashid Sayed: F1 2015 has already been confirmed to be coming next year. I understand you can’t talk about it much but can you let us know from a top level how will you be using the power of the PS4 and Xbox One to deliver one of the most realistic F1 games ever?

Lee Mather: The important thing is that it marks a fresh start for us. As mentioned, it’ll be the first title to be powered by an all-new EGO engine; an engine which has been developed with the new generation consoles and the future in mind.  The increase in power, memory, storage space and our new engine is allowing us to improve in all areas.  We’ll be going in to more detail about the title in the future but as always we’ll be looking to produce the best Formula 1 gaming experience of all time.

Rashid Sayed: Do you think introducing a new iteration every year decreases the chances of innovation and creativity? I am sure you guys can do more if there is enough development time between each iteration.

Lee Mather: For the past six years, since Codemasters won the F1 licence, we have never stopped working on the next F1 title here in the studio; we have an ongoing passion to create the definitive F1 gaming experience.  As each year’s game reaches certain stages in production, some of the guys start looking at what’s ahead while others are completing development of the current title.

So it’s rarely a start/stop project for the team as a whole and we’ve always had a long term plan that is honestly bursting with ideas.  However, deciding what makes it in to the game is often dictated by a multitude of issues, each feature is decided on depending on the unique challenges attached to it depending on the season the game is mirroring.

In the newest video in the ‘Hot Lap’ series of videos that Codemasters is releasing ahead of the launch of F1 2014 this year, we are treated to Romain Grosjean taking on the Marina Bay Street circuit in his Lotus E22 at night time. This video is especially apt, as it comes right ahead of the actual Singapore Grand Prix, so it should give players and fans of the sport alike some more material to chew on in their excitement.

F1 2014 promises to deliver the most authentic Formula One racing experience in video gaming history, and it will have all the tracks, sponsors, cars, drivers, teams, and fixtures from the actual 2014 season; to that effect, the new game will also reflect the dramatic changes that the 2014 season has introduced to the sport, including the introduction of new turbocharged units.

F1 2014 is due out on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in October, with a release for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 due some time next year.

Set to be the sixth entry into the the popular racing series, F1 2014 is also going to continue the tradition of also being published by Codemasters.

Running on the Ego Engine 3.0, which was jointly developed by Codemasters and Sony Computer Entertainment, the game is being primarily developed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, with no plans for an 8th generation port being released next year are still in the works. Given that F1 2015 is being released on 8th gen tech next year, this may replace the 2014 port.

The game will launch on October 21st in North America, the 17th in the UK, the 16th in Australia and the 2nd in Japan. It will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC both at retail and via digital download.

• 1. Development
• 2. Gameplay

Development

A expected, development of this latest iteration of the popular Formula One racer hasn’t been particularly interesting.

The developers have drawn heavily from user feedback and personal experience from past and present development cycles.

The game will also be including new aspects of the sport itself, ranging from the new circuits that will be included in the game and the recently introduced turbo charged vehicles. The games Creative Director says, “There’s been a dramatic shift in the sport; the largest shake up in the rules and regulations for a very long time and the new power units provide a very different kind of challenge, for both driver and team. By delivering all of these changes, F1 2014 will make for an exciting and refreshingly different experience.

You can actually see a video that demonstrates the new turbo charged vehicles (which frankly, sound amazingly realistic) and the new tracks here.

The overall control of the games vehicles has been tweaked and improved for a better level of control for players that are using a Xbox 360 or PS3 controller. This, coupled with an in-game “drive evaluation system” that actively tweaks the in game assists (like assisted breaking [which is a banned F1 practice] and driving lines) aims to make the game a much more accessible racer.

The evaluation system actively removes assists as you improve as a driver, thus making you a better driver. The games Creative Director, Stephen Hood has said, “the new driver evaluation system analysing each player’s skill level and suggesting appropriate game settings, plus re-graded difficulty levels including a brand new Very Easy setting, we aim to deliver a thoroughly rewarding F1 experience for players of all abilities, from the novice to the seasoned pro.”

This systematic removal of aid leads to you being better prepared for the online competitive scene. Codemasters themselves have said, “we want all of our players to race competitively, more quickly.”

Gameplay

Gameplay in F1 2014 remains largely unchanged from previous iterations of the game, with the core mechanics simply having been tweaked and adjusted to deliver an improved overall gameplay experience.

The above mentioned Driver Evaluation System is perhaps the single largest change.

Speaking via an official codemasters blog post, they gave the following details on gameplay modes to be expected.

Refined Career Mode – Players can race their way through an improved Formula One season or can even make their way through shorter seasons. This ranges across 7 tracks and 12 racing options.

Expanded Scenario Mode – This features scenarios based on both real world challenges and events that have happened in the recent past.

This game will mark the debut appearance of the ERS. ERS serves as a successor to the KERS system, ERS (electronic recovery system) allows for a savage boost of 160bhp for around 33 seconds which gives drivers hugely improved opportunities for over taking and other advanced manoeuvres.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Codemasters have released their newest Hot Lap video for F1 2014 which showcases the purpose built Sochi track and aside from another very slight hiccup, this time at the 00:27 mark (Sounds like someone forgot to shift gear for a second!) it’s more or less what you would expect to see from a hot lap. Tight cornering and plenty of exhibition shots of winding turns.

The Sochi Autodrom is one of the four new tracks in the game that are out to challenge players to test their mettle and driving prowess.  Two of the other tracks are Austria’s Spielberg circuit and the German Hockenheimring.

You can check out the other hot lap here.

Now this may be a petty niggling complaint, but if you pay attention at the 00:34 mark, the crowd raise their hands in one synchronous movement. I may not be an exceptional game dev, hell I can only make basic platformers, but even I know it’s not hard to change the delay before animations are executed. I’m just saying, Codemasters c’mon, step up your game in the animation department. I thought F1 2014 was a realistic simulation.

Like yesterday, here’s another new video for you to see- this one is another video showing off a burning lap: the Spa Hot Lap.

Formula One 2014 (or F1 2014) is the newest Formula One racing game, this one coming up as a tie in for the 2014 season of the motorsport. F1 2014 will have the calendar, the teams, the tracks, the venues, the cars, the sponsors, and the racers themselves, all to create as authentic a recreation of the actual sport as possible.

The game will be releasing in two phases- one of them is this year, when it releases on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It will also, however, be releasing next year for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with versions of the game that are fully optimized to take advantage of all the extra power and resources that the new consoles afford, and with updated, dynamic stats and standings.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage on both.