F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

[ChaseB]

Codemasters is set to deliver the newest edition of one of the most popular series in...

Written By: Robert Kollars

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[nolesfan69]

Good review. I have been playing F1 games for years and it's nice to see a casual mode. I play with a pad and I'm not very fast at all. I usually am off the pace like 3 seconds on 80 difficulty. So I play at 40 on F1 2019.  I need some help maybe it's just pad users  are much slower than wheel users. 

[TCrouch]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

I can imagine with both NH5 and F1 2020 releasing the same week that time has been scarce in the Kollars household.

Nicely done, good reviews on both.

[itsmb8]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

Thinking I might just pay the extra $10 and get the game now instead of Friday. Ive been playing the F1 games since 2010 and I always loved them.

I'm on a controller and race with full TC and the corners braking line on, but I race in cockpit cam exclusively and was on 90-100 AI difficulty in 2019. The biggest thing im looking forward to is the realistic AI mistakes. I was watching an Aarava MyTeam video at Bahrain where Hamilton got too much right side curb at Turn 12 and lost control, tried to save it but overcorrected and spun back to the right onto the track, and Verstappen nailed him square in the sidepod. Something ive never seen before in an F1 game.

Although im hoping to be able to build a PC and buy a wheel setup soon so I can play this on PC with mods and an UW screen.

[King of Kings]

This review is spot on. I got the Schumacher edition (on sale for $63) and played a fair amount yesterday. My Team is fantastic and where I spent most of my time. I do wish we were given the option to automate some aspects because there are a lot of responsibilities. Also, your car sticks out like a sore thumb with generic liveries, sponsor logos, and team badges. I created a Chevrolet team to focus on being better than Haas to start, but there's no way to make it look like a Chevrolet branded car. Very unfortunate.

Everything else about the game is as expected, which is great. It's a very familiar experience outside of My Team. Technically, the series hit its capability ceiling a few years ago on this gen of consoles. It looks and performs exactly the same as the last few editions. That makes it not much more than a roster and livery update over past versions, aside from My Team. They could have compensated by adding commentary, more customization options, etc. But they didn't, which feels like they're resting on their laurels instead of pushing the series forward. But since it's already such a solid game, it gets somewhat of a pass like The Show series.

Great game, great new mode with My Team, but VERY familiar experience. Also, here's to hoping they patch in the new black Mercedes livery ASAP since the old silver arrows are currently in the game.

[brandon27]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

Got to hand it to Codies... they've done it again. Fantastic game. It's got a few issues to work out with the initial release. XB right now is stuck on version 1.01 while PS/PC are at 1.03. So, I assume for me that's whats caused a few of the odd quirks I've seen. Once the patch clears MS certification I'm sure it'll work itself out.

The driving model is much smoother it feels like. Feels like the cars have alot more stability now. I haven't bothered to try the casual mode that provides steering assistance and other assists, but racing on my same settings as F12019 feels alot more stable and... easier in a way. So I assume Casual mode will really help the new players get into the series.

I like the changes so far with Career & My Team mode. There seems to be quite a bit involved with My Team, but most of it feels pretty simple really. Just a matter of a different approach to R&D and driver development really. You'll use your R&D points to improve the same parts of the car as always, but in a different way. You'll use money as well to improve drivers as well as using a combination of money & R&D to upgrade your facilities to allow the usual R&D method to expand as well. As much as it's a new mode it really feels more like a complete revamp to the normal R&D upgrading from Career mode previously. Seems some of these changes translated over to Career mode now as well.

I agree with the above the the car creator in My Team leaves a bit to be desired. Be nice to have real sponsors, but the fake sponsors they provide do allow you to create cars that can fill themselves out. There is a real lack of base liveries right now with only about 4 to choose from, but once they iron out the issue with the "pit pass" you'll be able to "buy" others with in game currencies by playing and unlocking them. More options will follow. You do have 5 sponsor spots to put decals on the car. Each spot places a sponsor in two spots on the car. Initially with only one sponsor you've only got one decal to place at each of the 5(10) slots. As you unlock more sponsors as your team progresses though, you can change the sponsor slots. So I think you just need to be patient as your team progresses to really fill out the sponsors. Each sponsor of course brings money weekly to help build the team. Doesn't appear that there will be much challenge in keeping the team afloat; but it does look like it will take alot of grinding to build that team up from a facility & R&D standpoint, as well as developing or hiring your second driver too.

Zandvoort.. wow, what a quick tricky little track too. damn that's a fun drive. Not sure it'll be a fun race, but to run it in timetrial mode as a test session... it's fun.

All in all, another great entry.

[sydrogerdavid]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

Can't wait to play this game.

Got a wheel during quarantine for ATS, but I've been doing a whole lot more racing as my computer stinks.

I hope the NASCAR games can reach this level of detail soon.

[Jeffrey99]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

Already have the game downloaded and preloaded in Steam. Trying PC for the first time in the series but figured that made more sense since I already have it setup for iRacing. Really hoping there are mods to allow My Team to have realistic sponsor and custom liveries.

[lunch pale gang]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

Sorry for the long read ahead, but I really wanted to share my thoughts on the F1 series…

Let me begin by saying that I’m a newcomer to F1, so I don’t have a wealth of experience to build upon, but I have to say that I’ve found this game series to be absolutely exceptional. I’m knocking on the door to big five-oh in September and have never really gotten into F1. The NHL, MLB, and up until the last two decades or so, the NFL have occupied my sport viewing time, but I stumbled upon the F1 series on Netflix last year and was immediately hooked! Learning about the teams and their drivers as they navigated their way through the F1 season was engrossing, to say the least.

So, I took a chance and bought F1 2019 when it was on sale for like $30 or something and was instantaneously blown away by how well put together the game was. Periodically I’ve read reviews of past iterations and those reviews were almost universal in their acclaim for the game, but as someone who never really found any type of motorsport interesting, I usually shrugged and moved along. What a mistake! How the heck have I not been playing this until now!?

What I found to be so appealing about the game is that it did, what I think anyways, all sports titles should do – it allowed for both novices such as my self and experts to play it and enjoy it with the same amount of enthusiasm. The game welcomed me in with open arms and didn’t make me feel like an idiot for being new to the sport. For example, I had no concept about something such as “Fuel Management.” Heck, up until last year I had no idea that F1 cars weren’t allowed to refuel during a race. I just thought you jumped in the car, raced as fast you could at every opportunity and if you were running low on fuel, just box and refuel. But did the game leave me to my own devices to try and figure out why I was stalling out in the middle of a lap? No. During the practice sessions leading up to the race it walked me through the importance of managing my fuel load and how to properly use it during the race.

Moreover, if you’re an expert at the F1 game and are intimately familiar with the rules, regulations and nuances of the sport, such as fuel management, you can simply skip through the explanations and jump right into playing. There are countless other instances such as that that I could mention where the game does a superb job of introducing a rookie to the world of F1, while simultaneously allowing for a more experienced driver the freedom to immerse him/herself as deep as he/she wants to go, while all the while not subjecting him/her to hearing repeated explanations of F1 rules.

Due to such a fantastic experience with F1 2019, I had no qualms of pre-ordering the F1 2020 Schumacher Edition, and boy, am I glad I did. It is pretty much everything 2019 was (save for the removal of the rivalry story in career mode) and more. The addition of “My Team” is a tremendous attribute for the series and I seriously hope they keep it going on the new console iterations. Again, for the Johnny-come-lately such as myself, this mode does a great job of pulling back the curtain on the intricate workings of a F1 team. I’m sure there’s much more that could be added to this mode, and hopefully will be in future incarnations, but Codemasters has laid a solid foundation from which to build upon.

Another improvement with the 2020 version is the sound. The engines sound spectacular. I may be imagining it, but I don’t think I am because my friends have noticed it as well, but there has been a major upgrade in the sound output department, which for a sim racing game is huge.

I do not play online except private races with friends, so I really cannot offer an educated opinion regarding any of those modes.

All in all it’s a relief to know that there is a sports game series out there that doesn’t take experienced gamers for granted by merely offering the same old tripe year after year, while at the same time offering a product that opens the door for beginners to safely walk through and not be afraid of what they find.

[BaylorBearBryant]

Enjoying the game a lot. It looks great, and the presentation is a slick representation of a real broadcast. 

Only issue I have? I absolutely suck at it. Wish there was a mode that offered some coaching. 

[TCrouch]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

I only drove it for probably 45 minutes last night, but the cars are DEFINITELY easier to keep control of than they were in the prior versions with all assists off. The brake lockup isn't as prevalent, and they have stopping distances that feel more like what I'd expect from a Formula 1 car.

I know other people have complained so I won't rehash it, but stopping the cars in prior versions felt like boats slowing down. It made no sense. Last night I was able to really push it deep into a corner and threshold brake to the point that I had to modulate the pedal quite a bit, and still managed to get the car turned most times.

And I may go back and play F1 2019 for comparison, but the cockpit camera in my triple screen setup seemed to be a bit more flexible and not quite as stretched. The mirrors weren't an entire monitor's-width wide, for example. And some of the sharpening options they've included made it look very, very good last night.

Looking forward to actually trying the My Team mode, as all I turned was time trials to see how it felt. It's great to know that with a very expensive setup/rig, it actually feels like I'll get my money's worth out of it and not feel compelled to play it on a controller, instead (like I do with most sim-cade titles).

[brandon27]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

Enjoying the game a lot. It looks great, and the presentation is a slick representation of a real broadcast.*

Only issue I have? I absolutely suck at it. Wish there was a mode that offered some coaching.*

F12020 has a casual mode now. Give that a try.



Also, dont be afraid to run with assists on, including the racing line until you get used to the tracks and the cars.

[Metsaholic230]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

F12020 has a casual mode now. Give that a try.



Also, dont be afraid to run with assists on, including the racing line until you get used to the tracks and the cars.

Do a race with practice sessions. They give you goals on things to test that will greatly help you learn the track. You can keep on resetting the session to keep on practicing as well.

That's how i learn a new track. One of the things they have is gates you have to drive through which helps you learn the line and figure out if you are super slow in certain areas.

[bronxbombers21325]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

Starts are way too easy this year. In the 2 races I’ve done so far I have started 6th, and 5th and was in 1st by the first corner both times.

[brandon27]

Re: F1 2020 Review: Another Sterling Entry That Also Makes a Play For Racing Casuals

Starts are way too easy this year. In the 2 races I’ve done so far I have started 6th, and 5th and was in 1st by the first corner both times.

Crank up the AI? Using manual start or assisted? Traction control?



I've had a mixed bag to be honest. Some starts I've got a great launch, others I've been blown off the line.



I find the AI this year to be more challenging. They're faster. Especially if you're in a Williams or other lower tier car trying to keep pace with the Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull cars. There's always been separation in this series in the cars, but I find it more noticeable this year than years past. I've had some great back and forth battles too.