F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

[ChaseB]

Codemasters has been in the news recently as the company was purchased by EA earlier this...

Written By: Robert Kollars

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[EP59]

How was the ray-tracing at 4K & 60 frames and how was   120 Hz mode running at 120 FPS at 1440p  on XBox Series X / PS5
Thanks Bob

[Lieutenant Dan]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

Thanks Bob! Good write up! Is the game still smooth on current gen/Xbox One X?

I'm trying to get a Series X but not keen on paying over retail for one.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Operation Sports mobile app

[ShaiLeGran]

How are the graphics on PS5/XboxS/X compared to old gen? Is the difference huge or subtle?

[bluengold34_OS]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

How are the graphics on PS5/XboxS/X compared to old gen? Is the difference huge or subtle?

It’s not drastic…but def noticeable. The biggest surprise was how beautiful the game looks and yet still runs flawlessly with zero slowdown of both the 5 and X


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[bluengold34_OS]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

Thanks Bob! Good write up! Is the game still smooth on current gen/Xbox One X?

I'm trying to get a Series X but not keen on paying over retail for one.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Operation Sports mobile app

It is def optimized for each and every system is it appearing on - it still looks great on current gen systems…but the combination of the improved graphics and the flawless performance on both the X and 5 is so damn impressive, Dan

And thank you Sir!


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[bluengold34_OS]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

How was the ray-tracing at 4K & 60 frames and how was * 120 Hz mode running at 120 FPS at 1440p *on XBox Series X / PS5
Thanks Bob

EP - I actually ran the game at default settings in 4K - so as not to stray to far from what most would play it at -


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[brandon27]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

If I'm not mistaken the deluxe edition is available to play today. I thought I saw somewhere at 8pm? I tried earlier today and it still said I was too early. Hoping to get a few laps in tonight and try out the new handling mode. I 110% agree that it's gotten a bit stale over the years, but that's not a bad thing to say because it's been so good. It will be nice to have a fresh bit of challenge on the track now to get used to it again. Hopefully it still plays well with a pad; that's been one of the best parts of this series IMO. It's always played well on a regular XB controller. Hopefully that's still the case.

Thanks for the review. I was worried about that issue with Braking Point. I don't see it as something most of the long time fans of the series will play. Personally I don't think it was even needed and I think those resources should have been spent on expanding on My Team mode & getting the tracks/schedule right for this year. Not an easy task with the constant changes, but part of me wonders if this mode wasn't here how many other great things could have been done to the core experience rather than creating a scripted story mode.

Good review, looking forward to spending some time with it ASAP.

[poulka]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

If I'm not mistaken the deluxe edition is available to play today. I thought I saw somewhere at 8pm? I tried earlier today and it still said I was too early. Hoping to get a few laps in tonight and try out the new handling mode. I 110% agree that it's gotten a bit stale over the years, but that's not a bad thing to say because it's been so good. It will be nice to have a fresh bit of challenge on the track now to get used to it again. Hopefully it still plays well with a pad; that's been one of the best parts of this series IMO. It's always played well on a regular XB controller. Hopefully that's still the case.

Thanks for the review. I was worried about that issue with Braking Point. I don't see it as something most of the long time fans of the series will play. Personally I don't think it was even needed and I think those resources should have been spent on expanding on My Team mode & getting the tracks/schedule right for this year. Not an easy task with the constant changes, but part of me wonders if this mode wasn't here how many other great things could have been done to the core experience rather than creating a scripted story mode.

Good review, looking forward to spending some time with it ASAP.

@ brandon27 I thought I saw that same thing too about releasing at 8 on the 12th. I will be checking also if everything gets downloaded in time. This morning at 4 it had a 10 Gb patch to install.

[brandon27]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

@ brandon27 I thought I saw that same thing too about releasing at 8 on the 12th. I will be checking also if everything gets downloaded in time. This morning at 4 it had a 10 Gb patch to install.

I just checked mine about an hour ago. Still says too early; which makes sense since it says 8pm. Just seems odd that it's 8pm and not actually active all day of the 12th as it is with most games. Seems kind of pointless to pre-order a version that gives early access "3 days early" when it's not active until 8pm of that first day, so technically it's 2 days.



I went to my updates screen in my games section and it didn't show any updates. It's likely mine automatically downloaded it already, at least I hope so. I've got a 100mpbs connection, but 7gb still takes a while.

[poulka]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

I just checked mine about an hour ago. Still says too early; which makes sense since it says 8pm. Just seems odd that it's 8pm and not actually active all day of the 12th as it is with most games. Seems kind of pointless to pre-order a version that gives early access "3 days early" when it's not active until 8pm of that first day, so technically it's 2 days.



I went to my updates screen in my games section and it didn't show any updates. It's likely mine automatically downloaded it already, at least I hope so. I've got a 100mpbs connection, but 7gb still takes a while.

@brandon27 you are right about that. It would have been nice to have access to it today. My internet connection is 3Mb per second which is horrible I still about 1.5 Gb to go. Oh well. I will try it tomorrow hopefully after work.

[brandon27]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

Can confirm if you have the deluxe version it is now unlocked to play. At least it is for me on my XBSX

[krtgolfing]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

Can confirm if you have the deluxe version it is now unlocked to play. At least it is for me on my XBSX

I believe it unlocked at midnight your time zone. Didn't get a chance to play last night as I get up at 5:50am for work.

[brandon27]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

I believe it unlocked at midnight your time zone. Didn't get a chance to play last night as I get up at 5:50am for work.

unlocked at 8pm for me. Just like it said it would on the store page.

[brandon27]

Re: F1 2021 Review - One for the Ages

Some early impressions:

Pros:
- New handling model. It's great. It's not huge, but it's a big enough change to kind of force you to learn how to drive the game again. What I did last year is certainly not working this year. It's subtle, but it's huge at the same time. Certainly has brought a nice breath of fresh air in

- curbs. Theyre actually fairly punishing now. At least some of them anyways. Some you can attack and use like you should (the flatter ones obviously) but some of the more angled ones you're slip sliding away if you get on the throttle on one of those. The sausage style curbs... yikes. I went airborne at Baku over the one at the chicane similar to how Stroll and others did at Monaco this year. Frustrating to sail across the track and into the wall towards a DNF, but that's on me and in a weird way it felt good to be punished for that mistake, rather than just feeling a vibration in my controller and carrying on like in F1 2020

- Engine sounds. Nice to hear the whirring noise of the turbo charger and such but it may be a bit too powerful in the sound mix. There's also some odd deep bass sounds mixed in like when you open your DRS, it sounds more like a bomb going off. Just a big bass-full thud.

- Visually it's stunning. I think it still has room for improvement on the new gen consoles. The tracks look good, nice new trackside details added back in again, track surfaces look better, off track surfaces too. Just more details. Lighting is a nice upgrade too. It just looks good.

- New practice programs. It's nicer. Less time consuming. However still fairly simple to get all the boosts. At least we have control now over the career mode settings for how much R&D you can earn and same for the CPU. etc.

- Basically, all the things you all know and love of this series; add them to the Pro's list, because it's still solid in those departments and improved IMO although it's not a major overhaul.


Cons:
- Braking Point. Yup; I said it. Nope; I haven't played it but there's plenty of reasons why it's the #1 con on my list. See below as I speculate the creation of this mode is responsible for most of these cons as it consumed resources and time that could have been better spent.

- SAVE GAME SLOTS. This is my #1 gripe with this game & it's almost game breaking for me. Last year we only had 3 save slots for My Team mode, and 3 for Driver career. This year you have 3 save slots to use over BOTH modes combined. That's just... not enough and it's one of the worst things I've seen in a video game released in 2021. Don't start a "championship" mode either because it apparently uses the same save slots as grand prix mode does for individual races. So, you can either run single grand prix races, or a "championship" mode. Again, why? What is the logic behind this? I suspect it's because the new 2 player championship mode took up 3 slots now too and I assume braking point is consuming save slots as well. Again though, the better question is why are any of these modes limited to only 3. It's a ridiculous decision and someone needs to be held accountable. I hope it's repaired by way of a patch but given that this series has always had limited save slots, it's unlikely.

- Game menus/UI. It's not very good this year. Similar to last, but the bright white background is tough. It's not laid out well. It's just not very user friendly IMO

- Sounds - As great as they are, as I mentioned earlier there are some curious things in the mix. DRS open/close creates this loud bass filled thud sound. Driving over curbs while it has always created a little low rumble, it's even deeper and louder and more full of bass this year. Same with impacts with bumps in the track. The bass in those sound events is just too deep and loud. It feels weird and out of place. I actually had to get up and turn down the volume on my sub which i NEVER normally touch.

- R&D mode. I dont know what they were thinking here, but the new system is not an improvement over the old. I find it confusing to look at, its almost impossible to see an overview of where you are in development for a specific area, it's hard to see what you can and can't upgrade. It's just... not an easier system. I don't know why they changed it. The tree was perfectly fine.

- voice controls - They are still non-existant on the Xbox platform. Why? Who knows... in the past they blamed Microsoft/kinect. That's long gone now really, and with the Series X version it should be a non-issue since kinect was never part of that system yet here we are on Xbox as the only platform that still cant speak voice commands into their headset to interact with the pit crew/game. As a pad player for me; that's beyond frustrating.

- My Team mode - No improvements/upgrades that I could see outside of the R&D tree change, practice changes, and the few customization settings you now have. Not many new sponsors, not many good liveries to start, no additional car customization options re:liveries/sponsors, number colors etc.

- Lack of classic cars. They were removed. It's a shame.

- Lack of tracks - I know, the 3 new ones are coming in an update. However currently as it stands only having a 20 race career schedule just feels pretty short and hollow. Those 3 new ones can't come soon enough.


-Lack of current F2 2021 roster - I can't for the life of me understand why they won't do it from the start of the game, rather than waiting to release it as free DLC later in the year. It's frustrating to have to play My Team mode with the limited last year's F2 roster.



Overall:
If you liked 2020, you'll like 2021. Just beware it is fairly similar across most game modes. I suspect that will make My Team and Driver Career pretty boring fairly quickly as it's basically the exact same. The game looks great, plays great, sounds good. The game brings enough of a change in the driving to challenge you; how long it takes you to adapt will be the key.

The on track experience still will have you in love with the game IMO, but the QOL improvements that are surely lacking in the front end UI, and throughout the game itself really as noted above will still bring much frustration.

IMO the driving model, damage model, visuals are all instant upgrades. However the game still feels largely the same as F12020 which I suspect is due to the creation of Braking Point consuming time, money and resources. I feel those things could have been better spent on the QOL improvements and improving upon My Team mode rather than neglecting it completely. Braking Point may be a great addition; I don't know as I haven't tried it and it's just not my cup of tea. From what I've heard/read though it seems like a good fun story, but it's scripted and offers no real replayability. In the grand scheme of things though I feel it hurt this year's edition more than it helped but thats because I feel other area's could have been improved more if not for the development of this mode

TL;DR Edition
- A very good edition in the series that stays true to it's roots while offering a nice upgraded challenge at its core; on track racing action. Visual upgrades are a nice touch, but players familiar to the series will have a hard time separating 2021 from 2020 beyond the driving changes and addition of Braking Point & two player career modes as the rest of the game has been left as is, or given a slight face lift if at all. F1 2021 is still at the top of the genre of racing games replicating a real life racing series.