F1 2001 is one of the now many Formula One based games available for the Playstation 2. And, of the ones I've played, it sticks out as being the best. Some of you may remember reading my review of Formula One 2001, not to be confused with F1 2001, which I thought looked good, but was unrealistic. Well, F1 2001 does everything Formula 1 2001 did, but it feels good to. It feels real; it gives the player an experience, a view inside the elite world that is F1.
So, what is so great about this game? Well firstly I managed to buy it for just £30. OK, it's a little bit old now, but none of the circuits have changed a great deal since it was made, and lets face it, it is still based on last seasons cars, drivers and tracks, so its not exactly out of date yet. So, at the price, it is definitely a bargain, especially when you consider what you're getting. I would have paid the full £40 for it, and I would still have been very happy.
Right, so that why I bought it in the first place, so now on to what the game is like:
----- Graphics -----
Now, the main selling point for the PS2 was always the quality of the graphics that it was able to produce. And EA Sports have made full use of the PS2's capabilities. Just sit in your car and look around. Everything oozes detail. Parked up on the start line at Suzuka, turn your head to the left, and you see the theme park/fairground set up, Ferris wheel and all! F1 2001 and is an officially licensed game, and as such benefits from all the real sponsorship banners that you would see around the side of the track and on the cars themselves, minus any tobacco advertising, which on the cars is replaced by their usual 'Fake' advertising slogans, such as Jordan's 'Bitten Heroes' replacement for their usual 'Benson & Hedges' sponsorship. The graphics could not be cleaner or crisper, and everything is there, in great detail.
But its not just static objects F1 2001 displays well. When watching F1 on ITV, you always hear them saying how you can't see a thing if you are stuck behind another driver in the wet. Until this game, I never quite understood how bad it could be. The spray that is thrown from the rear tyres on the opposition cars in this game is amazing. If you get your car into the area covered by the leading cars 'rooster tail' of spray, you really have to hope you remember exactly where to brake and turn in for the next corner, as it is near impossible to see past them unless you hang right back. The rain itself is also pretty effective, and looks semi-realistic. But when it rains, it leaves a lovely coating of reflective water over the track, which will reflect anything and everything. True detail, and it looks great.
----- Realism -----
Now, not many games that I've played have recreated circuits that accurately. There always seemed to be some features missing, rumble strips that feel like normal road as you drive over them, corners that you take at full speed that would require a good deal of braking in real life. Well, not here. F1 2001 has done a superb job of recreating every turn, every bump, every corner and every hill. The tracks look like they are supposed to, and drive just like the real thing. Hills where there are meant to be hills, cambers where there are meant to be cambers. Hit a rumble strip too hard, and you get thrown off the line you were taking, hit a white line in the wet and start turning, and you'll slide. Details like this make the game feel so real. Plus, you get a good amount of force feedback effect through the controller, so you really do feel the shaking effect the rumble strips have on your car.
----- Sounds -----
OK, now when you drive a Formula One car in real life, what do you expect to hear? Your favourite band playing in the background? Unlikely, so F1 2001 doesn't bother with any in-game background music. But, the sounds you expect are all there. On your own, you hear your engine, an amount of environment sound (especially in the rain), and a bit of tyre squeal when you brake or accelerate too hard. Bring in some other cars, and you hear them as well. Brilliant. So pathetic tune driving you mad in the background, just real racing sounds.
The menu system does benefit from some nice backing music, nothing that annoys you though it won't exactly make you want to go out and find the track on an audio CD somewhere.
----- Gameplay & Game modes -----
So, what games do you get for your money? Well, in typical game style, you have to do well in order to get more things to do. I started off in Quick Race mode. You start off with four tracks, and as you earn points on them by finishing races in the top 6, you unlock more tracks to race on. Pretty quickly you'll have all 17 tracks available to you. Then, you move on to the Single Player mode. Here, to gain access to full races either as single races or part of a World Championship event, you have to complete a series of 25 tests, split into 5 groups of related skills. Completing a group will earn you something new to do. The tests are made up of small things to ensure you're not the worst driver since Maureen Rees off Driving School, such as braking from high speed, accelerating in the wet, and driving in and out of the pit.
As far as gameplay is concerned, you get too modes in which to drive in, Normal mode and Simulation mode. You'll play the same game no matter what, but basically normal mode makes it a lot easier to jump in and drive. Normal mode helps you. You get benefits such as traction control, and braking assistance. In Simulation modes, all assistance if off, and you'll do well to brake for a corner without locking up a wheel or too. It helps that you do seem to get good feedback through the controller, as it gives you some indication of what needs to be done to correct your error.
In general, I run with damage mode turned off. Until you complete some of the tests, it has to be off anyway, but at the moment I'm just having fun so don't really want to retire from the race after the first corner pile up. You get features such as interactive pit stops, rather than just driving onto pit road and the computer taking over, but again until you complete tests, you have to let the computer handle everything.
----- In General, and Summary -----
By now if you own a PS2 I hope you've stopped reading. You should be wanting this game like you've never wanted a game before. I had my doubts when I picked it up off the shelf at Virgin, but now I'm addicted. The game is easy to pick up and use, the menus are easy to navigate, and it all looks great. If you don't already own the game, you should. If you own another F1 game, forget about it and buy this one. It gets a full 100% recommendation from me, and with good reason.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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