The official Components 1 sport collection, developed by Codemasters and printed by EA, has turn out to be one of many largest annual sports activities franchise releases of the yr.
However whereas the F1 collection is arguably up there alongside the likes of EAFC, NHL and even Madden as an annual launch you possibly can set your calendars by, there’s one massive distinction between Components 1 and plenty of different main sports activities.
In contrast to soccer, NFL, basketball or ice hockey, Components 1 recurrently has substantial adjustments yearly which function promoting factors for the official sport. From the venues that host grands prix to the look and dealing with of the vehicles that make up the grid, every new F1 sport usually requires greater than only a roster replace to suit the brand new season, not like the likes of Madden with its identical 32 groups and elementary rule consistency.
However on paper the 2024 F1 season seems like a copy-and-paste affair in comparison with final yr. Each driver who raced on the closing spherical in Abu Dhabi final season will compete for a similar crew on this yr’s season-opener in Bahrain. Additionally, whereas 24 rounds makes 2024 the longest season within the sport’s historical past, all 24 circuits – plus a handful extra – have been already included in final yr’s sport.
The principles are additionally largely untouched – although it stays to be seen what the newest change to the dash race format will probably be. The brand new identities of Sauber and Pink Bull’s second crew, plus any coming livery tweaks, are the one adjustments of be aware for the brand new season.
Nor will F1 24 essentially be capable to deploy a number of the new gimmicks it has rested on prior to now. Its Braking Level story mode has to this point been primarily based on a two-year improvement cycle, and the newest instalment appeared final yr, so we might not see the third instalment of the saga of Devon Butler, Callie Mayer and Aiden Jackson in 2024.
So what engaging new angles might Codemasters add to the sport for 2024 to make it a must-buy? Taking a look at different racing video games in the marketplace, there some fascinating options that EA might take inspiration from.
After all expectations should be tempered by the constraints of manufacturing a brand new sport inside a 12-month window. On prime of that, EA just lately laid off employees from Codemasters. With that in thoughts listed here are 5 components from present racing sport franchises which might make worthwhile additions to the official F1 racing sport collection.
Advert | Turn into a RaceFans supporter and
Moto GP 23 – Pre-season testing
Overlook ‘F1 World’ and multiplayer – profession mode is the place any F1 sport is at its most immersive. We’ve loved the flexibility to race as created characters and even as created groups for years, however profession mode and MyTeam might do with a refresh to keep away from them feeling stale as they’ve modified little since F1 2020.
One of many methods Codemasters might do that is by taking inspiration from Milestone’s Moto GP franchise. Whereas it has its faults and frustrations for hardcore Moto GP followers, there’s loads to love concerning the collection and the way genuine it could possibly really feel at instances.
When you attain Moto GP degree and signal with a crew, you possibly can participate in a pre-season check that lasts for as much as two hours and lets you run limitless laps with a number of specs of motorbike. You journey each and determine which spec you like and that turns into the idea of your machine for the season forward.
Not solely would that be an effective way to assist F1 24 gamers get conversant in new physics and dealing with with a brand new sport, it will additionally give gamers larger company over their automobile improvement course initially of the season and add an additional degree of authenticity to the profession mode.
EA WRC – Builder mode
EA took over the official World Rally Championship licence final yr, with combined outcomes. Nevertheless, one distinctive function by no means seen earlier than in a mainstream motorsports racing sport was the flexibility to design your personal automobile to compete with.
Though fairly easy in performance, consisting of selecting from a restricted record of pre-designed choices for the entrance, facet, and rear of vehicles and small inside choices, it will be nice to see an identical function within the F1 sport.
Whereas it will naturally be restricted to MyTeam for licensing causes, it will improve the immersion of getting your personal crew and automobile in the event you might select from quite a lot of wings, sidepod designs, diffusers, even steering wheel designs. These might every have totally different attributes, and your crew restricted to solely the least refined gadgets at first in the event you select to start as a backmarker and never a championship contender.
Advert | Turn into a RaceFans supporter and
Gran Turismo – Livery editor
You’ll be able to safely file this among the many least doubtless options to achieve F1 24, however that doesn’t make it any much less fascinating. A complete – and even only a largely purposeful – livery editor can be a dream come true for a lot of F1 sport gamers.
Whereas nobody can be silly sufficient to count on a Gran Turismo 7-level livery editor, with scheme sharing and decal add features, even simply the flexibility so as to add fundamental shapes and colors to the multiplayer automobile to make it look the way you need it to look can be a particularly widespread revision. With EA’s personal WRC sport, the Moto GP collection, each NASCAR sport franchise ever, Assetto Corsa Competizione and just about each different racing sport franchise you possibly can consider having some sort of livery editor, it’s solely extra conspicuous that F1 is missing.
Why is it so unlikely to occur? Including a livery editor would defeat the purpose of the Podium Move system which the sport has been constructed round for the earlier 5 iterations, with pre-designed liveries capable of be unlocked by grinding gameplay or by buying by PitCoins. However with the newest Podium Move seasons not together with a single livery, it’s pure that gamers need extra freedom to create the seems they need.
Forza Motorsport – Accessibility
The most recent entry within the Forza Motorsport franchise has not loved the very best reception from gamers on Xbox and PC. Naturally, there’s not an enormous quantity from the newest title that will essentially improve the brand new F1 sport – besides maybe in relation to its accessibility choices.
EA and Codemasters have made massive strides in recent times to try to make the sport extra accessible to all gamers no matter their age, potential or in the event that they reside with accessibility necessities. Nevertheless, Microsoft have invested much more than most within the gaming business to open it as much as everybody as a lot as attainable. Their complete suite of accessibility choices for Forza Motorsport, from blind driving assists to audio narration and textual content dimension adjustment, deserves reward and must be adopted by different video games.
As the most well-liked type of motorsport on the planet, Components 1 naturally has a whole lot of followers who reside with disabilities, and plenty of of these will probably be players. Making the official F1 sport as open as attainable to permit all followers to reside out their racing driver fantasies in the actual world might not profit most gamers, however isn’t any much less worthwhile for it.
Advert | Turn into a RaceFans supporter and
Assetto Corsa Competizione – Driver score
Lately, Codemasters launched a superlicence system for multiplayer which gave gamers a score primarily based on their pace and their security. Those that are the quickest in races are grouped along with gamers of roughly comparable potential, whereas those that take care to keep away from accidents are – in idea – matched with different racers who’re equally as clear.
Nevertheless, Assetto Corsa Competizione takes issues to a larger degree by working a much more detailed rankings system throughout every part a participant does within the sport. Over each lap in each session, the sport analyses your efficiency out of your automobile management, how usually you end up spinning or working off observe, how persistently you possibly can maintain your lap instances collectively within the race, in addition to how intently you possibly can race your rivals with out inflicting accidents.
Your rankings for every space are continually adjusting relying on the way you do and contribute to your general score which may restrict the multiplayer choices out there to you. As a severe racing simulator, this technique helps to be sure you deal with each session within the automobile such as you’re a real racing driver with a real crew counting on you. One thing comparable within the official F1 sport might assist to encourage gamers to be a bit extra cautious out on observe, or encourage them to enhance their abilities and get even sooner.
Over to you
Are there any components from different racing video games – simulation, arcade or in between – that you just want to see added to F1 24? Tell us within the feedback under.
Advert | Turn into a RaceFans supporter and
Simracing
Browse all Simracing articles
