F1 2010 gamescom impressions

September 24th is a day many F1 fans look forward to maybe, even more than the actual races, because on that day they will be able to sit in their favorite car and drive the world’s greatest tracks in breathtaking HD. Developer Codemasters is optimistic that this game will bring enough to the table to please every F1 fan, from the hardcore to the casual. To put things in perspective I went to Gamescom in Cologne to find out.

On the car ride towards the German city I found myself wondered how crazy I was to drive all that way for just one game. Granted it’s a whole event but I knew that most games wouldn’t interest me, and that I wouldn’t buy them anyway.
Once there I was immediately caught up in the excitement of over-dressed gamers (dressed like their favorite game character) and under-dressed women (nice!) as I made my way to the gameroom.
F1 2010 was the first thing I saw upon entering. The big silver construction and worn-out tyres were hard to miss. The stand was called deep silver and it was crowded to say the least. A queue, showing no sign of moving, surrounded the stand. I decided to take a sneak peak and return later for my first miles.

Towards the end of the day, literally, I discovered the Microsoft stand. F1 2010 was on display and all that was sitting between the steering wheel and me was a man, a German. Luckily he decided to call it a day quite early and I was finally able to play the game in peace. Sure I heard some German muttering from behind but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t directed to me.

At the end of gamescom I had experienced highlights (meeting sackboy, vader and a fang look-a-like) and I had stumbled upon some downers (waiting ages to play with the Sony move, becoming thirsty in the slowest moving line ever, and not getting a F1 shirt from Codies). But all in all it was an amazing day and finally here are my findings of F1 2010 by Codemasters.

Experience Codemasters stand

Like I said earlier I was watching into the booth from a distance, not feeling like queuing up. I felt disappointed that the line was that big just to do a single race against other attendees. But then a gift came out of nowhere when the blond booth girl walked up to me (and my friend) and asked if we wanted to play the game, her voice sweet. We nodded heavily and could walk to the front, and within minutes we were sitting in the F1 cockpits ready to play.
The version I played at the Codemasters’ stand was on a PC set to medium graphics, and it showed. The textures weren’t as sharp as I was used to in the videos and the overall image, though still pretty, was a tad soft.
When everyone was finally ready I asked to one of the helpers, conveniently Dutch like I am, if he could turn everything off and get me in cockpit view. He helped and turned off the standard T-cam view and every aid. The race started in the pit box with a timer counting down 0:30 till the start of the race in Spa (dry). In the pit box you can view the latest weather reports, change tyres and do a few other things I didn’t have time to see. When you’re ready the crew helps you leave the box and the car drives out of the garage.

Unfortunately the cinematic stopped there and suddenly I was on the grid with all other cars. It would’ve been better if I could drive to the grid myself and feel the chills of the race build-up but that wasn’t the case.
When the race started I experienced my first problem. The gear shifter on the steering wheel wouldn’t bounce back to position after shifting. I found this out pretty late and was forced to shift up then push the shifter back in position before shifting up again; this has lost me a lot of time as I was stuck in gear for at least ten seconds.
I drove up Eau Rouge and noticed that I could play the game pretty well without the assists off, considering the unknown set-up and physics. Mind you all other players were racing with auto gearbox and all assists on.
At the final corner I had caught up with the cars that took a jump-start on me after my gearing issue. I was revving up for a final attack for first place down to the final hairpin. I braked perfectly and had my line, took him on the inside and was ready to drive to the finish line, when he suddenly bumped into me from the side. He got a penalty for causing a collision and I was in reverse to get my car out of the wall. I noticed he couldn’t drive quickly anymore so I figured I could still win this … when third place car came storming through on the straight. I finished second but left with a feeling of excitement and adrenaline.
I noticed that with all aids off I could drive the car pretty well. It drove like an updated F1 Championship Edition with more emphasis on getting good traction out of the corners. Because push the throttle a little too hard and you’re sure to spin.
Furthermore the cars under steered just a bit, this was probably due to my cautious driving, the car setup and the F1-like steering wheel with the broken shifter. But that’s okay because the car responded well to my input. It felt amazing finding more and more grip in the corners.
At the end I held a fury eye on the German who spun me, he didn’t notice and walked out of the building. The helpful Dutchmen also showed me the way to the exits, not fooled by my attempt to hide away in the simulator for another go.

Experience Microsoft booth

Just when I thought my F1 experience was over there, in the last room, was a Microsoft pod running F1 2010. I was excited and for the first time got access to the settings that allowed me to set up my own race at one of the available tracks. The menus loaded swiftly and the graphics were easy on the eyes.
I decided to first start a practice session in Hungary. Every good F1 racer knows that most gains can be found in the practice session, it’s the perfect way to prepare for the 1,5 hour races that follow.
I found myself sitting in my car with options to change the setup, tyres and go to the track. The virtual screen in front of me gave me good access to the standings, weather expectations, circuit info and more. I was in awe by the effective and realistic approach to getting information feeds, but I wasn’t able to detect a way to see the other cars on track using that method. For me a must have for every F1 game and greatly exciting during LAN or online sessions.
So I went out in P1, in my Ferrari, and was the first car to tackle the asphalt. With every assist off and a solid Microsoft steering wheel in front of me, with low quality pedals, it became a very enjoyable experience. On my first lap I noticed the car sliding and how unstable it was under braking and accelerating. It was very hard to push and I decided to use it as an in-lap to get heat in the tyres. Unfortunately I can’t hide the fact that I spun once when applying throttle just a bit too hard.
My second lap went better. The tyres were warm and a little voice inside my head convinced me that the track gained grip every time I crossed the finish line.
At the end of my first run I went in and noticed that out of the 8 allocated, 1 was slightly worn. The game counts the tyres you use and allows you to go out on worn-out tyres, really awesome!

When I heard voices behind me I decided to quit the session and go out in a slower car in Abu Dhabi. I went out and sure enough the race was in twilight conditions just like the real thing. The lowering sun gave a beautiful yellow glow, and it made the environments shine like never before.
I was near the back and made a wobbly start in my Sauber. I noticed that the age-old trick of positioning the car on the inside and pass 10 cars didn’t work. The AI cars moved across the track surface trying to find an opening, leaving me in the middle actually losing positions.
After the start I regained my composure and was able to get near the cars of Lotus, Virgin and HRT. It was on hard and I had a somewhat difficult time overtaking them in my Sauber, but sure enough with a bit of aggression it worked. Then I had a poor exit and got hit in the side by a HRT car, causing me to spin into the wall ending my rush for positions.
The damage was very good. Parts of the Sauber flew everywhere as just one side of my wing got smashed to pieces, with the other half still intact. In the race I noticed a problem with the team radio. The guy said things that didn’t make sense. For example when I was behind someone for two corners he said I had to get out of his hot air because the engine was overheating. Now I love that the engine temperature is in the game but I’m pretty sure that the margin is a little bit bigger than that.

The graphics on the Xbox were a step up from its PC counterpart, which was set on medium. The track looked amazing and I was completely drawn into the experience. But again I found the image a bit soft.

And like that my F1 2010 experience was over. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, especially because the handling was so good. It felt like an updated F1 CE, which is a good thing. The cars understeer more than they did in F1 09 for the Wii, and I honestly felt where the grip was and where it wasn’t. And some of the curbs were ride-able but not all of them! These are aspects that give me the impression that this game is somewhat doing a good job of representing the difficulties and experience of F1. Handling wise it’s more forgiving than the likes of rFactor but who says which one is more realistic?
Bottom line is this: F1 2010 has close to the whole package. It has the sound, it has the graphics and I enjoyed the racing very much. I could feel what happened to the car and found myself coping with everything off on hard. But then again I’m used to the likes of GTR2, rFactor and back in the days GP4. I’d say that I’m an enthusiast with a capital E. And this enthusiast is definitely buying F1 2010 as soon as possible.