Game Review: F1 2016

Virtual Formula 1 has never been so life-like and accessible

It’s time to take to the track again – in the comfort of your own lounge room, bedroom or attic, as the case may be – with the release of F1 2016.

Yes, those fragile open-wheel rockets are ready to again, this time in the latest livery as they purr, rather than roar, their way around 21 international grand prix circuits, including the new castle-strewn Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan.

F1 2016 is available now across all modern gaming platforms, and this version is a real gem -- a realistic, accessible simulation of life both on and off the F1 track.

Visually, the thrill of F1 racing is presented in a top-notch manner.  The humans that make up the real-world travelling F1 show are quite well presented, so you can pick Lewis from Kimi for example, but it's the cars, tracks and meteorological effects that we're here for.

All 21 circuits maintain their local characteristics, while changing weather conditions and time of day add a great deal of atmosphere and realism to the experience.

Developer Codemasters has taken a significant amount of feedback from the community that played previous F1 titles and incorporated them into this release.

New surface, kerb and barrier physics have been incorporated into this release, which really just means Monaco is an even more difficult place to race with damaging your machine, but that is life in F1.

Both the virtual and actual safety car have made a return to the race day experience and there is also the option to warm up tyres and brakes during a formation lap.

More subtle changes including a new pit lane entry speed mechanic, more realistic penalty system and car damage sensitivity have also appeared in this release.

In practice however, the car damage modelling remains somewhat more lenient than we'd expect in the real world. You can get away with some bumps that we're pretty sure would cripple those rather fragile open-wheelers.

While the glamour of being part of a top F1 team is not part of the presentation, nearly everything else is modelled during the Career modes of the game. Inter and intra-team rivalries are formed and tracked, as well as team objectives for each practice session, qualifying and the race itself. It is indeed possible, though quite difficult, to be sacked from the team.

During practice sessions you will have the opportunity to get familiar with the track, check on tyre management and push for a good qualifying time. By completing these drills successfully you will earn Resource Points, which are also accumulated at other times and can be spent on R&D options for your team to keep ahead of the competition.

Before the race you can tweak to your heart’s content, changing tyres, car configuration, race strategy and so forth. Then it is off to the starting grid.

F1 2016 allows a timed clutch-start, allowing you to perfect the all-important launch at the beginning of each GP.

Once out on the track you will get constant chatter from the pit crew, ranging from weather reports and info about other team mishaps, to your own damage and discussions about changing race strategy.

This audio -- along with the management of your own car via downforce adjustments, fuel mix alterations and keeping an eye on tyre wear -- gives a real sense of being in the cockpit of an F1 car.

The feel of the car is a little less twitchy than we expected, but the driving model and a generous array of driver assists really aids a broadening of accessibility to a franchise that can be daunting for newcomers.

Multiplayer has been given a complete spruce up. Grab some friends and run a full-length championship, or jump into a casual race with lots of set-up options at whatever level you want. The most popular options currently seem to be a non-collision series of races against human opponents and their ghost cars.

From our own observations and after chatting with people online, it is clear that F1 2016 is a welcome return to form for the franchise.

You can go as deep or shallow as you like and, generally, come away with a satisfying experience behind the wheel. Apart from Monaco, that is, though that could be just us.