With EA buying out Codemasters, I thought it might be worth trying out the final F1 game pre-apocalypse.

The real Formula 1 2020 season has been, in my opinion one of the best in a long time. It was tough enough to get any sort of season going, but the lack of other sport throughout the early parts of the year and some exciting racing drew me back in. While Mercedes dominating surprised nobody, who would have predicted race wins for Sergio Perez or Pierre Gasly?

With most big sports games, criticism is rarely aimed at the quality of the product. Instead, quite rightly, ire is targeted at the lack of significant progress between each year’s iteration. The F1 series has been no exception since Codemasters took over the license in 2009. As for myself, this is my first F1 game since 2010, which I enjoyed but found myself skipping practice sessions and with no desire to complete more than one season.

Initially in 2020, again, I mostly ignored practice sessions, to my fault. What I didn’t realise was the role these sessions play as both tutorials and car development. For each grand prix weekend, there are 3 practice sessions within which you have the option of completing a number of programs. These programs are designed to teach you about the main mechanics that need managing through a race: fuel, tyre wear and ERS (Energy Recovery System – basically a boost button). Other programs involve passing through gates to teach you the track layout and qualifying & race simulations. Completing these will have you fully prepared for the race to come and provide maximum research points to use in improvements for your chassis, aerodynamics, power unit & durability.

In gamifying these practice sessions, the developers have incentivized you to spend more time learning each track rather than just racing (ahem) to race-day. Spending this extra time focusing on a specific target makes it feel less like grind and more like an immersive part of the grand prix process. I thoroughly recommend investing the time in these sessions. This is a game that I enjoyed more, the longer I was willing to spend on any particular grand prix weekend. I raced at 25% real race length, though in a way I wish I had gone longer. In the shorter races, pit stops become far too prominent, while overall strategy and a large part of fuel and tyre management become less relevant.

F1 2020 can be used as a solid simulator for those interested. However, for us mere mortals there are a myriad of assists to help you along. I tried to use as few as possible, but some are a necessity: pit lane assist and braking point indicators are a must for anybody not looking for full simulation. This goes all the way through to a full casual mode making things accessible for absolute beginners. The big one though is flashbacks: a standard in Codemasters games for a while now. Crash and instead of ruining all your hard work, just zip back 10 seconds. On many races; unnecessary, but on others; a lifesaver. Fuck Monaco.

The headline new feature in 2020 is ‘My Team’ wherein for the first time you can not only be a driver, but also a team owner: choosing sponsors, upgrading resources and contracting your teammate. Choose a main sponsor, pick an engine supplier (Mercedes, of course) and ensure you have enough left over to sign an up-and-coming young driver from the list of real F2 youngsters. I know it’s a minefield of image rights, but it would have been nice to have the option a more experienced teammate (Nico Hulkenberg anyone?) since it becomes a big factor in car development.

Racing games generally face one major problem: finding the right difficulty. The answer here is a slider going from 0 to 110. Experiment, choose your own and change between sessions, seems a good solution, though not without its flaws. As you progress through a season, you will improve swiftly. What was a challenge for you in the last race may lead to an unsatisfying waltz of a victory in the next. I started on medium (50) and finished 3rd, 11th & 11th. Then after my first win steadily increased before finishing the season on Expert (90). It may have taken a full season to find my level, but this is likely to not change now unless I invest in a wheel. Gamepads are serviceable, but no more than that for some tracks at high difficulty. Fuck Monaco.

Beyond ‘My Team’ there is a driver career mode, though in this iteration it is clearly the inferior of the two. One neat touch is that you actually start in the Formula 2 championship. I must profess to being disappointed at the lack of a story mode as in F1 2019. Without such, there is no real reason to choose this over ‘My Team’. In theory, F2 should be an easy way to learn the ropes, but I found the cars much harder to control because of the lower downforce. There are also invitational challenges and a full classic car championship amongst others. Content is certainly not lacking.

Is this worth full price if you already own F1 2019? I cannot really answer that. By the standards of other annual sports games, the ‘My Team’ mode alone is a huge addition, but it’s still pretty much the same racer underneath. As a standalone, this is one of the best racing games I’ve played. All kinds of customizability, content out the wazoo and gamified simulation that rewards the time you invest in each circuit.

The best thing I can say about F1 2020 is it is that rare AAA title made with soul. You can tell the developers are fans of the property and have a passion for bringing F1 to life. I only hope that soul isn’t lost under the new owners.