F1 2020 Video Game Review: Codemasters Outdoes Itself, Again

This is the definitive console-based Formula One racing simulator.

SEE ALL 14 PHOTOS

Writer

Jul 24, 2020

Let's get this over with at the jump: Codemasters' F1 2020 is the best F1 video game
to ever hit home-gaming consoles, period, and you should buy it now if you haven't
already. That's my visceral gut reaction after spending a good chunk of time with the
title that released on July 10.

It's not a proclamation I make lightly. Racing gamers are a massively

discerning lot, and hardcore Formula 1 fans might be even more demanding
when it comes to how companies virtually depict their favorite form of motorsport.
Throughout the past several decades, F1 games have been all over the map in terms
of realism, playability, and pure fun. Take a spin through online forums devoted to
racing games/simulators—any racing game—and you'll find a seemingly
never-ending stream of complaints, from car handling to hysterical in-game bugs.

Of course, some of the complaints themselves are hilarious, as they stretch well
beyond the pedantic and deep into the realm of, "Are you serious, dude? You do
realize it is just a game, right?"

Don't say that to F1 fans, though. Codemasters launched its first F1 title for home
consoles way back in the fall of 2010, and it's taken its fair share, and then some, of
critiques and complaints with each subsequent annual installment. Personally, as an
F1 anorak and former full-time motorsports journalist—as well as someone who's
driven on plenty of real racetracks in a wide spectrum of cars—I've played them all,
for varying amounts of time and with varying levels of satisfaction. And
Codemasters' F1 2020 leaves them all in its wake, not because it is perfect, but
because of its depth of features along with a revised handling model that is finally
rather proper to drive.

Remembering Michael Schumacher's Era

Beyond those upgrades, there's also a satisfying emotional component for me to
Codemasters' F1 2020—and let's be honest, F1 fandom itself is as much of an
emotional investment as anything, considering the on-track action often leaves more
than a little something to be desired.

So, I made sure to get my hands not on the standard version of the game, but on the
F1 2020 Deluxe Schumacher Edition, an ode to F1 legend Michael Schumacher. My
personal motorsports passion was fueled during the seven-time world champion's
prime, right around the time of his first title-winning campaign with Benetton in 1994.

Schumacher's polarizing nature is well documented, to say the least; it seemed F1

observers and fans were either all-in on the German or borderline (or outright)
despised him, especially as he and his Ferrari regime dominated the sport for the
first half of the 2000s. Maybe I found comfort in his metronomic precision and
consistency in the wake of Ayrton Senna's death. Maybe there was something
intriguing about that high-nosed Benetton B194 he drove. Maybe Damon Hill and the
rest of the 1994 F1 grid (other than Jean Alesi and Eddie Irvine) were about as
interesting to me as a bag of sawdust. Maybe I'm just a front-runner.

Regardless, for whatever reason, Schumacher quickly became "my guy." Years later
when I was older and paid to view racing through the lens of journalistic impartiality,
in my private time I remained a Schumacher fan. But we all knew he wasn't perfect—
especially when his on-track behavior was at times almost shocking in its
ruthlessness and perceived arrogance.

Maybe if Schumacher never suffered that horrific skiing-crash brain injury seven and
a half years ago, and he had simply eased into retirement as a familiar
ambassadorial face that appeared at a few Grands Prix per season, I wouldn't have
felt a strong need to own this edition of Codemasters' F1 2020. After all, other than
some classic Schumacher cars available in the game, I didn't expect much of a leap
in terms of fun compared to the franchise's previous installments.

As it turns out, I quickly discovered a gem of game with a breadth of offerings that
have me looking forward to playing it for months to come. I never could have said
that about the past few years' worth of F1 releases.
So What Makes This The Best F1 Game Ever?

SEE ALL 14 PHOTOS

For starters, a revised handling model finally delivers cars that behave as you
imagine a modern F1 car should, for the most part; even sim-racing ace and Williams
F1 driver George Russell has commented on how well this game drives. Find the
right setup in Codemasters' F1 2020, and the cars actually turn; you're not moaning
constantly about understeer, and you don't have to drive around the problem by, as
Russell has also noted, relying on perfectly timed downshifts as a sort of bizarre
torque-vectoring turn-in aid. (Anyone who played last year's game is well-familiar
with this silly, irritating trait.) Just as welcome is a revised ERS power-deployment
system that's much truer to real life than its formerly convoluted in-game execution.
Now, you simply push the "overtake" button to unleash the extra power and have at
it.

If that's still too much for inexperienced players or for people who don't know Grand
Prix racing's ins and outs, there are plenty of assists and game modes available to
dumb-down the entire thing to an easily playable degree, without compromising the
product for hardcore players who want to manage everything themselves.

Speaking of managing, Codemasters' F1 2020's new My Team mode isn't usually the
sort of thing I bother with, but it's already proved itself a fantastic new way to
experience the game: You create your own team from scratch, and sign and manage
sponsors, funds, an engine supplier, and a fresh young teammate. Keeping the
realism and official FIA license satisfied, you select your teammate from the F2 grid;
you can also play the entire F2 season separately as a game within the game.

It'll come as no surprise I was more than happy to throw an imaginary million bucks
at Michael's son, Mick Schumacher, to join my new outfit. So, there's a nostalgic
component available even when racing in the virtual now. (Giuliano Alesi is also in
the game, complete with his father's famous helmet design, for another generational
nod.) Codemasters will surely develop My Team further in subsequent years, but I
already anticipate it adding plenty of hours, weeks, and months to my F1 2020-
playing enthusiasm.

As for the Schumacher-specific content, frankly it might not seem all that "deluxe" to
everyone, especially if you missed or didn't ever care about the Red Baron's boat. For
fans like me, however, the ability to drive the 7 Up-liveried 1991 Jordan 191, that
high-nosed, Ford (Cosworth) Zetec-R V-8-powered 1994 Benetton B194, the Benetton
B195, and the 2000 Ferrari F1-2000 is a great nostalgic addition to the standard
Codemasters' F1 2020 lineup of this year's full grid of contemporary cars. (The
standard version of the game already includes Schumacher's 2004 Ferrari F2004.)

The Best F1 Game Ever, But Not Quite Perfect

It's a shame there aren't a few more machines to choose from, though there are
other non-Schumacher classic F1 cars available, too. If the development team is
looking for suggestions for the future, it should add the 1993 Benetton B193, the
gorgeous 1995 Ferrari 412 T2 (the first Ferrari F1 car Schumacher tested at Fiorano
upon signing for the Scuderia), the 1996 F310 (a dog of a car, but intriguing in the
looks department), the 1997 F310B (no, really, Jacques Villeneuve, I swear I never
saw you there), and the 1999 F399 (the car with which Schumacher had a solid shot
of winning his first title for Ferrari, before he broke his leg in that season's British
Grand Prix).

While I'm whining, it's also a shame Codemasters says it won't be able to add the
fantastic, fast, and flowing Mugello circuit to F1 2020, despite it being added to the
revised real-life calendar. The new Hanoi, Vietnam, street circuit is included, but after
driving about five laps of it, I can tell you there isn't a driver on the actual F1 grid who
should be disappointed the race there was canceled this season. From here on, I'll
pretend it and its inane track layout don't exist. On the flipside, the addition of the
Netherlands' Zandvoort circuit is a revelation I still haven't grown tired of.

Still, the classic Schumacher cars offered are a great package of additional content.
Along with a few of the driver's helmet designs and podium celebrations to use while
playing as your own character during your Codemasters' F1 2020 career, the
nostalgia factor combines with modern F1, a solid handling model, and attention-
holding game modes to produce a great home virtual-racing experience. Hell,
speaking of nostalgia, even the split-screen multi-player feature returns, something I
think I last enjoyed in an F1 game on PlayStation 1, circa 1996.
The world is certainly unrecognizable from the one we raced in back then, but when
it comes strictly to home gaming-console Formula 1 offerings, Codemasters' F1
2020 definitely will make you happy you live in the now.