Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 33 Ratings

  • Summary: F1 2012 sports all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 23
  2. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Oct 1, 2012
    90
    Everything except for the audience and a lack of punishment for crashing in multiplayer has been improved, which makes F1 2012 the best Formula One game yet.
  2. Oct 24, 2012
    85
    It's not a great leap forward from last year's model, but F1 2012 adds just enough to an already tight package to keep the series on top. This is a far cry from an arcade racer so only serious Formula 1 fans need apply.
  3. Oct 24, 2012
    85
    Driving a Formula 1 car in F1 2012 is more pleasant than ever. Developers dealt with problems that infested the previous edition two years ago but flaws of various calibers are present and prevented me from rating this game higher. Still it's the most accessible Formula 1 simulation ever. [12/2012, p.44]
  4. Oct 5, 2012
    70
    F1 2012 is heavily flawed gem. Visually stunning and eminently thrilling one minute, needlessly ugly and overtly annoying the next, it's a game that really doesn't do enough to improve over last season's effort. What's worse is that fans of the series have been voraciously pouncing on any chance to complain about these issues to the developer for two years now, and they – once again – seem to have been ignored. With that said, the game is just as good as it was last year – just not as good as we'd expect it to be by now.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8
  1. Everything a F1 fan could want. Codemasters have created an amazing game and by far the best F1 game ever. Realistic handling, amazing graphics, amazing weather and a bunch cool new modes combine to give the most in depth experience seen. Expand
  2. Codemasters have yet again delivered us a fantastic racing game for all types of gamers. Notoriously this is a fans game, much like other sports games, if you`re a fan of the sport, you will love this game and be able to comprehend the technical side of things (Limited as they may be in the game). Theres a definite equalisation between wheel users and controller users, unlike the last game, where anyone with a wheel had an automatic 3 second per lap advantage over controller users.

    This time, we controller users can really take the fight to them!

    The graphics are a great improvement over the last version, with the cars and environment looking especially nice. Wet weather has had a BIG improvement, the graphics on track and off the rain heading towards the track is very immersive and wet weather has become very tricky to drive on now.

    The major changes to the game are important to note as of course they match real life changes in the sport:

    - No blown diffuser, this is the big change in the game, you will notice a huge difference in traction at low speed corners and mid speed corners without this diffuser. In 2012, you really have to apply the throttle gradually coming out of any hairpins, or even chicanes otherwise because of the reduced downforce given from the BD, you will spin out. This is noticeable in the mid-speed corners too if you try and turn in a little bit too early or correct in the middle of a sweeping corner youll find the car a lot more twitchy on the steering and will risk spinning. Lots more car control required, just what we like!

    braking bias - Although i havent tested the braking bias extensively yet, ive had a few stabs at it here and there, you can get through most corners on all tracks without switching your brake bias to the front or rear while out on track, However ive noticed a few lock ups when trying to brake a bit later and gain lap time. So it will definitely aid in eeking out those final tengths.

    -A.I. Finally the computer are worth racing, theyve really amped up the difficulty on the computer. I know for most of us the computer SUCKED in previous games, it was normal to be faster than the computer by 3 seconds a lap on legend difficulty. Not now though, in multiplayer ive seen legend difficulty destroy some people on the wheels. I myself havent struggled overly with the A.I but they are definitely more competitive, and will hound you especially with the huge DRS boost. In single player they were a lot mor challenging, especially when in a force india, Im not sure if its because i didnt have setups yet, but Paul di resta was beating my ass in qualifying which was a big surprise, Im pretty sure he outqualified me by over a second. Some of that may be down to the lack of a full setup, some the difficulty increase in the A.I

    All in all a very enjoyable game for a fan especially, the car sounds have been vastly improve, the graphics are good, the racing is fantastic and i love racing the game so far. Possible improvements: - More interaction with interviewers
    - More technical analysis for us true fans
    Expand
  3. While one of the best F1 games I've played, this is still no match for Geoff Crammond's gp-series. Graphics are nice, tho PS3 version framerate dips sometimes due to the bad porting. With wheel and pedals, game is very enjoyable. What bugs me sometimes is the stupid AI, developers laziness in career mode and almost indestructible cars. Also the car setups are flawed for some reason. For some reason, you find the best setups for one track, you can use it for all tracks. But still, very enjoyable game. Expand
  4. 2
    my goodness..what a pile of crap....improvements?..apparently, but i fail to see them anywhere...Free practice session 1 and 2 removed, Championship mode removed, tyre scaling removed, The game has a new handling model which for the most part is ok but requires you to not brake into or accelerate out of a corner unless you are in a straight line or you will spin and you will spin.A penalty system that is without a doubt broken. Weather system broken, i could go on all night..BUGS!!!..my word i have never seen such a buggy game except maybe skyrim. and this is on all platforms. Better graphics, yes..but that's it. In a game that's supposed to represent F1 its lacking severely. Stick to F1 2011 if you want the full F1 experience, or wait for what i think will amount to various patches, but knowing Codemasters we'll get one, then they will move onto 2013. Steer Clear. Expand

See all 8 User Reviews