F1 2013 is the best F1 simulator of this generation and another great hit from Codemasters. It's a title that demands skill, tactics and commitment, but rewards players with a deep and satisfying experience. The AI and the damage systems might not be perfect, but it remains a great game with tons of content and options.
It's pole position once again for Codemasters' F1, despite a lack of any real, meaningful changes over F1 2012 beyond the addition of F1 Classics. F1 2013 is still a superb racer, but we're expecting big things for next year.
Artwork F1 2013 represents almost the same level as the previous edition. It continues to be a game so rich in detail and spectacular. The whole is complemented by a decent audio.
The game that is polished feel to the fullest. It is really worth to play.
Amazing graphics (for me, that grew up playing SNES), great handling - it isn't a simulator, but still very accurate. Exciting races, great AI (the best, comparing to the past codemasters F1 games). The only thing that lost it's appeal comparing to the old ones was the career mode: not much interactive.
F1 2013 is a great game – the best of the series thus far, in fact. For racing fans without last year's game, its acquisition is a no-brainer. However, those with F1 2012 are encouraged to try before buying. There are few changes on last year's formula and Classic Mode's potential vastly outweighs its offering this time around.
F1 2013 oozes quality, fully living up to the illustrious nature of its official licence, and the presence of the 1980s and 1990s cars, drivers and tracks gives motorsport nuts a real reason to buy it – which is much-needed for such an annual franchise.
For Formula 1 lovers, the "Classic" mode alone justifies the purchase of this 2013 edition, as Codemasters has managed to create a second game in the heart of a simulation that was already a reference. The best F1 races of yesterday and today are transcribed in a game that breathes the passion and love for this motorsport.
In a sport that symbolizes the cutting edge of car technology and the pinnacle of racing, the F1 series' slow progress is a contradiction. I enjoy the racing itself, but that only counts for so much. It's getting to the point that I'd rather see how other series like Forza incorporate F1 cars rather than play this franchise – and that's a bad sign.
A momentary year's volume that's gas fumes-driven, and that places reliance in fans' benevolence. A presence of the classical open-wheel cars from the rich F1 history, and the old (same) solid driving pattern are grinding off the edges of your disappointment. Well, only if you do not own the last year's volume though.
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. Previously playing other Codemasters games such as the DIRT and GRID series, I went into F1 2013 (currently free until May 31st 2015) thinking it would take the same direction with an F1 theme. Boy, was I so very wrong.
F1 2013 is one of the deepest and possibly the most faithful-to-its-source racing I have ever played. Every track, every team and every driver is available from the 2013 F1 season, including classic content such as teams and tracks from the 1980s pre-packaged in the game, and 1990s content available through DLC. Safe to say, you won't be left wanting in regard to content.
With depth comes difficulty. Opponents on-track behave just as they would in the real life motorsport, never unfairly riding along your tail or lagging behind, but do make the occasional mistake when gunning for position. I'm surprised at how good the AI actually is, a rare occurrence in most racing games these days. To keep up with the pack and defend your position you have modern racing concepts at your disposal such as the Drag Reduction System (DRS) and the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) which are regulated in-game as the FIA actually permits. Not only that, every attribute within the car's disposal is important: tyre wear, fuel consumption and aerodynamic and mechanical maintenance all play a massive role when out on the track, especially in the most dangerous of conditions. Safe to say, the racing gameplay alone justifies the depth of the game.
The career mode is deep and near flawless, fairing well with the participation setup of each race, consisting of qualifiers that determine position and then the actual race, all of which can be regulated for chance of a change in weather, as well as the current track condition. The one problem I have with the career, and fair enough it is a nitpick, a problem that other recent Codemasters racing games share, is an unskippable narrator, who is informative and straight to the point, but at the same time, can become irritating due to his high volume commentary. Past that though, it's difficult enough to criticise the career for what it achieves: to replicate the 2013 F1 season.
Aside from career and gameplay, the graphics are pretty solid; the cars look amazing, the lighting is near perfect, and the tracks are quite detailed too and well re-created, yet not perfect detail-wise. The ability to save a race mid-session is also really nifty, allowing anybody to engage in a full-length F1 race, but still stop and rest should they feel like so. It makes the races in-game so much more accessible, couple that with the rewind feature as seen in past Codemasters racing games.
Overall, if you're reading this before May 31st and have XBL Gold, and want to give this a bash, I really recommend you do, and if you're not, pick it up anyway. I promise you'll get a fair amount of game time out of this. The gameplay is fantastic, the racing is deep, the career is deep, the game looks pretty good graphically and the mid-session save feature, coupled with the rewind feature makes it one of the most accessible racing games out there for the casual or hardcore sim or sim-cade racer.
Wow. Just hilarious amounts of wow. F1 2013 is probably my second favorite game for the 360. It brings everything that F1 brings to the real world, the EGO engine works fine, the graphics are astounding, the gameplay is smooth... Yes, I have been playing this for quite a while. Although, it has a particular flaw: it is nearly identical to 2012. If you haven't bought 2012, buy this. If you have 2012 and don't care about the (I must say, identical to the original and fun) Classic Cars, keep 2012. You love the Classics even though you have 2012, buy this. It is nearly the apex of simulation driving.
F1 2013 is pretty solid. I haven't played an F1 game fully since 2010, although I played a demo of 2012. The AI is probably the biggest improvement, with the AI not backing down in a fight into a corner. More importantly, the AI can out brake themselves into a corner when fighting you too, which shows a solid mistake concept on the part of the AI. They actually make mistakes, although rarely as you would expect from an F1 driver.
The rule system has been improved, or at least is a little more lenient! The tyre wear which was a big factor in real life has also come into the game, at least for the player it seems. The handling feels more fluid now too, which is nice to see. However, any setup can be used to win a race, even a minimum wings setting of 1-1 in Monaco, which should not be the case at all. This needs to be addressed.
The F1 classics mode was quite an enjoyable experience. The cars lack high speed grip & braking power, but have a massive amount of torque, which means wheelspin is more violent. Just seeing the names of team & F1 legends brings a smile to an enthusiasts face.
Career mode was a let down for me. They haven't really changed it since 2010. Codemasters are just sitting back improving graphics when it's things like career mode that should be improved. The same old boring system of taking an upgrade path is in. The top teams in the game are always the top teams, but for me, in career mode you should be able to take any team to the top over time, meaning your teammate in that team could also be winning races. This could be done by having a system where the top 4 teams get a maximum of 8 upgrades a season on a balanced R&D path, 7 for the next 4 teams, and 6 for the next 3. The main difference in feeling in cars in career mode isn't downforce either, it's overall power from the engine. This is something that clearly needs refining. The career menu interface is boring and there isn't much to do there, it'd be nice just to see a little money system where by teams offer cash like they did in 2010. The pit times, for me at least seem to be always around the 3s mark, while in F1 they can range between 2-4s normally, so a bit of randomizing or making top teams have better pit stops would work better.
Career mode for me was the biggest let down by miles, but all in all, as far as the racing & feel of the cars, F1 2013 is pretty nice to play. F1 classics was a breath of fresh air. I'd recommend buying it, but wouldn't pay anything more than 30 euro for it.
F1 2013 is on its own a great game, with exciting racing concepts such as the DRS system. There are plenty of race tracks, including Monza, Silverstone and Suzuka, and the dynamic weather is always impressive. The visuals are good and the new feature in Mid session save is great, especially when it works in conjunction with career mode, as you can save halfway through a race.
However I think it still doesn't differentiate itself enough in comparison to the previous year (or even three years). It misses a few elements which I think could've made it more interesting, like for example, the customisation settings are minimal, as you can't choose a paint job for your car or design your own helmet, you'll have to choose a list of options instead. Also if you plan on doing just a race, you still can't choose where you want to start on the grid, let alone anyone else's, and I wish there was a feature that would sort this problem out. Other features I find annoying are the sound effects of the F1 engine, as they sound quite tinny in my opinion, and the frame rate could be improved also.
To sum it up if you don't have F1 or otherwise interested by some of the new features I suggest you buy it, otherwise I would wait until next year.