Formula One Championship Edition

GamePro

Clearly, the power of the PS3 has been successfully harnessed because the game's speedy gameplay does not come with any sacrifice to graphical quality. The cars, environments, and race tracks all look close to photorealistic.

GameShark

Rich visuals and loads of gameplay options ensure your experience will be a positive one, packed with simulated Formula One racing that is surprisingly accessible.

Pure Magazine UK

Even rookie racers can pick up and play without spending too much time getting frustrated at the handling. [Mar 2007, p.54]

Gaming Nexus

The collection of innovative features and seriously sweet eye candy in Sony's Formula One Championship Edition set a new standard in console-based racing games.

Play Magazine

Progressive damage, super real lighting and weather effects, and full surround audio make it the vision of next-gen; great gameplay makes it incredibly addicting fun, and six-axis control makes it unique. [Apr 2007, p.47]

AceGamez

The best pure racing simulation I've ever played - F1 is to Burnout what Microsoft Flight Simulator is to Ace Combat.

IC-Games

F1 fans will enjoy this game without reservation. F1 fanatics will love this game and want to take it to bed, with the profound amount of customizability that may find Fernando Alonso scratching his head in places.

Game Chronicles

Formula One Championship Edition is easily the best F1 racing game console gamers have had the privilege of playing. Thanks to the power of the PS3 and Sony’s painstaking attention to every last detail, the console is now capable of delivering a sim experience that was previously reserved for high-end PC’s.

Cheat Code Central

Don't look for it to shatter any sales records here in the U.S., but if you're looking for a technical racer that requires attention to be placed on tire wear, rather than the unlocking of vinyl decals, you will be in for a real treat.

PSX Extreme

A superb racing game. Enthusiasts of the motorsport will eat this up and ask for more. Everything about this game is a quality product, from the visuals to the gameplay.

PGNx Media

The game’s graphics are great although not phenomenal when compared to upcoming PS3 games like "Motorstorm."

TotalPlayStation

This is technical racing at its best. Sure, it has an absolutely mammoth difficulty to overcome, but they're lessons that actually make you a better driver, and as one of the most exacting sims out there, it's like almost nothing else.

Extreme Gamer

This is one pure racing experience that will test your skill while dragging you deep into the detail and testing world of Formula One racing.

DailyGame

It looks and sounds "next-gen," and the career mode is definitely deep, but it might be a bit intimidating for casual fans who just want to hop into a Grand Prix race and play. It could also benefit from more people actually playing online.

GamingTrend

The game is a triumph for simulation fans, and is moderately accessible to new players.

GameZone

This is a game built for the driving sim fan that likes micro-managing car setup and doing a lot of work. The controls are responsive, and the AI is also very good.

Yahoo! Games

In the long run, we love F1's purity; while it can seem too much at first, the stringent driving model is ideally suited for Formula One racing. An arcade leaning would make the game more accessible for a broader audience, but would also sell short the enthusiast appeal of the sport.

Game Informer

These drivers get treated like absolute superstars, and ungodly amounts of money get poured into these racing programs, but that’s not conveyed enough here. I don’t want a caviar-eating minigame, but I think the series should reflect that F1 is about more than just fast cars.

GameSpy

F1 is a tough sport, but it's a wonderful one. Championship Edition captures that astonishingly well, although it stumbles with fully implementing the online features, and the lack of force feedback is murderously noticeable.

VideoGamer

While it's by no means a perfect recreation of the sport, it does a lot of things very well. Casual fans might be best advised to stay away though, unless prepared to invest a lot of time into learning circuits and how to drive the incredibly powerful cars.

Gaming Target

Formula One Championship Edition’s high-definition graphics, intense sense of speed and ability to be appeal to rookie and veterans alike makes me happy that the franchise finally reappeared in North America.

Boomtown

A great recreation of the sport and a fine game to boot and is perhaps my favourite title among the PlayStation 3 launch line-up.

PSM Magazine

Not to worry though, Formula One Championship Edition offers some of the truest-to-life driving we've seen, while also being the Burger King of F1 racers--you can have it your way. [May 2007, p.72]

DarkStation

Formula One has steadily garnered some following, and Sony has finally done the sport justice with this realistically thrilling racing experience.

Games Master UK

Technically excellent, if dry, representation of the sport. [Apr 2007, p.79]

GamerNode

A strong racing title for hardcore F1 fans or purists of the racing genre. While the gameplay is its strong suit, the problematic graphics, lack of good sound engineering and long qualifying rounds may have some gamers losing patience with this title.

Gamers' Temple

The most accessible F1 racing game to date.

GamingExcellence

Formula One Championship Edition provides a good balance of arcade and simulation gameplay.

Game Revolution

The hyper-realism is impressive at first, but Championship Edition lacks the flash and fanfare of most racing games. The mild weather conditions and tiring voiceover do little to shake up the core game.

Digital Entertainment News

It's an astounding racer that offers a lot of depth and reward to dedicated players, but might scare away the novices.

1UP

Lovers of Formula One will get a huge kick out of the way it wallows in the culture of the sport...That said though, its biggest flaw is that, rather than providing you with an experience that makes you feel like a Formula One driver, it instead seems to require that you practically need the skills of one to truly succeed.

PALGN

The fact that it controls superbly well and contains some of the best tracks in the world means that if you’re a racing game fan you could almost completely ignore that this is an F1 game and enjoy it solely on its driving merits.

Play.tm

Championship Edition is super-realistic. Perhaps too much so for its own good. For F1 buffs it is ideal, but if you want an adrenaline-pumping ride on PS3, there's another game, with a big desert and mad vehicles, which does it all much better I'm afraid. One for the fanatics, then.

Game Almighty

The online play is fairly impressive, with a field of up to 11 human competitors that’s rounded out by another 11 AI opponents. The only real problem with this game is that it’s just not fun.

GameTrailers

It’s great to see Formula 1 come back to the North American gaming scene, and Championship Edition is a very solid entry. But it’s a bit disappointing that, outside of the shiny new PS3 graphics, F1 still has all of the same problems we were seeing in these games years ago.

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Yeah, F1 looks great, but I felt more like I was guiding the camera around the track on a flyby than driving a 19,000-rpm racing beast. [Apr 2007, p.84]

Play UK

Whilst playing it on the hardest difficulty seems pointless to anyone but the most hardened of fans, the game has seen a significant hike in quality and fun since the last one. It's just the balance of the difficulty that isn't quite right. [Issue #150, p.76]

GameSpot

Though its presentation is rather dry, Formula One Championship Edition is a good racing game that straddles the fine line between being accessible to newcomers yet deep enough for longtime fans of the series.

Gaming Horizon

The game doesn’t feature spectacular crashes or a significant ability to modify your vehicles. Instead players are forced to perfect laps and drive very accurately meaning the title is either a hit or miss, there’s very little in between.

IGN

Things aren't perfect. The Career mode requires that you leap over a rather large hurdle before you can jump into a race, and things like the collision-free online play may irk some.

PSW Magazine UK

Championship Edition is super-realistic. Perhaps too much for its own good. For F1 buffs that's ideal, but if you want an adrenaline-pumping ride on PS3, there's another game, with a big desert and mad vehicles, which does it far better.

Kombo

The biggest downfall is the racing itself. Aside from Quick Race, you have to do more solo practice laps than I cared to do. I wanted to fight for position and not try and constantly beat my old time by me being the only car on the track. When the big race finally came, I was bored of the track and wanted something else to do.

GameDaily

F1 Championship Edition will only disappoint those expecting a quick and easy ride. The game was built to challenge throughout each lap, with a demanding Career Mode and its uphill learning curve. On the other hand, those who want something more out of their racing games should find it a valuable investment.

WHAM! Gaming

Formula One: Championship Edition is clearly aimed at real racing game fans and those people, whether they're playing a simple quick race or time trial, in career mode, Grand Prix Weekend, World Championship or with others online, should certainly be satisfied here.

Jolt Online Gaming UK

Formula One Championship Edition is a weak debut for F1 on PS3, trying to hide its complete lack of progress and innovation behind a high-def exterior; but it’s not all bad.

Gamestyle

Players who put in the time and effort will receive a stimulating and demanding experience.

Sydney Morning Herald

Fortunately, if you are an F1 purist, you will discover a comprehensive and challenging simulation that offers long-term appeal.

Eurogamer

It doesn't contain any real surprises and it does exactly what you'd expect a Formula One game to do. It's a faithful simulation of the sport: just like the real thing, it's mildly diverting, good for soaking up a hangover at the weekend but goes on far too long.

Playstation Official Magazine UK

Formula One is far from terrible, but it simply can't compete with the balls-out brilliance of "Motorstorm." [May 2007, p.88]

G4 TV

The tweaking and decent gameplay salvages things, but the caps the game's developers put on things leaves you struggling to have fun instead of it coming naturally.

Gaming Age

There's a bit of a high learning curve to get over in order to find much enjoyment or excitement in the game, although fans of the genre or sport in particular will likely not mind at all.

Detroit Free Press

How well can you follow a big green line? The game shows you the shortest distance around the track -- a green line to follow. The line turns briefly red when you come to a turn, but don't ease up on the throttle, because the game slows your vehicle down for you. How boring is that?

games(TM)

It’s tedious to keep referring to this latest F1 release with the words, 'as in previous versions', but unfortunately that’s the generic and clichéd approach that has been taken with the latest in the series. [Mar 2007, p.121]

PSM3 Magazine UK

This really very attractive game is hand-wringingly dull. Here's why: the handling is terrible. In fact, it's so flawed there's simply never a time when it's fun, or even satisfying, to drive these cars.

Edge Magazine

As far as either an authentic simulation or a fun re-imagining goes, it’s like some strange negative of the emperor’s new clothes; the pretty wrapping is there but the body is not. [Mar 2007, p.83]