​F1 23 review: looks the same, but feels slightly different

If you are a Formula 1 driver, you get a new car every once in a while. Of course, that takes some getting used to and that makes it extra fun for the audience when a new season starts. The same applies to all home drivers with the game F1 23: it does quite a few things differently than its predecessor. You don’t see it, but you feel it.

F1 23

With F1 23, EA Sports seems to be going a bit along with the craziness surrounding Formula 1 in general. Partly thanks to the Netflix series Drive to Survive, Formula 1 is now also very popular in America. You also see that Hollywood is in full swing and one celebrity after another is doing a tour of the paddock. With the game it seems as if EA Sports wants to make it all a bit more accessible. Where you used to really not drive a lap in F1 so easily, certainly not compared to Need for Speed ​​or Forza Horizon, that is now a lot better in the racing game.

Diehards may not like that, but it makes the cars feel a bit more reliable anyway. This also gives you the feeling that you are in control and that is nice. Of course, when you drive as hard as the real riders, every micro-movement still makes a world of difference, but it’s all just a little easier to estimate. More control is always welcome as a gamer, although you should certainly not think that the game has suddenly become a piece of cake. I regularly argue with curbs and still haven’t quite mastered how to really use them to my advantage.

Own F1 team

I’m an ‘offline’ gamer myself: I’d rather play some kind of tournament for myself than compete against others online, but if you want to, you can. There is an entire F1 World at your disposal, where you can equip your team to your liking, both in terms of team bosses and in terms of car features such as a better engine. You then compete online against others to save for an even better engine, or, for example, more aerodynamic shapes for your car. Fortunately, this can also be done offline: if you achieve goals yourself or drive the series, you will also receive upgrades faster.

You probably keep racing full of fun, because besides the great pleasure of having a little more control and the challenge of upgrading your team, the game also looks great. It was already a beautiful game, and it still is. The shine on the drivers’ helmets, the cars that rush past and how that feeling of speed can still be conveyed quite well (even without a racing simulator), that’s quite impressive. It’s also nice that all the official circuits are in there that you can learn by heart for when the real races are on Sunday. But mainly to make yourself better, because even if you know exactly what’s coming in the game, you can take a little more risk.

Drive to Survive

And to return to Drive to Survive: there is also a nice story mode in which people also tell all kinds of things that happened during the race afterwards. Very funny and a nice way to learn everything about the game, especially if you are a new player. I think it won’t quite hit the right note in all areas for very seasoned F1 players, but it’s still entertaining to go through the storyline: ‘Braking Point’ is a fairly present part of the game.

What’s fun besides the Braking Point mode is that every Sunday when there’s a race, see who wins in your game. This immediately ensures that you are well acquainted with the circuit again and therefore makes it even more fun to watch the race itself. I’ve always seen this game as an extension of the sport and still do. You can see that in how it is now becoming more accessible and more dramatic, as it is in the real Formula 1, but also in the fact that the makers do their utmost to reproduce everything down to the millimeter, every time a feast to watch, and therefore to be part of. Because in F1: when things go well, you get wings, and striving for that is a lot of fun – together with your team, of course.

F1 23 is now available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and PC.

Laura Jenny

When she’s not tapping, she’s traveling around the wonderful world of entertainment or some cool place in the real world. Mario is the man of her life,…