Analysis of F1 2021: Motorsport at its best

This new edition of the premier class par excellence arrives at the hands of Newskill Gaming. This year the world championship is tighter than ever between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen with a fierce fight for the mid-table between Ferrari, McLaren and a timid Alpine. This excitement, which in recent years has been slowed down by the strong dominance of the silver arrow, makes it all the more appealing to lower our visor and turn the lights green.

F1 2021 is the first game published by Codemasters after the acquisition of the company by Electronic Arts, something that we notice as soon as we run the game with the EA Sports header but that we do not see strongly reflected in the game. It should be noted that this year is the last year where we will see the F1 technical regulations that were introduced in 2014, giving way to a radical regulation change in 2022 and that leads us to think along with the generational leap of PS5 and Xbox Series X-S, that next year's edition will be much more risky and exciting.

License and finesse in the exact line

To talk about F1 2021 is to experience the excellent relationship between the FIA and Codemasters from minute 1, making it the official product of the championship

The header, melody and parade of drivers under an epic music, identical to those that precede a grand prix culminate the delights of its presentation.

The game features the 10 official teams and 20 official drivers of 2021, among which we find the brilliant return of Fernando Alonso with the Alpine team and the presence of Carlos Sainz Jr. in Ferrari. Also as usual these last deliveries we will be able to drive in the F2.

Regarding the circuits, we will have 21 starting circuits (although some of them will not be officially held this year due to the pandemic) and we will not be able to enjoy Istanbul Park because there was not enough time between the presentation of the game and its incorporation into this year's calendar.

If we talk about handling, F1 2021 follows the balance between simulation and arcade that has worked so well in recent years, allowing both expert and novice users to enjoy and configure the aids to the desired experience. In our case we have enjoyed it on PS5 and although the ideal is to have a steering wheel to get the most out of it, the experience with DualSense is positive waiting that if, something more potential by the adaptive triggers.

Braking Point, the definitive touch for this F1 2021

It is perhaps the game mode that we most wanted to try in this new edition. In Braking Point we will get fully into the skin of Aiden Jackson and Casper Akkerman, two teammates who must learn to live together on the circuit.

We will start with Aiden Jackson from his last race in F2 to his first two seasons in the big circus, experiencing its real hardness and where we will enjoy a somewhat different gameplay, achieving goals such as overtaking our teammate, overtaking the rival team and disputing both complete races and others from a certain lap.

In essence, this game mode offers the player a positive and fresh cinematic story, with a story mode that, although we can choose some aspects, almost everything is preset and is expected to be the cradle for improvement in future installments.

My team and cooperative races, a myriad of options

Following the line of the last installments comes the turn of My Team and Cooperative, two game modes that in this installment have some interesting changes for fans of the saga.

In My Team we will find a new intuitive and complete R & D system, which will allow us to improve the parts of our car throughout the season and a new way to deal with free practice automatically, yes, earning less development points than if we opt for the manual way.

The strong point is that the cooperative mode of this edition is a real blast. We have the same R & D, dealing with the press, prestige ... but all with the extra that you can play it with a friend in the same team or in rival teams! Undoubtedly a great success in this edition that gives a new life to the saga and justifies your purchase without a doubt.

Experience for all tastes

Getting right into the track we find some obvious changes in the gameplay of this release. The physics of the car are much more realistic this year, finding a much more realistic braking and a behavior of the car much more difficult to control and specify if we spend braking or do not take a good line.

And yes friends, this edition the kerbs are not going to be our great allies when it comes to cutting time per lap, whoever decides to abuse them will be quickly expelled from the track uncontrollably and ruining our wonderful race, a plus that is also appreciated against those who decide not to be clean on the track.

As for the gaming experience we can say that this F1 2021 is suitable for all kinds of players. Whether you are new to the saga, passing through an average user or the most demanding driver with a complete driving set-up, this game adapts to you

The driving styles will allow us to choose between casual, standard and expert with their own settings, which we can also customize to our liking making the game experience more realistic and adaptive as possible.

Graphics and sounds in the podium, but without triumph

It is undoubtedly the most continuist point of the saga, a graphic section without great novelties with respect to last year and that gives away the intergenerational version that we have in our hands.

Among its improvements we can highlight more detailed animations and more profiled faces, as well as the great Braking Point cinematics that make the delights of this edition.

As weaknesses I would highlight the absence of Ray Tracing in Ps5 and Xbox Series in the gameplay moments, since we can only enjoy it during the realistic replays and in the moments before the race.

Moving on to the sound, the noise of the engines is very realistic, so much so that we could configure them so that when playing with the subjective camera they sound hollowed out and simulating the position of the helmet.

The radio celebrations are selective, but do not provide great excitement with the use of simple expressions of emotion.

Conclusions at the finish line

F1 2021 is the most complete Formula 1 game we have had to date. The improvements on a playable level compared to the 2020 edition both on and off the track and the new Braking Point story mode make it well worth the purchase and lay the foundations for future editions.

As a final point, it is clear that we are in a year of complete transition and from which it is clear that there is ambition reserved for the F1 rule change in 2022 and from which Electronic Arts can inject new ideas.

Highlights

• New game modes, especially Braking Point and cooperative modes
• Adaptability to all users
• Improved driving physics

The worst

• Minimum graphic jump Vs 2020
• Absence of Ray Tracing on consoles

We have made this analysis thanks to a download code for PS5 provided by EA Games.