One More Turn And I’ll Settle The Score
HIGH One of the deepest career modes in any sports title.
LOW Lack of onboarding for new players.
WTF The WTF line in my Crew Motorfest review might be outdated now.
I tend to do a lot of background research for most of the reviews I write, specifically those centered around a specific theme — it’s something I have made clear before. Ironically, racing games are one of my favorite genres but one I rarely feel like I need to prepare for, since the concept of driving a car is so ingrained into my daily life and in the games I play. That said, F1 24, developed by Codemasters (EA Sports WRC, Grid Legends) is the first I find myself doing serious homework for.
Formula One, like most motorsport, isn’t something I’m an expert in, but my interest was piqued in 2022 when the city of Miami hosted its own Grand Prix a few miles from where I live. My dad also has a great love of the sport, and was able to tell me about virtually every Colombian to compete. Combine that with Netflix’s excellent Formula 1: Drive to Survive and the informative yet tragic Senna, and I now appreciate F1 more than I ever did. Equipped with my ever-growing love of racing and my newfound knowledge, I took on reviewing the latest in this annual driving series, becoming a new fan along the way.
F1 24 is a simulation racer centered around the titular motorsport, which sees players compete in various events across different modes of play. Played from a third-person perspective, most of the action comes from one of two expansive career modes.
The first of these modes, Driver Career, sees players either creating or selecting a real-world driver and working their way to being the best in the league. There are many options before starting, like the choice to begin in the lower-tier Formula 2 season and working up to F1, or just skipping straight to the major racing season.
The current crop that players can choose from includes stars like Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc, each with their real-world stats accounted for. However, the coolest thing about Driver Career is being able to select legendary racers from the past, like the late, great Aryton Senna or Colombian racing icon Juan Pablo Montoya. The idea of rewriting history as real-world drivers is a great one.
The second career mode (and the one I spent most of my time in) is My Team Career. Here, I played the role of both manager and driver, creating a custom racer and a brand new F1 team from the ground up in the hopes of achieving superstardom. This is contextualized in-universe as a new driver who’s also acting as a manager. The cutscenes are kind of cheesy, but they’re endearing enough and put me in the right mindset to pull double duty in both positions.
In this dual-role mode I had to contend with the costs of operating my team, choosing which engine manufacturer would power my car, hiring members of my crew, selecting who my rivals would be, and even things like talking to the press or doing light PR work to raise our visibility. It’s deeper than any career mode I’ve played in ages, with a staggering amount of options.
Of course, all of that choice and managerial roleplaying wouldn’t matter if the driving itself wasn’t good. Thankfully, the technical wizards at Codemasters continue their fine tradition of delivering great-playing racing.
As someone who’s never played an F1 simulator before, the handling of these highly-specialized vehicles took a lot of getting used to. Driving at blistering speeds in vehicles that don’t turn corners like a normal car is tough, and the lack of a dedicated tutorial mode is a missed opportunity. I can understand that the developers are likely making this for fans of the sport first and foremost, but some sort of practice options and tips on how to play would have helped. Despite that, there are plenty of in-game videos that showcase certain systems, and single-player races can be restarted for those struggling to keep up.
Jumping in the way I did was difficult, but not impossible, and after a poor showing at my first race, I quickly won the following two in my career mode. It took some practice and a lot of learning (both in terms of track layout and general controls) but I improved quickly.
Apart from the career modes, there’s a separate multiplayer mode called F1 World, acting as a social hub where players can compete in ranked and unranked races while building up their racers’ professional stats and decorating their private living quarters. Players create a separate avatar here and work their way up an online ladder with different races and rules.
In terms of presentation, Codemasters has done a phenomenal job — the visuals and sound are top-notch. Hearing the roar of these ultra-powerful engines paired with my Dualsense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers made it one of the most immersive racing experiences I’ve had in a while, inching me closer and closer to buying an actual racing wheel.
While F1 24 caters to those who are already fans of Formula 1, the quality of Codemasters’ work managed to convert me. Sim racing fans looking for a deep timesink will no doubt enjoy the bevy of options present in both single- and multiplayer, and the quality matches the quantity. I’m excited to sink more time in my fictional F1 team, and I’m glad that I chose to spend time with this winner in the world of virtual motorsport. All that research I did paid off!
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is published by EA Sports and developed by Codemasters. It is available on PC, XBO/X/S and PS4/5. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 15 hours were spent in single-player and the game was not completed. Approximately 1 hour was spent in the multiplayer mode.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E for Mild Langauge. According to the site: This is a racing game in which players can drive Formula One cars on real-world tracks. Players compete in a variety of game modes that include Career, Time Trial, Racing League, and Grand Prix. Some language in the game is partially censored by audible bleeps (e.g., “Let’s [bleep] go boys”; “I [bleep] it all up again”; What the [bleep]?).
Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are present in the options menu.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are plenty of visual cues during races and the menu-based gameplay segments. All of these can be adjusted in the menu. Subtitles are present but cannot be resized. As no audio cues are needed for gameplay, I’d say this is fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped.
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