F1 2001

Weather conditions heighten the experience. Watch the rain clouds swell in the sky above you, see the umbrellas go up, listen to your pit crew's weather updates on the radio, and then, as the heavens open, catch sight of your opponents spinning off the track, crashing into barriers or rushing towards the pits to switch tires and change strategy. You will hear intelligent pit communication from your race engineer, with weather and pit-stop predictions, plus advice on how these things will affect the race. If pit skills are honed, valuable seconds can be saved; if they are not, seconds will be lost. You can turn on the simulation mode and feel the car's handling change to a simulation style, pushing your ability to the limit. Or you can jump into the cockpit for the driver's-eye view and see the wheel wrestling around corners, the gears changing, and the driver gesturing out of frustration, anger, and elation.

As for the game itself I must say that I was very very satisfied. In fact I was impressed. Even though the game is almost 3 years old the graphics are very nice. The physics and handling of the cars are very realistic. Just like a real F1 car the cars in the game are very twitchy and nimble unlike those 3,500lb tanks in NASCAR Thunder. I like how you can select between normal and simulation handling mode. In normal handling the car is very easy to drive which means you don't deal with understeer or oversteer in the corners and you don't deal with wheelspin. Turn on simulation mode and it's a different story. The car's physics and handling in simulation mode become very realistic and challenging.

The sound in the game is good. They did a good job of replicating the intense sound of an F1 engine allthough missing is the high pitch scream that the cars achieve at high speeds. I have Colin Mcrae 3 and NASCAR Thunder and this ranks up there as one of the top racing games for The Xbox. If you love F1 or open wheel racing then get this game. Don't even bother with that Indycar game.


Excellent F1 Simulation   April 17, 2002
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

All in all I found this to be an excellent F1 simulation. The XBox controller provides smooth control, with the right trigger as the throttle, the left trigger the brake, and the left analog stick for steering.

Players can choose from all 23 tracks and all the 2001 drivers.

The casual gamer can turn off damage and drive in "Normal" mode; the biggest challenge is to stay on the track. More advanced drivers can add whatever degree of realism they like, including damage, fuel usage, tire wear and penalties. The cars can be tweaked before each race; some of the settings include gear ratios (pre-set and custom), front and rear wing angle, tire pressure and type, and so on.


Ok   March 26, 2002
 0 out of 6 found this review helpful

Pretty nice game, but i think the crashes could be more realistic.


THE GREATEST RACING GAME EVER   March 22, 2002
If you are a F1 fan this is the game for you. I have played many racing games in my time and this is by far the best one out there.


Attention to detail lacking...   March 18, 2002
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad game. Just seems to be one of those EA Sports games that (lately) seem to have become solid performers, but are not ahead of the curve anymore.
The main problem with this game is its attention to details (or lack thereof). I generally like my racing games as realistic as possible. So I enjoy racing with the FIA rules turned on, and the lick. Unfortunately, in this game, this simply is a pain. Example: You collide with one of your oponents, pushing him of his ideal line (so he at least touches the grass). This means that immediately, yellow flags are shown. That's fine with me, except that that there is a chance to now be ahead of the car you collided with (particularily if the collision was bad enough to cause the other car to stop) and that's passing under yellow, which gets you a 10 second stop-and-go penalty. Huh?!? Am I supposed to stop behind that other car?!?

Another problem is the pit-crew. Let's say you planned your pit stop just a bit past halfway. It then begins to rain just short of that (which, BTW, it does way to often... several times during every race if whether is turned on, what's up with that?!?), so you have to enter the pits to get new tires. While you are at it, you can also indicate that you want to make the remainder of the race your last stint. But for some reason, the pit-crew forgets to give you enough fuel, so you run out on the last lap. Makes you wonder why you told them you didn't intend to stop again...
The pit-crew instructions also are bad. Example: They tell you to come into the pits at the very last lap. Duh! Or let's say you are just shy of being lapped when someone else wins the race. Of course, this puts the winner right behind you. In that case the pit crew will radio you that Xxx is pushing hard and is coming up along side while he is maintaining position. Hu? I thought he already won?!?

Graphics would have been considered cool a little while back, but the xbox can certainly do much better. C'mon EA, go the extra mile and fix these things! A little more attention to detail, a little better AI and a smarter pit crew, and this would be an awesome game!