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Ik heb een review van Sony's Formula One 2003 voor de ps2 gemaakt. Ik had geen zin meer om hem in het NL te vertalen. Maar het moet ook zo wel duidelijk zijn.
Review Formula One 2003 for PlayStation 2 (we’re saved)
Introduction
In the turbulence of the launch of EA’s F1 Challenge on all platforms, you could’ve easily overlooked the release of Formula One 2003 for the PS2.
I truly had my share with F1 games on the PS2. I tried several: Formula One 2002 (Sony), F1 Challenge (Atari) and F1 Career Challenge 99-02 (EA). F1 Challenge (tha Atari one) was a rather good effort, but lacked eventually in the steering department. You just kept bobbing and weaving around the corners.
Two weeks ago I was utterly disappointed by EA’s F1 CC 99-02 on the PS2. I was blinded by the fact the the PC version seems to be a AAA class title. The PS2 version however is utter crap. It does not feel like driving. You just see the scenery stutter by with a total lack of being in control of the car.
I felt rather disappointed when I saw the first screenshots of Formula One 2003 a couple of weeks ago. “Very, very…. Very colorfull indeed” I thought, you know the thing you think when you see awfull modern art.
Formula One 2003 is the successor of Formula One 2002. Sony’s developer Studio Liverpool disappointed me last year. The 2002 game was not good in the terms of graphics and a way too twitchy steering feeling.
After having stayed up way too late searching for answers and info on Formula One 2003, I decided to buy the game. The two things that convinced me for the time being were: (1) you can save your game during a race and (2) that the steering was improved.
The game
I got home and fired up the PS2 immediately. It was Friday and within in hour I was going to see Terminator 3. God bless microwaves for making a dinner a very speedy exercise (.
The intromovie is…. Well….uninspired to put it mildly. But hey we’re not here to watch movies, right? I first scrolled throught te menus… arcade, arcade championship, custom race, weekend, championship, timetrial. The usual stuff.
On a higher lever the options are available. Hmmmm? I can’t (de)select rumble effects? Strange. It took me two days to find out where it was. Eventually with the help the forum of F1gamers.com I found out where to put the rumble effects on. This is strange as these effects should be on by default IMHO. It seems as the whole menu structure is not the best.
Let’s race
I choose a timetrial to run my first laps on Sony’s virtual tarmac. Of course I choose Monaco as this track usually shows off the power of any game. In Formula One 2003 it is packed with gorgeous scenery. The track resembles its real life counterpart very well.
You allways start with the T cam view. You can choose between other views as well: in car with dash and steering wheel, nose cam, behind near and behind far. The cockpit view is a good choice, but I’d rather stick with the T-cam view. The fun thing is that you look at the same 3d cockpit. So you see the red speedometer leds running and also the rev indicator lights.
The sensation of speed is very present in Formula One 2003. The good thing is that Studio Liverpool did not forget to program the differences in sense of speed between low speed and high speed. You really notice this while accelerating and braking. Great stuff.
Do I feel physics
Racing games should not feel like you’re watching a movie. You should be in control all the time. Well allmost all the time. Flying through the air is not a good idea in any F1 game. In Formula One 2003 the physics allow you to fly through the air. (erh, this is going nowhere. Let’s stick to the tarmac please).
Driving is a real sensation in this game. You can feel the car doing a lot of things if you drive it on the edge. It snaps out of corners while braking. The car reacts on the bumps in the track. The physics model feels pretty much like Grand Prix 4 on the pc. There is a large room for errors. You can drive pretty fast around the track without spinning. But you won’t be making times your mother would be proud of. If you go for that ultimate fast qualifying lap, than you feel what the physics are like.
An example. Brazil. The long left hand corner before start / finish. If you take it at 230 km/h all feels fine. If you try to take it at 250 km/h you feel the car gets lighter and starts loosing grip. You can barely avoid it sliding it into the right crashbarier. I love it.
At what graphics am I looking
Studio Liverpool enhanced the graphics. They look sharper than 2002. The cars are modelled with attention to detail. They even use different cockpits and steering wheels for the different teams.
The environments are nicely done. One effect that is very apparent is the mipmapping. Objects far away are unsharp and get sharper in stages when they appear closer to you. If you pay attention to it you will notice it. However, in the heat of the moment of overtaking a car, I can’t be bothered with it, really.
Funny thing I noticed is that in all views from the car the frame rate is rock solid and high. The trackside cameras however result in less fps. But who cares about that anyway.
The rain effects are also done beautifully. Not at the level of Grand Prix 4, but still pretty good. The sky gets darker with clouds. It start to rain. You see the droplets on your visor. The harder it rains, the more droplets on your visor. The spray of the other cars seriously decreases your sight.
Guns
One thing you will notice are the different engine sounds for the 10 teams. At low revs the sound rumbles through your speakers. At high rpm there is a war like howl. It makes accelerting towards the end of the tacho a very pleasing but loud experience.
I miss however the strong engine backfiring sounds. They are there, but not pronounced enough.
There is communication with your pitcrew. You’ll be informed about fastest laps, accidents and retirements. On top of that they encourage you by telling how you did in the different sections. It feels very live.
AI
I will only talk about the championship mode. You choose a team from one of the ten available. In the menus you’ll see a graphical representation of the riders. Duh. It’s a good thing they have the names spelled beneath ‘m (details, details I know).
You can choose one of the three difficulty levels. I started a championship season as Jos Verstappen in the Minardi at the lowest level. Even on this level you have to work really hard to keep up with the AI. They are fast. There is no way you can keep up with the Ferraris, Williams’s or Mc Larens. That is a good thing. I am really challenged by the game. It feels like a great achievement when you overtake an AI car.
When overtoken, the AI fights immediately back. Sometimes this results in back boning you. This is frustrating. But look at it this way, it happens in real life too. More than one would want.
In my first race in Melbourne I overreved my engine which result in an engine blow up. No change to examine the AI there.
Next is Sepang. During the practice sessions the weather was changing. Such a cool thing in this game. In the race things got a bit strange. I cannot keep up with the AI in any way. My set up fault probably. Half way through the race there was an accident in the hairpin before start/finish. I was 1 lap behind on the pack. Suddenly each AI driver plunged in to the pack of cars in the hairpin. All their engines stalled, retirements all over the place. And I won the race with two fingers in my nose (and that was difficult enough considering I wore a helmet). The Champagne celebration is just like on television. Even a guy from the winning manufacturer gets a cup and a Champagne shower from the three winning drivers.
Interlagos is my current race. I was quite fast in practice sessions. In qualifying I screwed up big time. I hit the barrier at the pit exit. My front right wheel broke off. 20th on the grid. Playing Gran Turismo 3 a lot is not an advantage at the starts of a race in Formula One 2003. In GT3 you hear a “tuut tuut TUUUUUUT” and you’re off. At F1 races you must watch the lights turn from red to off. I was not paying attention so I missed the start. I shift from N to 1st but forgot to push the accelerator. Engine stalled. Back to N. Revving up. Gear up an off I go. Great stuff. The launch control really works (R1 button). I got back to position 14 after 12 laps. Really fighting and battling my way through.
The AI is pretty good. They make your life as a virtual wannabe F1 pilot pretty hard. If you go wheel to wheel around a corner, they won’t give in too easily. It just feels tight and right.
Oh Lord save us…
…save us from these developers who don’t have time (read just don’t know how to) make an ingame save feature. This was one of the features I was looking for on my quest. And YES I found it.
Formula One 2003 lets you run full races and championships at 100% race distance. But if you have a normal life you will never be able run a 1,5 hour race, will you? That is why I am very happy that Studio Liverpool programmed an ingame save feature. Note: it is only available in weekend or championship season mode. Not in arcade mode. But please do forget the arcade races immediately. They’re no use anyway.
The condemnation
I was a bit worried with Sony taking the exclusive rights of the FIA Formula 1 championship for 2003 till 2007. To the sim racing community at large this came as a unpleasant surprise. I second these feelings. But after racing Formula One 2003 I can only hope Sony’s Studio Liverpool make the franchise even better.
Now if only the FIA circus gets Spa Francorshamps back in. O Bernie please…
88%
Review Formula One 2003 for PlayStation 2 (we’re saved)
Introduction
In the turbulence of the launch of EA’s F1 Challenge on all platforms, you could’ve easily overlooked the release of Formula One 2003 for the PS2.
I truly had my share with F1 games on the PS2. I tried several: Formula One 2002 (Sony), F1 Challenge (Atari) and F1 Career Challenge 99-02 (EA). F1 Challenge (tha Atari one) was a rather good effort, but lacked eventually in the steering department. You just kept bobbing and weaving around the corners.
Two weeks ago I was utterly disappointed by EA’s F1 CC 99-02 on the PS2. I was blinded by the fact the the PC version seems to be a AAA class title. The PS2 version however is utter crap. It does not feel like driving. You just see the scenery stutter by with a total lack of being in control of the car.
I felt rather disappointed when I saw the first screenshots of Formula One 2003 a couple of weeks ago. “Very, very…. Very colorfull indeed” I thought, you know the thing you think when you see awfull modern art.
Formula One 2003 is the successor of Formula One 2002. Sony’s developer Studio Liverpool disappointed me last year. The 2002 game was not good in the terms of graphics and a way too twitchy steering feeling.
After having stayed up way too late searching for answers and info on Formula One 2003, I decided to buy the game. The two things that convinced me for the time being were: (1) you can save your game during a race and (2) that the steering was improved.
The game
I got home and fired up the PS2 immediately. It was Friday and within in hour I was going to see Terminator 3. God bless microwaves for making a dinner a very speedy exercise (.
The intromovie is…. Well….uninspired to put it mildly. But hey we’re not here to watch movies, right? I first scrolled throught te menus… arcade, arcade championship, custom race, weekend, championship, timetrial. The usual stuff.
On a higher lever the options are available. Hmmmm? I can’t (de)select rumble effects? Strange. It took me two days to find out where it was. Eventually with the help the forum of F1gamers.com I found out where to put the rumble effects on. This is strange as these effects should be on by default IMHO. It seems as the whole menu structure is not the best.
Let’s race
I choose a timetrial to run my first laps on Sony’s virtual tarmac. Of course I choose Monaco as this track usually shows off the power of any game. In Formula One 2003 it is packed with gorgeous scenery. The track resembles its real life counterpart very well.
You allways start with the T cam view. You can choose between other views as well: in car with dash and steering wheel, nose cam, behind near and behind far. The cockpit view is a good choice, but I’d rather stick with the T-cam view. The fun thing is that you look at the same 3d cockpit. So you see the red speedometer leds running and also the rev indicator lights.
The sensation of speed is very present in Formula One 2003. The good thing is that Studio Liverpool did not forget to program the differences in sense of speed between low speed and high speed. You really notice this while accelerating and braking. Great stuff.
Do I feel physics
Racing games should not feel like you’re watching a movie. You should be in control all the time. Well allmost all the time. Flying through the air is not a good idea in any F1 game. In Formula One 2003 the physics allow you to fly through the air. (erh, this is going nowhere. Let’s stick to the tarmac please).
Driving is a real sensation in this game. You can feel the car doing a lot of things if you drive it on the edge. It snaps out of corners while braking. The car reacts on the bumps in the track. The physics model feels pretty much like Grand Prix 4 on the pc. There is a large room for errors. You can drive pretty fast around the track without spinning. But you won’t be making times your mother would be proud of. If you go for that ultimate fast qualifying lap, than you feel what the physics are like.
An example. Brazil. The long left hand corner before start / finish. If you take it at 230 km/h all feels fine. If you try to take it at 250 km/h you feel the car gets lighter and starts loosing grip. You can barely avoid it sliding it into the right crashbarier. I love it.
At what graphics am I looking
Studio Liverpool enhanced the graphics. They look sharper than 2002. The cars are modelled with attention to detail. They even use different cockpits and steering wheels for the different teams.
The environments are nicely done. One effect that is very apparent is the mipmapping. Objects far away are unsharp and get sharper in stages when they appear closer to you. If you pay attention to it you will notice it. However, in the heat of the moment of overtaking a car, I can’t be bothered with it, really.
Funny thing I noticed is that in all views from the car the frame rate is rock solid and high. The trackside cameras however result in less fps. But who cares about that anyway.
The rain effects are also done beautifully. Not at the level of Grand Prix 4, but still pretty good. The sky gets darker with clouds. It start to rain. You see the droplets on your visor. The harder it rains, the more droplets on your visor. The spray of the other cars seriously decreases your sight.
Guns
One thing you will notice are the different engine sounds for the 10 teams. At low revs the sound rumbles through your speakers. At high rpm there is a war like howl. It makes accelerting towards the end of the tacho a very pleasing but loud experience.
I miss however the strong engine backfiring sounds. They are there, but not pronounced enough.
There is communication with your pitcrew. You’ll be informed about fastest laps, accidents and retirements. On top of that they encourage you by telling how you did in the different sections. It feels very live.
AI
I will only talk about the championship mode. You choose a team from one of the ten available. In the menus you’ll see a graphical representation of the riders. Duh. It’s a good thing they have the names spelled beneath ‘m (details, details I know).
You can choose one of the three difficulty levels. I started a championship season as Jos Verstappen in the Minardi at the lowest level. Even on this level you have to work really hard to keep up with the AI. They are fast. There is no way you can keep up with the Ferraris, Williams’s or Mc Larens. That is a good thing. I am really challenged by the game. It feels like a great achievement when you overtake an AI car.
When overtoken, the AI fights immediately back. Sometimes this results in back boning you. This is frustrating. But look at it this way, it happens in real life too. More than one would want.
In my first race in Melbourne I overreved my engine which result in an engine blow up. No change to examine the AI there.
Next is Sepang. During the practice sessions the weather was changing. Such a cool thing in this game. In the race things got a bit strange. I cannot keep up with the AI in any way. My set up fault probably. Half way through the race there was an accident in the hairpin before start/finish. I was 1 lap behind on the pack. Suddenly each AI driver plunged in to the pack of cars in the hairpin. All their engines stalled, retirements all over the place. And I won the race with two fingers in my nose (and that was difficult enough considering I wore a helmet). The Champagne celebration is just like on television. Even a guy from the winning manufacturer gets a cup and a Champagne shower from the three winning drivers.
Interlagos is my current race. I was quite fast in practice sessions. In qualifying I screwed up big time. I hit the barrier at the pit exit. My front right wheel broke off. 20th on the grid. Playing Gran Turismo 3 a lot is not an advantage at the starts of a race in Formula One 2003. In GT3 you hear a “tuut tuut TUUUUUUT” and you’re off. At F1 races you must watch the lights turn from red to off. I was not paying attention so I missed the start. I shift from N to 1st but forgot to push the accelerator. Engine stalled. Back to N. Revving up. Gear up an off I go. Great stuff. The launch control really works (R1 button). I got back to position 14 after 12 laps. Really fighting and battling my way through.
The AI is pretty good. They make your life as a virtual wannabe F1 pilot pretty hard. If you go wheel to wheel around a corner, they won’t give in too easily. It just feels tight and right.
Oh Lord save us…
…save us from these developers who don’t have time (read just don’t know how to) make an ingame save feature. This was one of the features I was looking for on my quest. And YES I found it.
Formula One 2003 lets you run full races and championships at 100% race distance. But if you have a normal life you will never be able run a 1,5 hour race, will you? That is why I am very happy that Studio Liverpool programmed an ingame save feature. Note: it is only available in weekend or championship season mode. Not in arcade mode. But please do forget the arcade races immediately. They’re no use anyway.
The condemnation
I was a bit worried with Sony taking the exclusive rights of the FIA Formula 1 championship for 2003 till 2007. To the sim racing community at large this came as a unpleasant surprise. I second these feelings. But after racing Formula One 2003 I can only hope Sony’s Studio Liverpool make the franchise even better.
Now if only the FIA circus gets Spa Francorshamps back in. O Bernie please…
88%
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