F1 2014

F1 2014 is Codemasters' annual licensed sim-cade, built around the biggest regulation shake-up Formula One had seen in a generation. Out went the screaming V8s; in came turbocharged, energy-recovery-hybrid 1.6-litre V6 power units, and the game actually does a decent job capturing that transition. Each engine supplier sounds distinct on track - the Mercedes turbo whine is immediately recognisable, the Ferrari rattles near the rev limiter, and the Renault growls through the mid-range. If you care about that era of the sport, those audio details are genuinely satisfying to hear through a good headset. On the track, this is one of the more approachable entries in the Codemasters F1 run. Gamepad handling was overhauled, and casual players will notice the difference: the cars feel controllable without being completely forgiving. The driver evaluation system (a one-lap race around Melbourne that pegs your difficulty setting) is a smart on-ramp for newcomers, even if it replaced the more thorough Young Driver Test that veterans had grown to rely on. Career Mode lets you start at any team from day one, which is a genuine quality-of-life win over previous entries. You can also trim the season to 7 or 12 races if a full 19-round grind sounds like too much commitment. Scenario Mode, meanwhile, drops you into recreated real-world moments from F1 history with voiceover context, and it works as a nice bite-sized alternative when you just want thirty minutes of focused racing. Grand Prix mode functions as a quick pick-up-and-play option with adjustable weather, distance, and difficulty. On PC, the game supports a wide range of steering wheels from Fanatec, Thrustmaster, and Logitech, and telemetry output via UDP means SimHub and motion platform users are catered for too. Here is where it gets complicated, though. F1 2014 arrived clearly as a holding pattern title while Codemasters prepared the next-gen engine for F1 2015. The menus, cutscenes, and career structure are nearly identical to F1 2013. The classic cars and historic tracks that made 2013 memorable are completely gone, and the PC version shipped with annoying technical issues - no native mouse support in menus, and fullscreen mode requiring manual config file edits - that had already been flagged a year earlier and still were not fixed. The handling gap between wheel users and gamepad users is also noticeable, with pads benefiting from built-in traction control that creates a real performance disparity in any mixed-input multiplayer session. Wheel-on-wheel racing with a proper setup is genuinely fun; gamepad versus wheel lobbies, less so. Speaking of multiplayer: the online servers were shut down in March 2024, so the 16-player online races and co-op career are off the table permanently. Two-player split-screen still works locally, so couch sessions remain an option, but this is not a game to pick up for its online community. The bottom line on F1 2014 is that the actual driving - managing DRS windows, nursing fuel reserves through a limited tank allowance, wrestling the high-torque turbo cars through slow corners - holds up as a satisfying loop. New circuits Sochi and the Red Bull Ring at Spielberg are highlights. But the content regression from F1 2013, the dead online infrastructure, and the fact that later entries in the series do everything this does better and more, make it a tough sell unless you specifically want to race the 2014 season grid. If you own a wheel and have nostalgic attachment to the Hamilton-Rosberg era, there is real enjoyment to be found here. Everyone else should look a few years forward in the catalogue. Riley, Scout Team