F1® 23

I've spent enough time with Codemasters' annual F1 releases to know when one actually moves the needle, and F1 23 genuinely does. The headline change is physics. The ground-effect cars finally behave with the planted, grippy character they have in real life, and attacking corners that previously spat you into the barriers now feels not just possible but satisfying. Codemasters introduced a feature called PrecisionDrive specifically for controller players, and it shows: you can feel the car's limits through a gamepad in a way previous entries never quite managed. Wheel and pedal users on setups like a direct-drive base will feel it too, with the throttle response now asking you to actually modulate your inputs rather than just flooring it out of every hairpin. A new 35% race distance option, red flag interruptions, and a proper safety car system round out the on-track simulation and make races feel more like the real thing without forcing you into two-hour grand prix commitments. Braking Point 2 is the mode that should pull in anyone who bounced off the sim-heavy stuff. It's a story campaign where you rotate between three drivers, Aiden Jackson, rival Devon Butler, and newcomer Callie Mayer, across 17 chapters spanning the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The presentation leans hard into Drive to Survive energy, with mock-documentary cutscenes and between-race social media feeds that flesh out the drama. It's not long, maybe a few afternoons, but it earns its place as the best onboarding ramp the series has ever had: races are shortened to key stints, assists are easy to dial in, and the story gives you a reason to care about each result. For the multiplayer crowd, F1 23 covers the bases. Two-player split-screen is in, which is the bare minimum I need before I recommend anything for a living room session. Online ranks now run on a four-tier Bronze to Elite system with weekly divisions of 100 drivers, and full cross-platform play means you're not limited to racing against people on the same storefront. The F1 World hub layers in seasonal challenges, cosmetic rewards, and a licence level system that gates you into cleaner lobbies as your race etiquette improves. It's a solid carrot. On the negative side, F1 World's loot-based upgrade path for competitive cars attracted real criticism from the community, and the Career and My Team modes, while deep and customizable, didn't get much structural love this cycle. If you were hoping for a reinvented franchise mode, you'll find familiar furniture with a fresh coat of paint. The 26-circuit roster includes Las Vegas and Qatar's Losail International Circuit, both built from reference photography since neither had hosted a race when the game shipped. Las Vegas in particular looks spectacular under the night lighting, and the updated layouts at the Red Bull Ring and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya are welcome. VR support is present on PC for those with the hardware, and the game runs clean with modest requirements, roughly in line with F1 22. Microtransactions exist in F1 World and are unnecessary, but they don't gate the core career or single-player content. Bottom line for my crowd: if you want to hand a second controller to someone who has never watched a qualifying session, F1 23 is the easiest sell the series has made in years. The assists stack, the story mode holds their hand, and two-player split-screen means nobody has to sit out. Sim regulars on a wheel will appreciate the improved feel even if the career loop is a little stale.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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