F1 2012

Formula One, or simply known as F1, is a world-famous motorsport that hundreds of millions of people watch on a yearly basis. A sport that takes place across the globe, F1 showcases the pinnacle of automotive technology and advancement with the best drivers in the world. F1 is evocative of champions like Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher along with car manufacturers like Ferrari, … McLaren Mercedes, and Red Bull. Codemasters, headquartered in the UK, is the developer of the F1 series of games. F1 2011 was relatively popular and brought the racing genre to the forefront. F1 2012 continues in that tradition and with an updated roster, tracks, and cars, Codemasters aims to provide gamers an exciting racing game that will satisfy both novices as well as seasoned enthusiasts.

Gameplay:

F1 2012 has been developed with the PC enthusiast in mind. This is due to the wide variety of options available under the graphics menu such as 16xQ CSAA (anti-aliasing) along with several DX11 features. Since this is a racing game, ThirtyIR recommends at least an Xbox 360 Controller to play the game on the PC. Passing Lewis Hamilton at 200mph using a keyboard is just silly! If you have a racing wheel, you can really hone your cornering skills in this game!

The game itself comes with several modes such as Championship Mode, Time Attack, Time Trial, Career, and Quick Race. If you want to jump in and just have a quick blast around Nurburgring, a “Quick Race” is the way to do it. If you want to develop your own character and work your way up to becoming the F1 World Champion, choosing Career mode would be best.

Choosing one of the many teams, players can select their favorite players such as Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton of McLaren Mercedes, or Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull etc. The driving mechanics are highly dependent on the “driving assists” chosen in the options menu. If you are a novice to racing games, options such as “braking assist” and “driving line” are almost necessary to avoid slamming into the barricades and walls! If you are a bit more experienced, braking assist can be turned off but some form of traction control should be left on. The cars handle really well and it is really an exhilarating experience driving a McLaren Mercedes at 200+ mph at Spa Franchorchamps. The sound of the car, the wind noise, the surrounding area being blurred due to tunnel vision, are a treat to watch and experience.

Take a look yourself:

5160×2560

The fact that Codemasters built Surround/Eyefinity support into F1 2012 was an automatic positive for us at Thirty Inch Reviews. Most developers, almost shockingly, forget to, or intentionally avoid, implementing NVidia Surround or AMD Eyefinity resolutions into their games. Games like F1 2012 and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series have it built in and it makes it really straightforward to set the options the way you want and just play the game! At Thirty Inch Reviews, we chose the following resolution and anti-aliasing options:

Resolution: 5160×2560
Anti-Aliasing: 16xQ CSAA

Although the difference between F1 2011 and F1 2012 is rather minimal, the changes are tangible enough to give the game a fair shot. It is especially fun to race with your friends online at over 200 mph!

Conclusion:

F1 2012 is an exciting racing game that begs to be played on a multi-monitor system; either AMD’s Eyefinity or Nvidia’s Surround. At ThirtyIR, we played the game maxed out at a mind-boggling resolution of 5160×2560, pushing over 13M pixels! As far as the game itself is concerned, racing fans and especially F1 fans will find it quite enjoyable. It is not a game that is really made with the casual gamer in mind. One has to really understand the basics of Formula 1 and its relevant characters in order to get the most of the game. Yet, Codemasters proves yet again that they are truly skillful in creating great racing experiences vicariously! If you are a racing fan and/or have a great PC, F1 2012 is worth a try especially now that the price of the game is so cheap!

Verdict:

Gallery:

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