The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of F1 22

Hi guys,

with the release of F1 23 growing near, I want to use this opportunity to give my final review on the game, tell you about what I liked about the game, what I didn't like as much, and what I absolutely despised.

First up, what was good about F1 22? Well, for one, when I compare the handling of F1 22 and 2021, then I must say that the cars have way more traction than last game. It may not be like F1 2020, but it was sufficient enough to run without the fear of spinning and/or putting your car into the wall, and that's already a big improvement when the cars drive like they're supposed to, and not behave like Drift cars from Need for Speed, where even the slightest steering input at high speed causes a spin, it's laughable that F1 2021's handling was like that.

Other than that, the other things that were good about F1 22 were obviously the new things that came in, like the new track in Miami, which I really like. The organizers of this track sure did a fantastic job with that, and I can't wait to drive it in F1 23 as well. Then, in My Team, you can choose a starting point for your team, and that's really cool, as you can decide if you want a little head start or not. To be honest, I chose Midfield Challenger, because I wanted to sign Nico Hulkenberg in Season 1. Speaking of which, even though I didn't get to see every single Icon, the roster of Icons sure was a good one, and I hope that we also see Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in F1 23's Icon roster, that would be too cool. Then there's the Pirelli Hotlaps and Supercars, where you can drive highly powered road cars on the race track, and that's really cool, it puts a whole different vibe to the game, and it's also good to see that we got a replacement for the Invitational Events from the Codemasters F1 games, which were a good thing to boost your career a bit with a huge increase in Driver Acclaim and a bit of cash in My Team. And also, it's good to see that the game has two additional tracks that weren't used in the real season, which is really cool, as it gives the game more life and variety. F1 Life is also a fine addition, although I would prefer to have another currency aside from Pitcoins which you earn by doing races, and that should be used for the Brand Shop and everything else in F1 Life like the furniture and all that.

Anyway, let's get to things that I didn't like. One thing that I didn't like is the fact that you still have to play the calendar as is and that you can't change the race order. And since Bahrain is Round 1, this would pretty much turn into a second F1 2021 experience for me, in which I just don't want to play anymore because Bahrain is so repetitive and boring and I would end up skipping it, which I thankfully could because Melbourne was Round 3 irl, and therefore, I could use a 16 race season in order to accomplish this. It takes away from the immersion though, which I found out after doing one season with 22 races with China and Portimão. It just felt more realistic, even if it meant that it takes longer to get through a season.

Another thing that I didn't like is the EA Music. This may be the first F1 game with licensed songs, but honestly, after listening to the songs for a few minutes, I simply turned them off and enjoyed Ian Livingstone's compositions.

What I absolutely despised about this game, it's hard to explain, but everyone who had the same problems knows what I'm talking about.

The first problem, which I happened to notice in Season 3 of a German YouTuber that I watch, is that there is one driver that dominates the field while the rest is *, although it's not as extreme as it was in 2021. This driver being Lando Norris, and yes, while I understand that he's a young gun with a lot of potential, his dominance begins once McLaren reaches the top of the performance table, and ever since the performance patch, it feels like McLaren are the strongest team when maxed out (haven't seen that yet), and if you don't have a great car and teammate, you're never going to beat McLaren in the Constructor Standings. Not only that, but it also feels like even if other teams are close or in front of McLaren, they simply seem untouchable on the track. As I said before, it's not as extreme as Verstappen and Red Bull in F1 2021, but yet again, it's laughable that this is still a thing.

The second thing that peeved me is Qualifying Pace in Practice. At the beginning, it may be fine, but once your car is maxed out, you get insanely quick times that are nearly impossible to beat unless you tune down the difficulty. Not only does this not help regarding the confidence, but in the actual Qualifying session, you can actually reach the positions you're supposed to reach. However, you have to blow a session with Quick Practice, just to get these 150 resource points for Qualifying Pace. Like, ever since I maxed out my car in My Team, I never beat a Qualifying Pace program again. I don't know if this is just me, but it's laughable that there is a difference this huge between Practice and Qualifying, which is just awful.

And the last thing that despise about this game is the inhuman pace of the AI in Hungary. However, this has nothing to do with the tire temperature like a different user suggested, I tried. No, in this case, it's basically Zandvoort from F1 2021 all over again, in which you just can't reach the AI no matter what you seem to do. In fact, I had to turn down the AI by 11 levels just to even had a chance at taking pole position, and even so, Practice was really hard. The other track with a similar problem is Singapore, in which especially Sector 3 is a problem because the AI rush through it as if it was Lesmo 1 in Monza, which is ridiculous.

Overall, probably because I'm also an F1 fan, I'm giving this game an 8/10. It's not the best F1 game out there, but it's certainly better than 2021, that's for sure. Even though the problems exist, the game is fun to play, and it works fine on PS5, and that's what matters to me. Even the online works without flaws. I have no trouble to hook up with other drivers and try to fight to the front like I did in Baku one time.

What is your experience with F1 22? Let me know in a reply.

Good day,

Nico.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, I absolutely hate the Sprints. I hate this abomination of a race weekend format that is meant to benefit Red Bull. They are no good idea, and there should have been and should be an option to turn the Sprints off. If the new Sprint format is implemented into F1 23, I might consider leaving them on, but if not, then I fear the worst, unfortunately.