Codemasters vs. EA

Hi guys,

I would like to explain something with this post, and I want important people from Codemasters to read this as well.

You guys know that I love the F1 games. The first one I played wasn't even a Codemasters F1 game, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. It was F1 06 Championship Edition on the PS3, which felt very arcadic to say the least, but Studio Liverpool always had a faible for arcade games, their F1 games were no exception.

The first Codemasters F1 game that I played was F1 2012, which, while having some bugs that remained unfixed along with a terrible penalty system, was pretty fun at times, and I played three Career seasons with joy and delight. I was a lot younger back in the days, so I never went higher on the difficulty scale than Beginner, the easiest setting.

The next F1 game I played was F1 2015, the first one on PS4, and boy, I had so much fun with it. I first played a season with the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, and then another one with the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat, and both of them were so cool and amazing to play. Sure, this game also wasn't bug-free, but the fun I had with this game is on a level that isn't even visible on the scale.

Then came F1 2017, and while I first had some struggles to get used to the mechanics of the new Career Mode with the upgrade tree and the components, I did have a lot of fun with it, and I played a bunch of seasons with the McLaren Honda. While the whole component mechanic made it more tricky than previous games, it also added a certain charme and realism to it, which is what I like about F1 games.

Next, F1 2019. This one is also a very cool game, as it gives you way more customization options for your character, along with F2, a new type of vehicle introduced to the F1 games, which is very good, because F2 is a rookie class for drivers seeking to join F1. I didn't play it that much, not because I didn't enjoy it, but because I had another F1 game in sight that I wanted to play...

And that was F1 2020, which I first learned about on Xbox One, but the moment I started playing My Team, I fell in love. Creating your own team, taking it to the top, bringing home wins and championships, it's simply mind-blowing. And, as I played F1 2020, and I played it for a VERY long time, I actually improved a lot, and was even able to take on Expert Difficulty with no problems. Heck, I even tried Master difficulty before F1 22 came out, and while it was insanely difficult, I did have a great time testing my absolute limits. I still wouldn't say I'm Master material, but a difficulty of 85 is what I would love to go for in future Career saves of F1 2020.

F1 2021 was where the fun ended, unfortunately. When I heard that the game will have Two Player Career, I decided to get it on Xbox One due to the PS4 no longer having Communities. But that wasn't the worst thing even. I first tried Hard difficulty, trying to ease myself into the game. Seeing that it was too easy, I went up to 75, and guess what - I got completely obliterated in Spain, and Monaco was even worse. But the trouble didn't stop there, because it seemed nearly impossible to score any wins because of the overpowered AI. So I sucked it up, dropped down to 60, and was back to square one. As the game received updates, it always slightly improved, and the three new tracks Portimão, Imola, and Jeddah added to the improvements, however, I never found any kind of fun because the AI is just so stupidly fast compared to the last game, and speaking of fast AI, how can I forget Max Verstappen, who, since the update that buffed the Red Bull, dominated every single Practice, Qualifying, and Race session in Career Mode, and I saw that with a German F1 YouTuber I have been watching for a long time.

And now, with F1 22, save for the Verstappen problem, the whole cycle seems to repeat itself, and the AI are just as fast as F1 2021, if not faster, and along with the game still having loads of bugs and issues with Career Mode, along with the fact that you can't use any DLC tracks in Career Mode from Season 2 onward, I'd say that this game might become the worst F1 game if all these problems don't get fixed ASAP.

The point is: Do you guys want to know why I loved all the F1 games up to 2020? Because Codemasters always worked wonders and did their magic ever since F1 made it to the PS4, and especially 2020 was the climax of F1 games with the My Team Mode, and so many other things to do in that game. See, Codemasters care about the community, they want the players to have a good time playing their game, it was never about creating something incredibly flashy, keeping schedules, or rushing development just to make money. But ever since EA took over, F1 games are nothing more than a generic, repetitive mess of game bugs, overpowered AI, and simulation that doesn't work 90% of the time... I just can't say anything good about F1 2021 and 22 anymore. I just can't. These games are nowhere near as good as the F1 games from Codemasters. When in any Codemasters F1 game were there overpowered AI drivers, and a huge number of game bugs that don't even fit on a two-sided DIN A4 page if you note them down? What the flip!

Sure, no F1 game is perfect, not even F1 2020, but it's the overpowered AI and these bugs in EA's titles that ruin the fun for everyone. Back in F1 2020, I would have dominated level 76, and now I'm heavily struggling with it in F1 22. I don't know how you guys see it, but I think I might start playing F1 2020 again if this mess isn't being taken care of.

Your opinion on that in a reply please, because I want to know if I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

- Nico