F1 2011 is an excellent, well rounded game, and a great depiction of the actual motorsport series.
To be frank, this game really is intended for those of us that are already fans of the sport, or those who are looking for a tough yet thrilling racing game. Those that do not fall in the aforementioned categories need not apply. DIRT 3 is over there in the D section of the store. This is a game for those that understand just how difficult it is to control these beastly vehicles. As such, to get the absolute most out of the game, you will have to turn off most of the assists to get the true F1 game experience. Bare in mind however that most will want to get a racing wheel, as attempting to race with a controller at the higher difficulties will more often than not see you retiring very early in the race as a result from spinning out and hitting the barriers. Handling these cars requires delicate touches to your steering, and a wheel is the only way to achieve this.
If you have played last years iteration, you will find that F1 2011 has retained the series' excellent handling physics, with some noticeable differences. As was mentioned in the previous paragraph, a racing wheel is really the only option while playing the game. This is because Codemasters has overhauled the feel of the cars' suspensions. It literally feels as though you are driving a rocket around the course, as the cars sway back and forth as you take each turn. The random unrecoverable spin-outs that seemed to occur in 2010 are no longer present. Cars will obey you if you treat them right. Pushing a car too hard when turning will land you in a wall, or another competitor (though a skilled driver will know how to save themselves from failure by providing the correct amount of over or understeer, putting themselves right back on course. All is not always lost.) Knowing when to brake and take the corner, hit the curb, and the very second to accelerate when you are in the perfect section of the corner will put you ahead of the pack. Mastering the feel of the cars and the corners of each track can be tricky, but practice does make perfect, and this can lead to a lot of replayability.
The graphics have been improved slightly from the past entry. Rainy days look the best they have ever been in this game (with the exclusion of some oddly misshapen track reflections). Water beading effects on the chassis and screen look awesome and feel very believable. On dry days, tracks feel more saturated with colour then they did in F1 2010. It's certainly refreshing to see the difference, even on the drearily cloudy days you will see on tracks with wet climates, such as Kuala Lumpur. My personal favourites are the evening races of Singapore and Abu Dhabi, as the gleam of the lights on the car and track look excellent. All the tracks are well crafted and true to their real life counterparts. Each track gets visibly dirtier as the race plays out, henceforth gaining more and more traction on the racing line.
The career mode is a pretty basic affair, with little difference from F1 2010. You start off as the second driver on one of the slower teams, such as Hispania or Virgin, and work your way up from there. You won't win, not for a while (unless you have the difficulty set to the lowest possible option). Instead, the game gives you objectives, such as qualify above 18th place or finish above 12th. The more races and objectives you complete, the further you progress in your career. Your teammate is always your number 1 rival, and as such, you must always try to do better than him. If you prove that you are the better driver on the team, you will be promoted to the first driver spot. This position allows you to choose the teams R&D path allowing you to choose how your car develops over time. Eventually, once you achieve enough respect and have a decent number of races under your belt, you will start getting contract offers from better teams. You may choose to join said team, or you can stay with your current team and hold out for better upgrades until your car is able to compete with the better teams. The option to play the career online or off in co-op with a friend is a great little addition as well.
Though the game is truly a great recreation of the sport, the gamer in me would have liked to see some more features. Beyond the the graphical enhancements and gameplay tweaks, there really isn't that much new to keep fans of the previous game satisfied. Some of my personal annoyances are still there, such as the fact that you always have the same engineer talking to you on your radio, regardless of which team you race for. In future I would hope to see multiple engineers, or perhaps even multiple commentaries in different languages (unlockable Murray Walker perhaps?!?). A team management mode would be a nice touch as well. Maybe in future releases, as I know that one will be included in Codemasters' upcoming free online game F1 Online.
F1 2011 is an excellent, well rounded game, and a great depiction of the actual motorsport series. It's difficult, and not for everyone, but for F1 enthusiasts and racing game fans, this game is absolutely solid. It's a great experience and it is very fun if you can figure out the physics of the cars. You'll always want to take each corner tighter, chop tenths of a second off your time, place higher up on the grid. It's a great experience and a surprisingly deep amount of gameplay. There could have been a few more features and additions, but overall the amount of content will keep anyone going for a long time.