F1 2006 overall is a good racing game but is unfortunately plagued with errors, which will frustrate the F1 enthusiast.
Now, moving onto the game itself. There are a host of new features including new driving aids for players new to F1 game, such as the ideal racing line, however these can be removed for the more experienced players out there. The career option is once again included, and this sees you racing through the course of five seasons, starting with one of the new teams (Super Aguri, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Midland F1) and working your way up, eventually achieving a seat at one of the top three teams (Ferrari, Renault and McLaren). This mode adds a lot of playability to the game, especially if you are an aspiring F1 fan wondering what it is like to have a career in F1.
The graphics of the game are pretty good and all the noticeable features of various tracks are present, such as the iconic media centre in Malaysia. If you have crash damage turned on and you spin into a barrier, the likelihood is that you will lose your front nose, which is well represented in the game with good crash damage graphics. However, there are various issues with the graphics. One of the main ones is if you pit during a race, there are no AI pit crew present and the pit lane is empty, and when you change the back tyres they put themselves on with invisible pit crew doing them. Also when you leave the pit in qualifying, you will occasionally find yourself bumping into another car also leaving the pit lane, an event which never happens in Formula One.
The commentary for the game is hit and miss, sometimes being present frequently, other times commenting on the race once. The commentary also makes frequent errors, such as stating that Jarno Trulli was in sixth which was a drop of five places, whereas he started fifth so was a drop of a single place. Little things like this plague the commentary throughout the game. Your team radio also makes mistakes, such as saying 'well done your consistent driving has moved you up the field' when the race had just started, and I had started on pole position. However where the game really comes undone with errors is the AI performance. There are so many things that happen during the game that just simply wouldn't happen in real life. For example, in career I moved from Toro Rosso to Ferrari with a first driver contract. So instead of the AI replacing Massa and moving Michael Schumacher to second driver, they removed Schumacher from their team even though he was second in the driver's championship compared to Massa who was in 11th! Another fault is that some teams such as Williams overperform, whereas others majorly underperform, such as BMW Sauber not gaining a single point throughout the season. Frequently in qualifying you see packs of cars bunched up like in a race and Ferrari and McLaren's second drivers qualifying 17th!
The performance issues continue, and the most annoying fault of the game is associated with it. The AI during a race. During a race the backmarkers are very unpredictable, as some move out of your way, whereas other move into your path. This might not sound frustrating, but trust me if you are winning a race on your final lap, and a car you are about to lap moves into your racing line, you damage your car and most of the time lose a wheel, which means you being forced to retire, meaning you have to do the race all over again.
If you have read this review, you are probably thinking that you are definitely not going to buy the game due to the faults, however it is a highly enjoyable racing game for all gamers. New players can easily pick it up and play with all the assistance provided, and racing game veterans can have a realistic and fun gaming experience, despite of the frequent minor faults. I hope that this review has given you an insight of F1 06, and I recommend this game for racing fans who are willing to overlook the issues. A must have for F1 enthusiasts!