A must buy for F1 fans, but like most F1 games it is haunted by FIA/FOM restrictions and leaves you wanting much more.
The tracks in the game looked very well done and had a very nice feel to them, even when it came to the curb heights and locations. Pit lanes, lighting, and course layout I found to be very accurate, and almost all of the multiple camera angles gave a great sense of speed. Also just as the tracks were great, the cars were even better, each had its own unique winglets, steering wheel, and curves about it. The only thing I found a little frustrating was that Formula One changes so much even over the course of several weeks that I found the game to feel very dated very fast. Certain features would be nice to have in future F1 titles, such as, a larger driver pool so that if a driver is having a bad season he would be replaced or demoted to the test driver position for a time. If anything, having more drivers to choose from would be great for the F1 fan that really likes a certain driver but that driver has been a test driver for years upon years, the gamer would have the power to simply kick the number one driver to the curb and toss their favorite pilot to the wolves. Career mode was nice as always, offering some new little features that gave it a slightly more personal feel. I like a great sense of control when it comes to any career mode and I found only a few in this title, being able to play out test sessions and "try out" for bigger, better teams was nice, also being able to control the car on the parade lap and warm the tyres and such was to me the best small feature in a racing game since the interactive pit stop. Race Car Evolution was another great F1 game feature for the race fanatic, and was very easy to use. The more control I have over the car setup the better, and if you can even show me a percentage increase or decrease with lap time comparison, well then it is game over for anyone racing against me. Audio in the game was not bad, but at times I found it to be a bit glitchy, and almost annoying when the sounds would come while in a certain camera position, mainly the cockpit camera, and you would hear sounds that come from nowhere it seems and hear them over your revs.
The AI is still something that designers continue to struggle with when it comes to F1 video games, in the past the AI was either non existent, or crazy tough. It seems the same is true in F1: Championship Edition, but it offers both settings of super easy, and super tough, and I'm not sure what the problem is, but I have a few ideas. In the future the designers need to take advantage of AI "memory" so that they will recognize you as rival, teammate, or even in house rivalry, no more of these mindless drones peddling around the track, swerving out of your way no matter if it is for points or not. Drivers in F1 are ruthless, and in the contained world that is racing it is so very hard to forget anything that happens to you or your team. My racing ladder never saw a rung near F1 through no fault but my own (and not because the talent wasn't there) and when you travel around with the same guys competing for the scraps as it were, you can't help but lookout for the SSDD and fight a psychological war each and every weekend! Game designers take note of anything Ayrton Senna ever did or said when shaping an F1 AI.
In closing I would like to offer the future publishers of any F1 title a few ideas and pointers. First, don't leave the gamers wanting so much more in these days of high power consoles. I would love to see an F1 game where the gamer was thrown many options, and one option that I always come back to in my mind is being able to exit the car and walk through the pit bay, paddock and even over to the strategy tent across pit lane. A non cutscene animation of the tv box being put on the car would be great, watch other drivers attack the track and see what the weather conditions are like. On the topic of weather, please please drop the sun a bit, lower track temp, and increase engine performance in the Friday and Saturday morning sessions. I have many nice memories from GP at Indy, when the cars would take the track in the early morning hours and the track was almost empty, and those cars would rip loose down the pit lane exit and into the first turn, it was even better when the V10s were around. An "XP" system or reward point system would be great to so that you could gain points from fast laps, overtaking multiple cars, pole position, podiums, race wins, etc… and use the points to add abilities to your career mode driver so that the character would optimize the car automatically in regards to brake bias, tyre wear, even renown with team, and teammate. Lastly, more classic cars, a feeder series (GP2), more legends of F1 (Jim Clark, Ayrton Senna, Gilles Villeneuve, Keke Rosberg…) these would make great unlockables or even DLC. And a final note to the publishers, please let the designers take their time and an all-time great racing game!