Be it the stellar career of Lewis Hamilton, the recent domination of Max Verstappen, or the current rise of Aussie Oscar Piastri, Codemasters’ F1 games have been relatively fantastic over the years. They generally look great, play well and feature an impressive list of modes that remain true to the depth and authenticity of the sport.
While many of F1 25’s pillars, like its general gameplay and main modes, remain both familiar and steady, some of its additions, like Braking Point 3 and newer My Team features, propel and series forward to one of the better entries in the franchise to date.
Take it to the Track
I’m going to touch on F1 25’s core gameplay and mechanics now, as I feel most of the noticeable improvements lie within its deeper modes and newer features. If you’ve played a recent F1 entry, you’re likely going to feel at home here.
Every moment carries a sense of weight and pace as you whip it around the track at 300 km/h. As always, there are plenty of customizable settings that can fine-tune the overall experience based on your comfort level and skill level. While there are certain presets that will automatically adjust settings, you can also go in and chop and change as you please.
Driver AI also feels much more alert and responsive this year, as drivers around you react on the fly to your attempts to overtake, by slowing down, veering out of the way, or even making their own aggressive and unique attempts to pass.
From a visual perspective, certain circuits have been LIDAR scanned for greater authenticity and realism. Bahrain, Miami, Melbourne, Suzuka and Imola have all been given such treatment, and the results are truly stunning. From the cars to driver likenesses, lighting effects and even path tracing for a more detailed track, F1 25 looks as good as the franchise has ever looked. I hope this feature becomes standard practice for all tracks moving forward.
My Team 2.0
The new My Team mode has probably received the biggest facelift as far as modes are concerned, with a few new tricks in store. For the first time, you will now manage a pair of drivers, instead of the driver/owner concept of previous games. Here, you will have not only full control of the team and the ability to race but also control over your racing duo, along with the implications and consequences that come with such dynamics.
For example, your team might only get one of a certain part for a car that could improve the car’s overall performance, be it speed or handling. By preferencing one driver over another, especially consistently, it could create rifts in overall chemistry and even value. So much so that a driver may even want to leave, while a driver from another team may even be enticed by your choices and strategies.
It’s a little heavy on the menus at times, but I love how it all comes together beyond the track. You’ll still gain XP points to spend across your Engineering, Personnel and Corporate teams, all while having to manage your driver’s Fan Rating, a feature that has been brought over from F1 24. This sees your drivers attempting to boost and grow their fan base by completing things like Accolades.
The Team HQ portion will also allow you to break down exactly how many people will work within each of your three teams, which determines how impactful those teams can be. R&D will also be split into two systems, which allow you to research and develop various parts for your cars.
You’ll be able to spend your Resource Points to purchase upgrades to build parts, but even decide how to develop them. Take your time with the parts at the cost of a few races for a better result, or simply rush the process at the cost of risking your car’s overall performance.
Finally, you’ll even need to manage sponsors to unlock new rewards, should you remain loyal to them. There’s a tiny bit of busy work here as you simply need to keep track of your current deals to not step on any toes, but I can appreciate its inclusion. Overall, these additions help the more feel much deeper, and only serve to point out how much more refreshing it feels as a result.
Braking Point 3
While it’s probably a mode for returning fans, I do urge players to check out the third instalment of this surprisingly engaging story. I’m a sucker for a story mode in a sports game (Fight Night Champion, I’m still looking at you), but there’s a decent amount of weight to not only the overall story, but the commitment to brining these characters back for a new round of challenegs.
Players take control of Aiden Jackson and Callie Mayer, the latter of whom has now joined the F1 Konnerport team. As the sister of returning character Devon Butler, the once antagonist of the series, turned Konnersport manager, must come to odds with some circumstances I would rather not spoil, all while trying to remain competitive and relevant in an elite sport where she is, at this point, the unfortunate outlier.
Braking Point 3 sees players taking control of a certain number of laps across a series of tracks and situations that generally keep things fresh and interesting. Be it racing with a faulty gearbox or no front wing, you’ll be able to play as either Aiden or Callie to get the fastest lap, finish in a certain position or simply win the race.
There’s plenty of dialogue through radio and even some well-acted cutscenes that keep tensions high, and while it’s not the deepest story you’ll find in a game, it’s way better than it has any right to be.
It’s not as flexible and customisable when compared to My Team, or even the Driver Career mode, but it doesn’t need to be, as the story itself leads into said Driver Career mode, where things open up a little more.
Unfortunately, the standard Driver Career mode feels like the most basic mode here, simply because it hasn’t received much of a facelift at all. It’s anything but bad or boring, and I don’t mean to dismiss it; it just sort of is what it is.
F1 World and F1: The Movie
F1 World returns as you take the race online, and benefits mostly from the new Invitationals system. Here, you can make up races as you please based on track, weather, time of day and even certain gameplay mods, and invite your friends along for the ride. As a result, you’ll be able to gain a bunch of unique rewards based on the Invitations completed, which can range from uncommon to rare, each with its own rewards and available points.
The upcoming F1 movie starring Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem will also feature prominently in F1 25, but it’s unfortunately a work in progress. The mode will essentially grant you access to certain races and scenarios based on the film, which include clips directly from the film to watch as they become available.
At the time of writing, only the first scenario is available, with the second coming later in June. Players can jump on board with the fictional APXGP team and earn exclusive cosmetic rewards to race around in.
If you told me I would get to play as Brad Pitt in the seat of a Formula 1 car, just a couple of years ago, I might never have believed you, but here we are.
Final Thoughts
If F1 25 falters in the fact that its Driver Career mode feels largely untouched and its F1 move portion is yet to be completed, consider me one happy camper.
F1 25 is incredibly fun to play, and looks as good as it ever has. Top it all off with the deeper and fully realised My Team mode and surprisingly engaging Braking Point 3, and it’s abundantly clear that it’s a good time to be an F1 fan.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Highlights: Fresh My Team mode; Braking Point 3 is incredibly engaging; Visually stunning
Lowlights: Relatively untouched Driver Career mode
Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: EA Sports
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC
Available: Now
Review conducted on PlayStation 5 with a pre-release code provided by the publisher.
