Codemasters knows how to make race games and F1 2020 is not the first in the series either. Therefore F1 2020 is more of the same but with a few adjustments here and there to make it worth your money.
A new year for F1 racing
F1 2020 is an updated version of its predecessors and builds further on what was good and leaves out the bad bits. The F1 series has gradually grown into something to look forward to on a yearly basis. Just like many yearly sports games, you don’t need the new version if you own the one from last year but fans will surely be glad they take the upgrade. This year you might even consider buying F1 2020 because it features all the intended races instead of missing what has been stripped of the real-life version due to a certain global pandemic. This also means the 2 new races, one in Vietnam and one in Holland, can be experienced before the real F1 will experience it for the first time in 2021.
A racing game for everybody
Racing an F1 car is known for being the ultimate dream of many race fans. F1 racing is only limited to a few who have been persistent enough in their pursuit to race in the iconic events. Therefore, F1 2020 is probably the only way for most of us mere mortals to take part in these races. Being presumably the hardest form of racing in the world, you might fear F1 2020 won’t be accessible for the more casual race fan. Fear no more because I’m the best example of a race noob out there and I had fun with F1 2020. The game tries to appeal to every type of race fan with the addition of many assist options to toggle on or off. You decide how realistic you want everything to be. If you want to approve you can gradually toggle assists to ease you in “pro mode”.
My team
Besides some new tracks, F1 2020 introduces my team as the biggest update in this version. Instead of choosing to ride for one of the 10 existing teams, you can make your own team. As the owner and driver of your team, you control everything. Every decision has to go through you. These decisions have an impact on the financial side of things but also on how good your R&D team is developing. Making the right choices impacts your potential for success. My team is not a full-on sim experience but is a nice little extra for those who want more to do besides the racing. It also gives you some incentive to race as good as possible because good races mean more new things will become available.
Multiplayer – esports
If you are getting better at controlling your car you might give the multiplayer a shot. There are events planned all year-round to measure how good you are against real opponents. Practicing the tracks can be done freely but once you decide to qualify you better make it your best lap ever. Retrying qualification is possible but it doing so also gives you a penalty. Once qualified a timed race event can be entered to find out how good you really are. If you happen to be even better than hoped, you might also consider going the esports route with more prestigious events. If you’re not interested in global competition and just want to battle it out against friends, the options there. Split-screen mode is also back for the old skool couch play experience.
Conclusion
Playing F1 2020 had me experience a good time. The newest additions (new tracks and my team) add some new flavor to the game which is more or less the only thing different from F1 2019. Upgrading to this new version if you’re just a casual fan is to be considered. The hardcore fans and fans planning on dabbling in an F1 game for the first time should just go and get F1 2020 without a doubt.
