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[F1 2014] Lewis Hamilton, World Champion! #ForzaJules
Jazz
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
F1 2014
The trailers:
Launch trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8nFYYkB9fg
Announce trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cITOgqq3PA
Who wins? You decide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8pAxLn4kr8
What the hell is Formula One?
It's the world's premier open-wheel racing series, with races taking place all over the world. Although it has its roots in the 1920s when Grand Prix racing started, the Formula One World Championship itself began in 1950. Periodically, the rules change to reflect emerging technologies or updated safety features and the like. 2014 F1 cars are turbocharged hybrids, producing around 850hp and capable of speeds over 220mph.
Open-wheel? So it's like Indycar?
Yes and no. F1 is an international series, and it is rare for any one country to host more than one race per year. F1 doesn't race on ovals at all (although the Indy 500 counted towards the F1 World Championship in the '60s). F1 cars can and often do race in the rain, which provides a whole new challenge. While Indycar teams all use the same chassis, F1 teams build their own cars, which are evolved and upgraded over the course of the season. The teams can have engine deals from another manufacturer. The cost of running an F1 team per annum can easily be twenty times the cost of running an Indycar team, such are the demands.
So what's this game, then?
F1 games have a somewhat chequered history in both simulation and arcade forms, but the current ones are produced by Codemasters, home of the Grid and Dirt series. They tend to be more simmy than those games, although they don't try to reach the level of the hardest-core sims such as iRacing. As the games are annualised now (a rarity in F1 game history), they are a bit iterative, but Codies have done a fine job of providing a different and updated "feel" every year, in line with how real-world rule changes have affected the real-world cars, making all the games feel distinctively different. With the changes for the 2014 season, this year's game should be a very different beast to play compared to the 2010-2013 games, even if it looks similar.
Wait a minute, this is just a 360/PS3/PC game? Why isn't it next-gen yet?
Good question. Codies had once intended for F1 2014 to be their first game for the X1/PS4 generation, but have had to bump that to 2015 due to unspecified delays. F1 2015 is apparently slated to arrive earlier in the year, with content to be delivered as the season goes on. What this will actually mean in practice has not yet been clarified.
So I should just wait for F1 2015?
No-one would blame you if you did; however, despite its similar looks to F1 2013, F1 2014 looks to offer plenty for the series fan. The new turbo-hybrid cars with reduced downforce, two new tracks (the brand-new circuit at Sochi, Russia and the Red Bull Ring - formerly the Osterreichring/A1-ring - in Austria that has never been in an HD F1 game), the change of Bahrain to a night race like Singapore and the expanded scenario mode look to offer good times, and new accessibility options should make the series much more friendly than the previous entries with their rather steep learning curves.
So, who are the teams and where will we be driving?
The 2014 teams and drivers are, in alphabetical order by team and to give the teams their more commonly-used, shortened, colloquial names:
* - Marussia's Jules Bianchi suffered serious injuries in a crash that prematurely ended this year's Japanese Grand Prix; the first time a driver has been seriously hurt at an F1 race weekend for five years. As of this writing his condition is described as "critical but stable" and any further prognosis is unknown at this point. Everyone in F1, from drivers to fans, are hoping for him to have a full and quick recovery. The social media hashtag being most widely used is #ForzaJules.
The 2014 World Championship is taking place over 19 races:
What sort of modes are available in the game?
We're expecting that Grand Prix, Career, Season Challenge, Scenario, Time Attack and Time Trial will all be retained for the single-player game. The Young Driver Test tutorial section from the 2012-13 games is being replaced with a new driver evaluation system. Multiplayer modes will include Quick Match (Sprint, Endurance and Grand Prix), Custom Race, and the awesome Co-Op Championship. The game supports online, split-screen (even on PC), and LAN play.
So when is this game available?
F1 2014 will be available for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 16th in Australia, 17th in UK/Europe, and 21st in North America.
- - - - -
Pre-emptive rebuttals to a couple of common criticisms:
The trailers:
Launch trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8nFYYkB9fgAnnounce trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cITOgqq3PAWho wins? You decide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8pAxLn4kr8What the hell is Formula One?
It's the world's premier open-wheel racing series, with races taking place all over the world. Although it has its roots in the 1920s when Grand Prix racing started, the Formula One World Championship itself began in 1950. Periodically, the rules change to reflect emerging technologies or updated safety features and the like. 2014 F1 cars are turbocharged hybrids, producing around 850hp and capable of speeds over 220mph.
Open-wheel? So it's like Indycar?
Yes and no. F1 is an international series, and it is rare for any one country to host more than one race per year. F1 doesn't race on ovals at all (although the Indy 500 counted towards the F1 World Championship in the '60s). F1 cars can and often do race in the rain, which provides a whole new challenge. While Indycar teams all use the same chassis, F1 teams build their own cars, which are evolved and upgraded over the course of the season. The teams can have engine deals from another manufacturer. The cost of running an F1 team per annum can easily be twenty times the cost of running an Indycar team, such are the demands.
So what's this game, then?
F1 games have a somewhat chequered history in both simulation and arcade forms, but the current ones are produced by Codemasters, home of the Grid and Dirt series. They tend to be more simmy than those games, although they don't try to reach the level of the hardest-core sims such as iRacing. As the games are annualised now (a rarity in F1 game history), they are a bit iterative, but Codies have done a fine job of providing a different and updated "feel" every year, in line with how real-world rule changes have affected the real-world cars, making all the games feel distinctively different. With the changes for the 2014 season, this year's game should be a very different beast to play compared to the 2010-2013 games, even if it looks similar.
Wait a minute, this is just a 360/PS3/PC game? Why isn't it next-gen yet?
Good question. Codies had once intended for F1 2014 to be their first game for the X1/PS4 generation, but have had to bump that to 2015 due to unspecified delays. F1 2015 is apparently slated to arrive earlier in the year, with content to be delivered as the season goes on. What this will actually mean in practice has not yet been clarified.
So I should just wait for F1 2015?
No-one would blame you if you did; however, despite its similar looks to F1 2013, F1 2014 looks to offer plenty for the series fan. The new turbo-hybrid cars with reduced downforce, two new tracks (the brand-new circuit at Sochi, Russia and the Red Bull Ring - formerly the Osterreichring/A1-ring - in Austria that has never been in an HD F1 game), the change of Bahrain to a night race like Singapore and the expanded scenario mode look to offer good times, and new accessibility options should make the series much more friendly than the previous entries with their rather steep learning curves.
So, who are the teams and where will we be driving?
The 2014 teams and drivers are, in alphabetical order by team and to give the teams their more commonly-used, shortened, colloquial names:
- Caterham - Marcus Ericsson (Sweden), Kamui Kobayashi (Japan)
- Ferrari - Kimi Raikkonen (Finland), Fernando Alonso (Spain)
- Force India - Sergio Perez (Mexico), Nico Hulkenberg (Germany)
- Lotus - Romain Grosjean (France), Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela)
- Marussia - Max Chilton (United Kingdom), Jules Bianchi* (France)
- McLaren - Kevin Magnussen (Denmark), Jenson Button (United Kingdom)
- Mercedes AMG - Nico Rosberg (Germany), Lewis Hamilton (United Kingdom)
- Red Bull - Sebastian Vettel (Germany), Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
- Sauber - Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico), Adrian Sutil (Germany)
- Toro Rosso - Jean-Eric Vergne (France), Daniil Kvyat (Russia)
- Williams - Felipe Massa (Brazil), Valtteri Bottas (Finland)
* - Marussia's Jules Bianchi suffered serious injuries in a crash that prematurely ended this year's Japanese Grand Prix; the first time a driver has been seriously hurt at an F1 race weekend for five years. As of this writing his condition is described as "critical but stable" and any further prognosis is unknown at this point. Everyone in F1, from drivers to fans, are hoping for him to have a full and quick recovery. The social media hashtag being most widely used is #ForzaJules.
The 2014 World Championship is taking place over 19 races:
- Melbourne, Australia (partial street race)
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Sakhir, Bahrain (night race)
- Shanghai, China
- Catalunya, Spain
- Monte Carlo, Monaco (street race)
- Montreal, Canada
- Spielberg, Austria
- Silverstone, Great Britain
- Hockenheim, Germany
- Budapest, Hungary
- Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
- Monza, Italy
- Marina Bay, Singapore (night/street race)
- Suzuka, Japan
- Sochi, Russia
- Austin, United States
- Interlagos, Brazil
- Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi (evening race - starts in daylight, ends after dark under lights like the night races)
What sort of modes are available in the game?
We're expecting that Grand Prix, Career, Season Challenge, Scenario, Time Attack and Time Trial will all be retained for the single-player game. The Young Driver Test tutorial section from the 2012-13 games is being replaced with a new driver evaluation system. Multiplayer modes will include Quick Match (Sprint, Endurance and Grand Prix), Custom Race, and the awesome Co-Op Championship. The game supports online, split-screen (even on PC), and LAN play.
So when is this game available?
F1 2014 will be available for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 16th in Australia, 17th in UK/Europe, and 21st in North America.
- - - - -
Pre-emptive rebuttals to a couple of common criticisms:
Driving a car isn't a sport.
Tell that to the drivers who spend all year training, in some cases entering other competitions (Jenson Button, for example, regularly competes in Ironman triathlons). And every other Sunday, they spend two hours in 50C/122F cockpit heat as the cars exert 5g's on them every time they go around a corner or hit the brakes. These guys are true athletes, and as Jules Bianchi's recent serious accident in Japan reminds us, they risk their lives every time they get behind the wheel even with the massive advances in safety that have been made over the years.
I can't follow it in the United States, it's usually on at stupid o'clock in the morning.
Tell that to the legions of fans in Canada, and Central and South America who live in the same time zones. Also, in this age of streaming and downloadable media, it's easier than ever to keep up with what's going on. And the United States Grand Prix at Austin, TX is just around the corner, on November 2nd. In fairness, F1 has always struggled to maintain an audience in the United States, but it continues to try. The excellent current track at Austin is probably the best attempt yet.
Tell that to the drivers who spend all year training, in some cases entering other competitions (Jenson Button, for example, regularly competes in Ironman triathlons). And every other Sunday, they spend two hours in 50C/122F cockpit heat as the cars exert 5g's on them every time they go around a corner or hit the brakes. These guys are true athletes, and as Jules Bianchi's recent serious accident in Japan reminds us, they risk their lives every time they get behind the wheel even with the massive advances in safety that have been made over the years.
I can't follow it in the United States, it's usually on at stupid o'clock in the morning.
Tell that to the legions of fans in Canada, and Central and South America who live in the same time zones. Also, in this age of streaming and downloadable media, it's easier than ever to keep up with what's going on. And the United States Grand Prix at Austin, TX is just around the corner, on November 2nd. In fairness, F1 has always struggled to maintain an audience in the United States, but it continues to try. The excellent current track at Austin is probably the best attempt yet.
Jazz on
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"It's like rocketships on the ground"
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
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Ice-T is a big F1 nut. And a big gamer. And a metal fan. Like we needed any more reasons to love the guy. He's fucking awesome.
Steam | XBL
I had to throw out my personal, sleeping earplugs and buy the gift shop's weapons grade plugs.
EDIT - Oh oh oh, and afterward, Sistar performed for the Koreans, sexy as fuck, and afterward, a Korean boy band came up, and while the girls were all squealing, the men were screaming too, and there was this one pack of Korean Navy guys all running towards the front exited, to which me and all my friends laughed. I guess the Navy loves boy bands
I'm a heavy metal man, but those ladies are just mindblowingly hot. And classier than Jpop crap.
Missed 1/20 corner markers by 0.5mm? Do the track again.
Carefully hit every marker but missed the time limit by 0.00002 seconds? DO IT AGAIN.
It does a good job of teaching me to drive properly all the way to the end of my first practice session. After that? OUTLAW COUNTRY!!!
PSN: TheBrayster_92
And the damage modelling does lend itself to OUTLAW COUNTRY!!! rather too much, but I guess it's a gameplay concession. You can get away unscathed from a collision that would end your race in real life, and if it ends your race outright in the game it might well have ended your life in reality. I'd certainly like to see front wings, at least, be more fragile in the game.
Steam | XBL
It should be possible to set damage to be realistic as you would desire, one or two options for forgiving but still present damage, then low/no mechanical damage for morons like me.
I mean, I like a bit of damage, but I also am terrible at driving correctly so there's gonna be some bumps.
PSN: TheBrayster_92
The thing that frustrates me with it though is you can't seem to tell your pit crew to NOT replace the wing if you take damage. Ruins pit times when it's something minor that you can just deal with.
That sounds awesome. Do you have a link, perchance?
Steam | XBL
Probably worth the pit stop.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
It depends. A typical pitstop in F1 for new tyres is about 3 seconds. A new front wing would bump that closer to 8-10 seconds. If it's only a minor knock, only costing you a tenth of a second per lap, it might be worth not changing it. Of course, in real life there's a bunch of strategy guys to help make that call. Perhaps that's the game's trade-off; it takes a harder knock to damage the wing, but when you come in, it's getting changed.
Then again, you could do an Alonso at Malaysia last year, and not come in, only for it to fall off and explode under your car (no, wait, that was Perez in Singapore) wedge the front wheels in the air as you drive past the pits. Oops. (The game won't do that. But it totally should.)
Steam | XBL
Anyway, I still love F1.
I don't know if it's any different on PC (unlikely) but playing multi on public servers was absolute carnage on console.
Some goose won't bother to break going into the first corner and will take out half a dozen cars in the process including themselves and then just quit the game and join another to do the same thing. If you were lucky enough to escape the first corner you'd have some other person trying to take you out as if they were playing destruction derby.
If the mods are cool with it, I'm more than happy for real F1 discussion to go on here. In fact I'd prefer it. My concern would be that two threads, a G&T game one and a D&D real-life one, might be spreading it too thin; I think one's enough.
Sadly true, but that's also true of 99% of racing games ever. I'd love to get a group together here who are interested in clean racing at least for the odd race. Not sure how many people will have it on any given system, though. I'm getting it on PC this year.
Join usssssssssss.
Steam | XBL
I've been using RaceDepartment.com for mods. Mainly just some graphic upgrades and the mentioned damage mod (which can be found HERE) IIRC I used the medium setting. There's a few realism mods that make the AI more fallible too which is neat. I also grabbed one of the mods that improved tire wear. I only have a 360 controller and it wasn't very fun skating around the track 2 laps before I'm supposed to pit.
This is my first season really following F1 IRL and boy did I fall for it. I blame Alt+F1 over on Giant Bomb. Game wise I've only been playing F1 2013 for about a month now. I'm still pretty reckless as I try to ditch the bad habits of arcade racers. At least I'm not ramming into anyone anymore... well... for the most part.
That's awesome, it's great to hear of new fans coming in. I'll have to investigate the mod scene a little more closely. I'm already prepared for heading over to Racedepartment the day F1 2014 comes out for the inevitable modded Williams livery!
Steam | XBL
Would love to use one myself but unable to at the moment due to space restrictions. Few of my friends use them. The G27 and the Fanatec
I don't, partially due to space restrictions and in the past I've often found them to make racing games of many flavors more difficult for me. Maybe because my brain can't reconcile such car-like controls with not being able to feel any of the forces acting on the car except through force feedback in my hands. But one day I'd like to try again.
I use an Xbox 360 controller.
Steam | XBL
Also, I read this piece about the treatment and recovery of Roberto Guerrero, who suffered a similar injury to Jules Bianchi and made a full and shockingly fast recovery. Nice to see something hopeful in dark times.
Steam | XBL
Steam | XBL
Steam | XBL
Then again, I'd rather use the money to get a good wheel setup and be ready for the next one.
Just catching up on the Sochi race, too. Sad to hear Jules is still critical.
It feels decidedly weird knowing the game with him in it is mere days away. The last time we really saw anything like this was when Grand Prix 2 came out in 1996, but simulating the tragic 1994 season. The game ultimately used driver line-ups from later in the year, from after the fateful San Marino race where Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger were killed, thus having David Coulthard in at Williams instead of Senna and Jean-Marc Gounon in at Simtek instead of Ratzenberger.
Codemasters have, in a way, got a contingency plan in place for an eventuality like this: they've always said their games are representative of the start of the season they're simulating, so they always have the driver line-up from the start of the year as well as the car designs and liveries from the first race, since nowadays the teams have to each individually sign off on their car's representation in the game. (Grand Prix 2, although beautiful for its time, only had two car models to go around all the teams (a low nose and a raised nose) and just applied the textures for the liveries to those.)
Still must feel weird at Codies HQ; I feel for them. But more so for the Marussia team, who have behaved with incredible grace and respect throughout all this, and mostly of course for Jules' family and friends.
I also thought the drivers' tribute on the grid at Sochi was very touching. You know every single one of them, religious or not, was thinking along the lines of "there but for the grace of God go any of us". I really didn't care that it ended up being a dull race; I was honestly kind of glad that it was, in a way. That there was an actual race, with so many of those guys still driving their hearts out, and all of them coming away in the end, was enough.
As for the rest of the season... the scenarios that are being thrown around now because of this ridiculous double-points at Abu Dhabi thing are just crazy. Of course it's far too late to abandon this stupid idea for this season - I fully expect it'll be quietly dropped afterwards - but I just hope that in the end, it doesn't skew the result.
Steam | XBL
I was at pax prime, and some guy was really proud of a chair he made with feedback. It was wrong. I know I said it elsewhere, but having driven a kart in real life, feedback is more a hindrance than help. My wife even said, haven't you driven better with a 360 controller?
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
The arcade edition of F Zero GX was as close aa it gets, and it was physically exhausing.
I'll always remember Senna in Brazil 1991 (different era, to be sure) when his car jammed in sixth gear. He made to to the end and won the race but was so physically shattered he couldn't get out of the car without help; his body had just cramped up completely. Eventually he got to the podium and could only just barely lift the trophy, the pain still etched on his face, for one of the most important wins of his life.
Michael Schumacher is widely credited with bringing an entirely new level of fitness to the sport; it was often remarked how amazing it was that he could get out of the car after a race without a bead of sweat on him. Pretty much everyone since has moved up to that level of fitness, and the stresses the cars put on the drivers have changed - for example, they have power steering now so bulk upper body strength is less critical, but the G-forces exerted under cornering and braking have multiplied. We still occasionally see what can happen when a driver's drinks bottle breaks down in a hard race like Singapore, say; even without such a malfunction, they lose several pounds in weight during a race anyway.
Steam | XBL
It seems widely known that Vettel's going to Ferrari, but after weeks of talk it's still not actually confirmed officially, which is weird. Alonso seems to have shot himself in the foot by leaving Ferrari at the end of the season, but without a contract in place for next year. McLaren (with Honda engines next year) want him, but for a long-term deal; he only wants to signn for one year, presumably with an eye on a Mercedes seat in 2016 should they not retain Hamilton, or just so he can hedge his bets in case the Honda's not up to snuff and McLaren put it in another mediocre car. This would leave either Button or Magnussen out in the cold. In the meantime, Kvyat moves into Vettel's vacant Red Bull seat; that's confirmed, and is in fact the only big move into a team that we so far know of for certain.
But it's the even wilder speculation that gets fun. Caterham's mysterious financial backers are still unknown. Could it be that it's actually Alonso? He's got the money and maybe he wants to literally build the team around him. This might even sit with Massa's little "joke" with him when he gatecrashed an Alonso interview and asked him if he was going to Caterham or Marussia (that was before Bianchi's crash) next year. And with Damon Hill and Arrows in 1997, there's a sort of precedent. As there also would be for him to take year out, but hopefully that won't happen.
Is Raikkonen going to see out his contract at Ferrari? He's not happy with the car and he's been bought out of a contract by them once before (to make way for Alonso, ironically). And they've just ended a contract early with Alonso too. Maybe they've got their eye on Button; they've always liked his style.
Like Murray Walker used to say, "In F1, anything can happen, and it usually does."
Steam | XBL
Oh damn, you weren't kidding.
He looks broke.
From the documentary Senna.
Steam | XBL
As for the magical chairs of driving seats, now that'll be interesting to see unfold. First time hearing about that Alonso/Caterham theory. They would be getting some nice money too since I think Santander would follow him around even if he decided to sell BBQ grills.
Not sure how I feel with Vettel leaving RB, the man should've been already registered as a permanent asset of them, though on the plus side it will let us see Danny as a #1 driver.
And as a McLaren fan, I hope they can get their stuff together for next year. If not, there's still Force India and Pérez close behind. :P
And, errr, back to the game: mind doing some first impressions when you unlock it finally?
My wife was nice, and signed me up for an endurance kart race. It was canceled, and so I did a whole bunch of 15 min on track, 15 off in a row. My arms were so tired trying to hold that line by the end. Kind of glad I didn't do the whole endurance in one go.
If I was rich, I would be down at the kart track more often.
The Young Driver Test is gone. Completely and utterly gone. The new one-racing-lap evaluation seems pretty worthless, but that is possibly due to me not needing it. I actually really dislike this trend in racing games now; I remember Forza doing similarly and it's not the only one. "Do a racing lap in this top-end car and we'll suggest a difficulty setting!" What I dislike most about this approach is it gives you no time to get used to the feel of the car, and/or the new game. Still, you can skip it and just set your difficulty.
In fact, you'll spot changes there. There are more settings to tweak. There's a steering assist that, to me, felt incredibly heavy-handed and I recommend it be turned off. The steering on my Xbox 360 pad is already filtered nicely and that was just overkill. Again, YMMV; and it might make it playable on a keyboard, which I'll have to try (Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series nailed that, oddly enough). You can change the rules enforcement to just "corner cutting only", which should please people who always thought the game was too harsh on doling out penalties - which, once again, I wasn't.
This focus on making it more accessible feels odd. The loss of the Young Driver Test has robbed the game of its tutorial, and it's compensating by offering more assists. There is still nothing to introduce a player unfamiliar with F1 to (for example) the flow of a race weekend, such as the three qualifying sessions in a full weekend; and the flying lap commentary videos for the tracks seem to have vanished. I understand Codies wanting to smooth out the infamous learning curve but this approach just seems strange.
Out on track, there's a noticable bloom effect which doesn't seem overdone, and adds another little bit of graphical polish. Emphasis on little. It's still built for the 360/PS3 generation and it shows, but equally that contributes to its incredibly modest hardware requirements on PC. Several more things in the graphics settings can now be kicked up to Ultra, including drivers and cloth, and my laptop still pushes it happily at 1080p/60fps. It's a very incremental step up graphically, and doesn't compare to the likes of Assetto Corsa, let alone Project CARS, but it's alright. Reflections look improved when turned up, which is good for the chrome McLaren.
The feel of the cars, even with my normal modest level of assists on, is different but not massively so. I suspect that won't be the case when I try bumping them down; the hybrid energy recovery systems change the braking feel, the turbos change the acceleration, and the reduced downforce changes the cornering. That's clearly where a lot of the work on this version went, and rightly so given the huge technological change from 2013 to 2014. As always, this will need further exploring, but the cars are fun, interesting and different to drive. Bear in mind that the new hybrid systems do not work like KERS used to; so the KERS boost button is gone. This let me remap the "push to talk" button for multiplayer to the now unused LB button on my controller.
Of the new tracks, I found Sochi a bit dull but it was my first race in the game and I hadn't bumped the AI difficulty up high enough. I'll have to revisit it. Austria, however, is as lovely as it ever was and I'm glad it's back in F1. Bahrain now looks glorious in its new night time setting, too.
Season mode now lets you pick between 7 races, 12 races or the full 19 races. The shorter seasons are pre-determined track selections, but they focus on the better tracks, which is good. You can pick any team to start your career with, which is a first (the older games locked out top teams for your first season and you had to earn their admiration and contract offers), and they're divided into four difficulty tiers (e.g. Mercedes is easy, Caterham is hard).
That's pretty much all there is to tell so far. It's very clearly, uh... let's be diplomatic here... built on the foundation of F1 2013. Less diplomatically, so far it feels like an expansion pack, albeit a well-done one. Same parc ferme & garage driver animations, almost identical menus, same engineer's voice on the radio saying the same things... you pretty much know the drill. Despite the obvious work that's gone into the cars' behaviour, a lot of it feels a bit lazy.
This is not to say it's bad. Far from it; if you take an excellent game and add to it, it does not end up worse. But know what you're getting into if you do take the plunge; this is not just a roster update but it's also not a 100% new game and I can't help but feel that a fractionally lower price would've behooved it, even if powers-that-be well above Codies would've balked at "devaluing" the F1 brand. I know I'll get my money's worth out of it, but I really hope F1 2015, moving to the new generation, blows us all away. Frankly, it's going to need to. They can do it; F1 2010 did it, so I do have faith.
Also it's worth remembering that F1 Classics mode is gone for this version. Codies insist it will return in the future.
- - - - -
tl;dr - I like it, but it's very, very much more of the same. Cars do feel different in many aspects, it's fractionally prettier, the attempts to make it more accessible are hit and miss, Austria is great.
- - - - -
EDIT: forgot to mention that the loading times are much faster now. I've got it installed on my SSD, like I have with F1 2013 for a fair comparison, and 2014 can have a menu screen loaded before the loading screen's done fading in. It feels significantly quicker on every in-game load. I'll have to break out the stopwatch for actual figures, but it's a nice little bonus to have.
DOUBLE EDIT: It's also smaller, which might help create those speedy loading times. It's only just over 5GB installed, whereas F1 2013 (with the classic DLC) is over 8.5GB installed.
Steam | XBL
The expanded assists should help ease you into driving the cars, at least. I'm looking over the Steam reviews and most people seem to consider the loss of the YDT to be a positive. So that's really a YMMV thing. (It taught you things like cornering lines, handling an F1 car on a wet track, stuff like that... but honestly as a tutorial it was far from perfect, and it was mandatory to play through if you wanted to start a career with a half-decent team. So it's not a dreadful loss. Often it felt like I was the only person who liked it at all...)
The biggest thing that tends to go unexplained is knowing how qualifying works. There are shortened qualifying options (one-shot and a single 15-minute session; faster times mean better start position). Over a full race weekend, you'll have a single hour-long practice session (the games dumped the three practice sessions the real sport has after 2011), followed by qualifying. The first session of qualifying determines grid positions 17-22, the second determines positions 11-16, and the final "shootout" determines 1-10. So in the first two qualifying sessions your objective is simply to get out of that "drop zone" and progress to the next session. After all that, it's race time.
The other thing to know is the tyres. There's two main types of tyre, the "prime" and "option". The prime is a harder compound of rubber; the option is softer. Options are typically faster over a single lap, but wear out quicker. In races of 25% distance and over, you'll be required to use both kinds in the race. You can set when you want to stop in the garage prior to the race, but you'll have a default time to stop too and your race engineer will tell you when to come in (if he says "box box box!", that's what he means). There are also "intermediate" and "extreme wet" treaded tyres for use in the rain. So long as you familiarise yourself with where the entrance to the pit lane is on any given track, you should be fine.
There is a Time Trial mode so you can get out on track by yourself with no pressure, and get used to the cars' feel. The racing line assist is one of the very best in the business, too - it can be set to a 3D mode where it makes itself more obvious, and it fades from green (go flat out) to yellow (think about slowing down) to red (you're going too fast) - so it should help you get a feel for where to brake and which way to approach a corner; of course there's also auto brakes if you want them to get used to a track, but when you switch to manual braking you will of course be much faster. The Flashback feature is no longer arbitrarily limited to 4 uses in a session, either, you can set it to Unlimited now if you like.
Hopefully all that helps a bit.
If you pick it up, I'd genuinely be interested to find out how a relative newcomer fares with the new accessibility focus. That'd be a better barometer for how successful these ideas were!
Steam | XBL
http://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/williams-racing-alternative-skin.3643/
Other versions are there with the proper Martini logo, but the logo only displays correctly on the right side of the car, and is is mirrored on the left side. The easiest solution seemed to be to use this "censored" logo but it does at least restore the red stripe Codemasters had to remove because alcohol advertising laws in video games are apparently over-restrictive.
Steam | XBL
This is kinda seeing more like a $20 game for me, at least. Winter sale, here we come :P
EDIT: Come to think of it, this reminds me, does the AI still seem to completely ignore their tyre wear? I remember they never seemed to have problems with them in F1 2013, compared to me that was on the edge of sliding around by the time my stop was planned.
Not sure yet. I've only just dived into Career after a bunch of three-lap GPs. Probably similar, but it never seemed to bother me for some reason.
Steam | XBL