After a tumultuous end to an era in 2021 with a controversial final race, Formula One has dived into a new set of regulations that is shaking up the sport as a whole. There's a whole lot of drama to be found already in the real-world races - certainly enough to keep Drive to Survive viewers happy - but it also means a range of changes to F1 video games. This is something that needs to happen with F1 22, the next title in the franchise from developer Codemasters.
F1 22 is the official game for the 2022 season of Formula One, and will come complete with all of the real teams and drivers. As with previous games, My Team will be the comprehensive single player game mode, as the player takes control of their own F1 team and leads it to glory against the current titans of the sport. Of course there's plenty more that players will find along the way, including various multiplayer options, more straightforward Career and Championship modes, and aspects like the returning F2 junior formula.
As mentioned there are some big changes in the real-world sport of Formula One this year, with a different car model, new tire regulations, and budget caps to try and close up the field and bring more chance of exciting wheel-to-wheel racing. This gives Codemasters a big opportunity to build on the success of F1 2021, creating a game that's both accessible for newcomers to the sport and a more simulation-based experience for veterans of the series. So far, the developer has been making good promises on this front, and the smooth racing of a new preview build can leave would-be racers optimistic.
Codemasters has made behind-the-scenes tweaks to the gameplay model to try and match the feel of this new age of Formula One. F1 22 features an updated handling model, changes to aerodynamics and suspension, and tyre model updates. Meanwhile, there have been updates made to the structure of races to help players feel closer to Formula One reality, such as Sprint Races being made a part of Career and My Team modes, and more interactivity in pit stops and race warm-ups if the player so chooses.
The preview build of F1 22 didn't cover off all functionality, but did provide an opportunity to take part in several races to get a sense of how F1 22 operates, including the new Miami street circuit, and it's fair to say that things do feel different with this year's game. Formula One purists need not worry that F1 22 is going towards the more arcade feel of games like GRID Legends, though, as it does still feel quintessentially like Formula One. One thing that is clearly noticeable is that following cars closely behind feels less restrictive this time around, which parallels with what F1 reality has looked like this season.
Although it wasn't playable, Codemasters has provided further details about updates to My Team. First introduced in F1 2020, the mode is getting a bit of a refresh, for instance giving the player the chance to enter the mode as a newcomer, midfield challenger, or title contender - a neat option if the player doesn't fancy a multi-season adventure. My Team car customization also has reportedly been improved with more colour and design options for 2022, which is something that players had been asking for.
Although Breaking Point, a story mode added to F1 2021 as an introduction to the sport and to the game's mechanics, is not part of F1 22, there are some additions being made in its absence. The player will be able to take part in smaller game modes like driving safety cars in time trial races, while Career and My Team will give racers the chance to take to the track in various supercars. F1 Life is also being introduced as a new player hub, where the player can access their supercars, change their character's clothing, and see their trophy collection, and it also acts as the lobby location for multiplayer games.
Such cosmetic options do bring up the elephant in the room of microtransactions. There's a close eye on F1 22 as the first F1 game that has been fully developed by Codemasters since that sudden Electronic Arts takeover in 2021, given the publisher's reputation for less-than-clean monetization options in other titles. At the moment it's unclear what monetization will look like within the final game, so players will want to have a look at the monetization model as and when it becomes available, and whether it will have an impact on things like helmets and car liveries or if it will target more superfluous elements like the cosmetics of F1 Life.
As such, F1 22 is a game with plenty of potential. The preview build is very promising when it comes to emulating the feel of what Formula One fans have seen of this new era of the sport, and if Codemasters can keep this going into the final game then it could be another exciting entry in the series.
F1 22 releases 1 July 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was provided with a preview code for the purposes of this preview.