F1 23 – Game Review

After a long 12 month wait, it is finally time for yet another Formula 1 game. In this new addition you’ll feel an immediate improvement to the handling for the new-era cars, compared to previous F1 games. Alongside this massive upgrade, you’ll also get a whole new chapter of the Braking point story mode, which was first introduced to use in F1 2021, as well as a new reward-based progression system in place that has daily, weekly and seasonal goals.

So with all of these awesome new changes and additions, F1 23 will definitely keep you busy for a while, regardless if you are someone who hardly plays or plays day in and day out. 

Price: $69.99

Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC

When you look at last season’s changes to the regulations, it ushered in a new set of F1 cars to the scene, with larger wheels and tyres and overall some of the best looking cars that this sport has ever seen. However, this did come with a price, as these were also the heaviest cars in the championships history, and this was definitely translated into the F1 22 game. So as a result of this, it made handling all of this additional weight a little more challenging in-game, making a lot of gamers have to relearn the limits that came with these new cars. 

Dramatic Improvement to Driveability

Thankfully, although it wasn’t necessarily a really big problem, the driveability has dramatically improved in F1 23. Now, whilst you’re driving, you’ll still feel the sensation that comes with the bulk of the hefty new-era cars, but they’ll also feel a lot more cooperative, meaning they’ll feel grippier and more stable, especially noticeable when taking on the turns. Then on the other hand, if you are someone that won’t be playing the game with a wheel, there has been some excellent intuitiveness to the game pad controls in this year’s F1 game. 

You’ll notice the positive impact that these controls have most when you are driving through slow corners in narrow street circuits and also snapping out of any slides when you’re one the throttle a bit too much. The ability to catch your oversteer has always been quite a challenging thing to do, in a lot of sim racing games on controller, however with F1 23 it really is the best that it has ever felt out of the F1 game series. They have managed to make these cars feel raw and dangerous but at the same time also making them obey your commands. 

The Next Chapter in Braking Point

What Braking Point 2 is is essentially just a continuation of the story that you may have started back in F1 2021, and even though it is relatively short and lasts most people just a few gaming sessions, it has definitely been a fan favourite. 

In order to make this chapter a lot more entertaining, they have added a new fictional eleventh team called Konnersport onto the starting grid, just like you’ve been doing yourself in My Team mode ever since F1 2020. As a result of this addition to the story, it has given it a lot more substance and the emotion and conflict in this mode run a lot higher than what most people may have been expecting. Even though the ending of Braking Point 2 may have been quite predictable, there were still a few unexpected developments throughout the story that could catch you off guard. 

The original Braking Point story had their main focus on the driving pair of rookie Aiden Jackson and retiring Dutch journeyman Casper Akkerman, however when you step into the world of Braking Point 2 it takes a broader approach. The focus that you’ll have when working through this story is the whole Konnersport team, from their drivers, Jackson and Devon Butler, to their team principal. Furthermore you’ll also have a focus on David Butler, who is the father of Devon Butler and CEO of Konnersport’s main sponsor, as well as an up-and-coming F2 driver named Callie Mayer, who is actually being managed by Akkerman. 

When it comes to the various events that will occur in Braking Point 2, they’re very similar to that of the original Braking Point, in the sense that you’ll get a mixture of scenarios that have specific challenges you’ll need to complete as Jackson, Mayer or even Devon Butler himself. You will sometimes find that some events will be full races but for the most part you’ll be put in a mid-race situation and be asked to finish the race ahead of certain drivers or teams, defend your position or utilise some smart strategy. 

You may be surprised to know that compared to his role in F1 2021, Jackson takes quite a backseat in the story of Braking Point 2. This may be for the best though as not a lot of people really warmed up to him and if you thought you learned very little about him in the first Braking Point, you learn even less about him in chapter 2. Now, in Braking Point 2, we see the spotlight shift to the ambitious Mayer instead as well as Devon Butler. 

The cutscenes that you’ll get to sit back and watch have also seen a big improvement over the original and the facial performance in particular was captured a lot stronger. They’ve also utilised the interview sequences extremely well to add in some very clever script segues. 

The F1 23 World

One of the other huge changes that you see to the F1 game in F1 23 is the F1 World, which is actually a mode on its own that is built further upon the lifestyle and apparel focused F1 Life mode that you may be familiar with from F1 22. A great way that you can describe the F1 World is as a secondary career mode in which instead of taking on traditional championship seasons you’ll complete various daily, weekly and seasonal goals and races in order to earn rewards as well as upgrades for your F1 World car. 

The F1 23 World is a great way to drip in and out of short F1 events, instead of having to embark on the much longer full race weekends in the normal career mode, however other than that there isn’t really much appeal to this new F1 gaming mode. 

The upgrades that you’ll receive in the F1 World come as miscellaneous and eccentric parts as well as performance boosters, such as brakes that’ll allow your tires to last longer, however only on the North and South American racetracks. You could also get a man on your team called Robert who is able to make your engine more powerful for 60 seconds after you’ve made a pitstop. 

The F1 23 World is essentially a cool type of event that houses all quick play modes underneath a single umbrella, which rewards you for all the time you spend here, however there is a sort of mobile game feeling to it, which isn’t very cool especially for such an advanced game. If you do feel that you don’t enjoy this type of mode that much then there are always the My Team and traditional career modes available for you to play at any time. These two modes are very similar to the modes you saw in last year’s F1 game, except now you have new tracks, Lusail and Las Vegas. 

Final Words

In conclusion, the F1 23 game is a much more lively package and gamer than F1 22, with 26 tracks for you to enjoy, a super fun new chapter of the Braking Point story mode that first began in F1 2021, as well as the best gameplay handling that this series has ever seen.