Review:
FORMULA ONE 06
Genre: Racing
Publisher: Sony
Players: 1
Online Play: No
Firmware: 2.71
Video:
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So, the 2006 F1 season actually did bring some excitement, competition and a few raised eye brows this year: Kimi seemed to retire almost every other race, the new qualifying routine brightened up our Saturday F1, Michael retired, and Fernando did eventually take revenge from Schumy’s dirty work back in Monaco by pinching the world title. So I think Sony made a wonderful and wise decision to recreate the 2006 F1 season for our PSP.
Everything is here, all the licensed F1 teams and drivers, all the licensed F1 tracks, all the new rules from the 2006 season, interactive pitstops, James Allen commentary, practice sessions, qualifying, adjustable mechanics and race strategy, tyre wear and fuel consumption, podium cutscenes ……………. and the list goes on. Probably, the only two things missing are the warm up laps before each race and the lack of a safety car whenever there's a big accident during a race, but to be honest I think we can cope without!
Formula One 06 has 5 different racing modes, they are:
Quick Race
Time Trial
Grand Prix Weekend
World Championship
Career
You’ll most likely spend the majority of your time racing in the last two race modes listed above. However, you may choose from any of the 5 different modes at any stage during the game.
This game has huge freedom for the player to customise his/her race. This includes setting weather conditions, the AI difficulty level, driving aids, damage sensitivity, the choice of pitstops or not, and many other options. Therefore, although this game can be a very intense F1 simulation, most settings can be relaxed to offer a more forgiving racing experience for younger or more arcade racers.
F1 games are often criticized for being boring and containing a poor lifespan, but Formula One 06 sets a very challenging 5 season story and identity to your racing in the Career mode. Once you’ve designed and edited your own driver, you will be contacted by a selection of F1 teams via email, to perform a few test runs at a circuit of their choice to prove your skill and earn yourself a position as a test driver for that team. Continue to impress your team with consistent lap records and accurate driving, and your team will offer you a seat in either their number one or number two driver positions. From here on in you’ll be a live F1 driver, competing against 21 other drivers in the world championship. Racing will get harder, but if you’re special, other teams will begin to offer you positions in their number one and number two cars as you become increasingly popular and successful. The game provides you with 5 seasons to reach the number one seat of a leading F1 team and become world champion, so this will take some time and patience, but great concentration too.
There is no multiplayer mode in this game, which is a shame, but it is clear that priority has been given to the development and presentation of the single player games modes. The AI can be set under 3 different difficulty settings which have been mastered very well. The visual remains smooth and more importantly clear while at high speeds. The framerate is almost excellent, with the tiniest exception when you exit the pitlane and the PSP seems to freeze and recalculate what’s going on for a split second. The sound is better than any music for F1 lovers, even if the noise from the air horns every 5 seconds does get irritating. The interactive pitstops aren’t exactly exciting, but also do not give you the chance to dose off for 30 seconds like most other racing games. The physics and mechanics of the cars are fantastic, and a pleasure to test and adjust during Friday and Saturday practice sessions. However, Race Car Evolution is a new optional feature which can help setup your car to your particular driving style automatically for the less technical gamers.
Generally, Formula One 06 is a very realistic game. Quick Race mode offers a short 6 lap race, but you’ll need to play this game a lot to complete it and take full advantage of everything it has to offer. Besides the fact that the game is only sold in Europe, it features Michael Schumacher’s final F1 season and is a PSP game, this is a definite must-have for any F1 fan and is also likely to become a collector’s item in the future!
The verdict:
Uppers:
- Best ever F1 game
- Huge lifespan
- Fantastic visual
Downers:
- No multiplayer
- Perhaps a little too realistic for some
- The tiny PSP speakers aren’t loud enough!
Overall score: 90%
Henry
27/02/2007
Linear Mode
