F1 25 is Codemasters' best and possibly last game

It's pointless to review every single installment of Codemasters' F1 racing simulator series, just like it's pointless to review every single installment of FIFA... sorry, EA Sports FC. But every two years or so, a game gets a real boost. So let's take a look at what the new F1 25 has to offer.

Simulation level

Let's be clear right away, the F1 series from Codemasters, and F1 25 is no exception, is inferior in terms of realism to the professional racing simulators that Formula 1 pilots and sim racers themselves choose for virtual competitions - iRacing, rFactor 2 and Assetto Corsa Competizione. But the level of realism of F1 25 is probably the highest level acceptable for ordinary players who want to enjoy virtual racing, and not turn it into a profession.

In F1 25, you can feel how tires wear out, how track characteristics change during qualifying and with changing weather, how braking points shift with each lap, how a single, conditionally pleasant trajectory appears during the rain, how downforce settings and new upgrades obtained during the season affect the car's behavior.

Here you can get a warning, or even a black and white flag, for violating the lap limits (of course, if you enable it in the settings). There are penalties for ignoring blue and yellow flags, speeding in the pit lane or not following the delta when the safety car appears. And of course, there are penalties for collisions.

Not to mention the meticulous reproduction of circuits, race calendars, team rosters, tire restrictions, full qualifying format, sprint race reproduction, and everything else. This is an official Formula 1 simulator, so it's all here.

And another important thing is the updated tracks. Five tracks in F1 25 have received updates based on LIDAR scans. These are Bahrain, Miami, Melbourne, Suzuka and Imola. If all goes well, in the next games, other tracks in the championship will gradually receive the same updates.

I come back to F1 about every two years and start the game with almost all the assistance turned on and medium-level opponents. With each race I gradually turn off the assistance and increase the level of opponents until I reach a medium level of simulation - start assistance, pit stop assistance, automatic transmission, automatic DRS, traction control, opponents 60+ (Hard). That's my level.

If you wish, and if your level allows, you can turn off all the help and get a fairly complex simulator. In my opinion, one of the strongest sides of F1 from Codemasters is the ability to adjust the difficulty level for both beginners and gradually increase your own skills, as well as for pros.

Graphics and sound

Like all Codemasters games since Colin McRae: Dirt (2007), the new F1 uses a modified version of Sony Computer Entertainment's Neon / Phyre Engine, which, starting with Race Driver: Grid (2008), was called the Ego Engine. The engine is constantly updated, receiving support for new technologies. The modern version is capable of ray tracing, global dimming, anti-aliasing, DLSS / FSR, etc.

If you've seen the latest F1 games from Codemasters, you might not see a significant improvement in the picture, because at this level it's already small details that need to be seen. But F1 25 looks really cool. Not a TV broadcast yet, but almost at some points. The change in lighting over time (practice, qualifying, race) is felt well, especially during evening races. The dynamic weather works well, changing the perception of the track and forcing you to ask the race engineer for the forecast.

The only problem is the faces of the pilots, both official and player-created, and the engineers. While there is progress here, overall it's still not very good. This is clearly not Epic Games' MetaHuman.

On my system with maximum graphics settings and DLSS in the quality priority, F1 25 produces 60 frames per second. Artifacts are visible only in the general plans during replays.

As for the sound, it's an official simulator, so the cars were recorded live, as were the echoes on different tracks. What I personally liked was the voice control. Now you don't have to fiddle with the menu during the race. It's enough to address the racing engineer by voice and ask him about the condition of the car and the track, the distance to the cars in front and behind, the weather, the condition of the tires. You can order an extra pit stop and choose tires. Of course, all this is in English. But it's really very convenient.

Braking Point 3

The main mode of F1 25, or at least this item is the first in the menu – is the Braking Point 3 story mode. The end of the motor drama that began in F1 2021, continued in F1 23 and has finally come to an end. It is a fairly standard drama for motorsport films about the new Konnersport team and rookie drivers who fight for a place on the starting grid and unexpectedly become favorites in the fight for the title, both in the team and individual standings.

Those familiar with the world of F1 will easily recognize the characters who became the prototypes of the heroes of Braking Point 3. The only question on my part is why Lawrence Sheldon Strulovitch is called Davidoff Butler here? Yes, Davidoff is a name that seems to be named after a brand of cigarettes. Actress Emer Kenny's character was inspired by real-life pilot Jamie Chadwick, a two-time W Series champion who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series.

Braking Point 3 introduces more narrative elements. As a team manager, you have to make decisions that will affect the team's performance and rankings, or as one of the drivers, you have to answer questions from the press, the answers to which also have an impact. At key stages, you can choose which driver you will control.

If you're wondering what the hell a story mode does in a racing game, I'd like to remind you that Codemasters has been adding a story campaign since TOCA Race Driver (2002). Among the studio's latest games, it was, for example, in Grid Legends.

In addition to the Braking Point 3 story mode, which supposedly sums up the story of the Konnersport team, the game has another story mode related to the F1 movie, which premieres next week. So far, only the prologue is open, the rest of the parts will become available on June 30, 2025.

All the drivers from the film, including Brad Pitt's character, can be added to the regular championship, both in their driver and team principal careers. Plus some other legendary drivers, as well as young drivers from F3.

Pilot career / manager career

As in all previous games in the series, and this is the 18th Formula 1 game from Codemaster, F1 25 has a driver career mode, where you can choose a team, this year even the fictional APXGP from the F1 movie. In addition, as in all recent games, you can start your way to the championship not with F1 in 2025, but with F2 in 2024. You can choose any real driver, at least one of the rookies, of which there are many in Formula 1 this year, or create your own.

We choose the format of the race weekend, from the full one, in which you wind up somewhere around 200+ laps in one stage, and which can take up your entire real weekend. To the shortened one of 25%, 33%, or 50% of the real one. Plus the qualifying format (real / shortened) and training. I do not advise skipping training, they really help you understand the tracks, study braking points, find better trajectories and hone your reflexes.

An alternative mode is the team manager's career, which in F1 25 has been significantly redesigned and called MyTeam 2.0. This is a kind of simplified F1 Manager 2024, where you have to conclude contracts with sponsors and drivers, build a base, research and make improvements, develop a strategy, etc. New in MyTeam 2.0 is a fan rating system and role elements for both each driver and the team owner. Plus, improved car customization, including the placement of sponsor logos.

In any case, you can also race in team manager mode, just choose which pilot you want to control at this stage, or turn on the race simulation.

F1 World

F1 World is an online mode of F1 25. There are both ranked competitions with other players and single-player tasks against bots. And instead of managing a team, there is a kind of MMORPG with car and team upgrades of different quality (white, green, blue, purple, gold, like in that Diablo) and level, access to new tasks, contracts, etc. In online races, you can compete both alone and by inviting friends, as a team. But keep in mind, the control of violations here is very strict, you can easily get a black-and-white flag, or even disqualification.

New to F1 World is a fan corner where you can choose the team and driver you support, improve their position in the overall ranking thanks to your own online performances, and communicate with other players.

But overall, F1 World is a world of its own that you still need to grow into. So we recommend starting with the career mode.

Codemaster's Last Dance

F1 25 is really a great game, maybe it's the best Codemaster game. It has a great rating and media reviews. It deserves the "Editor's Choice" badge, but... it seems that sales are not so good. On Steam, F1 25 was bought by 100 to 200 thousand players. I don't think that even adding all other platforms, sales have crossed the 500 thousand mark. And the problem here is not in the game, but rather in the genre itself.

Gamers have left racing simulators. There is only a fairly compact group of professional sim racers left who choose iRacing, rFactor 2 or Assetto Corsa Competizione and have no intention of changing them for anything else.

Almost all driving simulators in recent years have failed in sales. The only exceptions are such monsters as Gran Turismo 7 and Forza Motorsport, but the latter is on Game Pass, so it's hard to calculate sales there.

As for EA and Codemaster, when EA acquired the studio in 2021, it was already on the verge of closure. None of the games released since 2020, with the exception of the F1 series, have taken off. Dirt 5 (2020) is a total failure. Grid Legends (2021) is a failure. EA Sports WRC (2023)… so EA decided not to renew the WRC license and stop developing rally sims altogether. Layoffs have begun at Codemaster.

EA's license for Formula 1 games, a very expensive license by the way, expires this year. The publisher has an option for another two years, but... unless some miracle happens and the F1 movie doesn't attract hundreds of thousands of new players to F1 25... something tells me EA won't renew this license either.

Codemasters doesn't seem to have any other games in development, so in that case, the story of one of the oldest game studios in the world, founded in 1986, will come to an end. Who knows, but EA knows how to close legendary studios.

So, if you like racing and simulators, I suggest you enjoy the best Formula 1 simulator to date - F1 25. There's still time.