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Formula One 04 Review - PS2

Formula One. The sport of aerodynamic, turbo-charged racing machines. Being one of the most popular sports in the world, a number of Formula One games - licensed or not - have been released on almost every console created. The latest of these is Formula One 2004.

Gameplay

Formula One 2004 is licensed, meaning it's packed with all of the official cars, from Ferrari to Renault; drivers, from Schumacher to Barichello; and tracks, from Melbourne to Bahrain. In addition to this, the game contains a wide variety of modes all categorised within three gameplay types. The Arcade mode contains the sub modes Arcade Race and Arcade Season, allowing you to get into the racing quickly and easily and see yourself speeding alongside the professionals, constantly enraged by horrible, annoying arcade commentary - thankfully, this isn't present in the other modes. The Simulation mode contains Custom Race, Race Weekend, World Championship, Time Attack and Test Drive. As its title suggests, the Simulation mode brings with it all of the official, regulated action of Formula One racing; damage, pit stops and the like are all present, provided you've turned them on in the game's Options section. The Career mode is the meat of the game but unfortunately also the least enjoyable. Here, you begin as a new Formula One driver, initially attempting to prove yourself in the racing world in order to be offered a position by a racing team. Accepting positions and performing well sees you racing in the championship races and advancing ranks in your career. The career mode features a great sub-menu that keeps you up to date on your career; with the tap of a button you can access your email inbox and fax messages, stay up to date on what's happening in the championship via a news page, advance to the next race and more. The career mode is, however, very frustrating, bearing tough gameplay that only the pros will be able to tackle with ease. During test runs, for instance, going off-road for a few seconds will see you failing, leaving you to sit through a variety of loading screens - which, mind you, feature in copious amounts throughout the game - before being able to simply retry.

It's often frustrating gameplay aside, Formula One 2004 does a brilliant job of representing the sport accurately and believably. All of the cars handle and act realistically provided you've set the simulation level in the Options menu high enough and the general structure of races stays true to what you've seen on television. On offer is a generous number of camera viewpoints, changeable at almost any time with a tap of the Triangle button. Of the five or so you'll come across those such as an above the driver's head view, which provides the coolest engine sounds, an in-car view, which realistically cuts off the top and bottom of the screen with the edges of the helmet, and the traditional behind the car view. Races are (continued next page)