After recently acquiring the F1 title after the announcement of a new operator over Codemasters, EA Sports official dropped their first title underneath their banner; F1 2021. The first major racing simulator on the Next Gen consoles.While the F1 franchise has seen its ups and downs over the countless titles that have been released in the franchise, F1 2021 seems to have moved forward into the future with an overall stellar game and updated physics engine this year.
F1 2021 introduces us to all new story line set within the confines of Formula One. Breaking Point will be about an eight-hour story mode set over three seasons, from 2019 to 2021. The story follows Aiden Jackson, a young and rising talent in the F1 world as you see him win a F2 championship and then sign on to one of the five teams that you can choose within the story. (AlphaTauri, Hass, Williams, Alfa Romeo, and Racing Point - Aston Martin Racing) Joining you in this story is Casper Akkerman, who is a grizzled veteran of Formula One who still has something to prove even in the twilight of his career. The antagonist in the story line is Devon Butler, another young driver who has also come blazing through the developmental series. The story mode has similar parallels to other EA Sports story modes like Madden NFL's Face of the Franchise. Breaking Point in a way offers more in-depth character arcs and a more engaging story. Even though it is something that players only play once or twice through and never touch again, the story adds much-needed content to bring a fresh breath of air into this year's title. Adding to this years title is an update MyTeam mode that puts you as an owner-driver role in Formula One, something NASCAR fans wish they had in a game. Having the ability to sign sponsors and drivers, upgrade your facility and R&D departments adds depth to make each day on an F1 calendar as engaging as ever. Practice has been streamlined so you could skip the on-track development and let that be an automated process. Which is a very nice touch if you just want to focus entirely on the on-track aspect of a weekend. If you buy the Deluxe Edition of the game, you have the option to sign F1 legends to your MyTeam like Senna, Schumacher, Prost, and Rosberg just to name a few...if you have the available funds that is. F1 2021 also has received some graphics updates. Taking advantage of the power of new graphics cards and new consoles that have been released to the market. The physics engine feels phenomenal, which we have come to expect in F1 games released in the past few years. As a driver, no longer can you adjust fuel mixtures during the race, which is as expected following the F1 rules set out in 2021. To defend, which may cause some headaches in online playing, will be using ERS reserves or taking defensive lines going into braking zones, which could lead to much closer racing. In short, the EA Sports F1 2021 venture is off to a very great start. Nothing about this title feels old or being repurposed from last year. With the addition of Braking Point, the title feels fresh again. A great foundation to build on into the future. We here at RacingRefresh.com give F1 2021 a 9/10. A definite must buy for a Formula One fan or a sim racer in general.