F1 23 Xbox Series X Review

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Fast Facts

Introduction

This season’s Formula One offering has been out for a couple of months now. While it’s a game that’s very similar to last year’s outing, much like it’s real-world counterpart – there’s been a few changes.

While the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battle on the track (and Toto Wolff and Christian Horner battle off it), F1 23 places the entire 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship season at your fingertips. Will you reign supreme as team Red Bull? Or could your smooth driving lead BWT Alpine to their first Constructors championship? Maybe you’ll dominate the grid as your own Constructor/driver. Or is it the return of Aiden Jackson and Breaking Point that takes your fancy? Regardless of how you decide to play F1 23, it’s over to the grid as we head to lights out…

Breaking Point 2

After the disappointment of missing out on “qualifying” for last year’s offering, Breaking Point makes its triumphant return. Back in my review for F1 21, I praised the original Breaking Point story in its attempt to capture the thrills and spills that happen on and off the track. Even as the story headed into some pretty cliche moments, Breaking Point 1 did great to introduce us to rookie driver Aiden Jackson.

With Breaking Point 2, the experience is still much the same with the narrative picking up straight after the conclusion of the previous season. This time Jackson sees himself as a driver for season newbies Konnertsport Racing Team. Joining Jackson is a fellow driver – and Breaking Point antagonist – Devon Butler. The two now have to put their past rivalry aside in order to work as a team. With plenty of returning faces, Breaking Point 2 certainly captures the highs and lows – and all the drama – that comes with Formula One.

I’m particularly being vague with the story as it’s one that’s best appreciated with going into blind. What I will say is that the extra time due to not being included in last year’s offering has allowed Codemasters to refine those aspects that slowed the first season down.

Old Favourite’s

Away from Breaking Point, F1 23 has a few returning modes that cater for every budding driver’s needs. From the simple Grand Prix which allows you to experience a single weekend from the calendar to Time Attack, which needs no explanation. There are also returns from My Driver and My Team.

While the fundamentals of both My Team and My Driver are the same, the two modes are also very different. My Driver is the traditional way to play that sees you create a custom driver to then shape your career within the sport. From dealing with on-track drama, negotiating team contracts, challenging rivals, and managing your R&D, My Driver gives you complete freedom to play as you wish.

My Team however offers a more robust version of the career mode that sees you playing the role of team principal and driver. Here you’ll be in charge of creating your own F1 team from scratch. This means that you’ll have to design your own car. Choosing its engine manufacturer and designing livery, negotiating lucrative sponsorship deals, and securing the talents of a second driver. This is all well and good, but the added layer is you’ll also need to manage your team’s financial budget to keep your drivers – and car – up to scratch.

With each career experience offering a decade’s worth of simulation, it’s definitely worth investing the time into seeing the whole thing through as things can get a little crazy. For my first career, come the third season Hamilton and Verstappen had both signed for Lotus, while my own driver went from McLaren to Ferrari and was teamed with Sergio Pérez.

F1 Your Way!

Regardless of what version of career mode you choose when it comes to the track things stay par for the course. Season length can be customised with circuits added and removed, and individual sessions can be shortened for those who want to quickly get onto the track. Practice sessions and qualifying can also be simulated with the game’s AI taking over the action for you.

When it comes to being on the track, Codemasters continues to offer various driving assists and difficulty options. This continues to make F1 an incredibly accessible experience for players of every ability. These assists can also be toggled on and off at any point and is a great way to measure your own skill growth. Likewise, your fellow drivers also have an adjustable difficulty slider which allows for very tight control over just how much of a challenge you want the game to be.

For me, I found that having a couple of driving assists on and the difficulty set between 60-80 was the perfect sweet spot. This didn’t necessarily make the game too easy or too difficult, but gave me enough of a challenge to see my competitive side emerge. For an additional challenge, weather also plays a part in how your race will go. And fans of the real-world sport will certainly know of a few instances where a race has been won or lost due to inclement conditions.

Multiplayer

Ever since my Forza Motorsport 2 days I’ve drifted away from competitive racing multiplayer. Yet this has changed this year due to the inclusion of a new mode dubbed ‘F1 World’. A vast improvement over last year’s F1 Life, F1 World brings together the single-player and multi-player components all under one roof.

Featuring both solo and competitive challenges with cross-progression between the two, F1 World offers many different ways to play. Challenges are also spread across both sides and come in a range of daily, weekly, and seasonal variants. The challenges are also pretty simple to complete with some simply asking you to complete X amount of races or drive a certain amount of laps on a single track. Vendors also offer their own tasks, which upon completion will reward you with performance upgrades, rather than brand-new parts.

Much like EAFC’s Ultimate Team, the goal here is to complete these challenges to upgrade your car. However, in a twist of fate the more powerful your car gets, the more powerful the AI gets. This means that you can’t simply outclass your opponents and you’ll have to rely on your own driving skills to succeed.

Under The Hood

When it comes to developing a yearly sports sim, it can quite often seem like the core game mechanics remain the same. Thankfully this year Codemasters have further refined how the cars handle to create an even more realistic experience. For those of us who want a more arcade experience, F1 23 also comes with a whole suite of accessibility features. Everything from how your car handles, to the difficulty of the game’s AI can be adjusted. As your skills improve these options can then be turned down – or removed completely – to allow for an even greater immersive experience. Accessibility also connects with race weekends too, with the ability to shorten practice sessions or letting the AI drive for you.

Elsewhere, new additions come from a refined UI, new commentary call-outs (sadly Rob still isn’t one!), Natalie Pinkham pit walks, circuit layouts, and finally the inclusion of the new circuits at Las Vegas and Qatar Losail. Also, a somewhat niche option of shortening a race to 35% makes its debut. Personally, I feel that the normal mid-range option of 50% gives a pretty decent race, but having more ways to play isn’t a bad thing.

Presentation

It really goes without saying that being an officially licensed FIA title, F1 23 looks – and sounds – incredible. Each track has been photorealisticly recreated with an incredible degree of precision. The cars of F1 have also had an overhaul with the ending result being a carbon copy of their real-world selves. Weather has also had a visual upgrade with greater effects now being given to those rain-soaked events. While for the most you’ll either get rain or sunshine, inclement weather is included and on occasion, a downpour is only a few laps away.

Sound design is also of a similar quality, with the feverish sounds of engines and crew chatter. Ant Davidson, Crofty, Pinkham, and the crew give a massive amount of realism to Breaking Point 2.

Podium Finish?

Overall, F1 23 continues to be Codemaster’s love letter to the high-octane world that is Formula One. Everything that the game has to offer has been meticulously crafted to offer the best – and most – inclusive experience possible. From the next chapter for Aidan Butler in Breaking Point 2, the extensive career modes, or the vastly improved F1 World, there are plenty of ways for you to play the game how you want! And with a whole host of accessibility options that cater for budding drivers, and series veterans, there’s no better time to get stuck in.

I’ll hopefully see you on the podium!

Rapid Reviews Rating

4.5 out of 5

4.5

F1 2023 is available now and can be purchased digitally from the Microsoft Store by clicking here.