Faisal Ghaffar 
Overview
With one of the most significant changes to Formula 1 racing in over a decade taking place last season, it’s suprising that Codemasters’ F1 22 recreation focuses on the fundamentals. It’s easy to see only incremental improvements in this year’s F1 entry, with a clear focus on how the fast cars handle around tight corners and translating the truthfulness of the new regulations to players in a tangible way. Because of the emphasis on small but significant changes, F1 22 feels slightly thinner than this year’s version as a whole, but it’s still a worthy successor with how well it makes each edge feel in this new era of F1 racing.
Significant Changes
If you’re unfamiliar with how significant the changes in real-world Formula 1 racing this period have been, here are a few highlights. The cars are heavier this year, with the minimum allowable weight raised to cater a slew of aerodynamic changes and rules, many of which emphasise empowering nearer racing that is less affected by a loss in downforce (the amount of grip you have on a track) experienced when going to follow other cars. Many of these changes can be seen on the bottom of each car, with a downforce now trying to suck cars closer to the track at high speeds.
New Sides of the Game
F1 22 has the potential to be far more revolutionary than appears on the surface. If you’re returning to the sequence since last year’s entry, this year’s driving model contains more than enough significant changes that would make learning each track feel like a satisfactory challenge once more. This is especially true if you’re used to racing all over circuits with many of the show’s aids disabled, such as traction control. The heaviness of the new vehicles, as well as the temptation to reclaim control from the understeer, tests your patience on the throttle, making even the medium assist setting difficult to get used to. F1 22 hits the mark in terms of simulating the difficulties that primary drivers have faced as a result of these regulatory changes.
Settings of Game
The return of the many, numerous settings that allow you to customise F1 22 into an experience you can enjoy irrespective of your skill level is the flip side of this face difficult driving model. Numerous aids, such as trying to steer and braking aids, traction control, and ABS decelerating, can significantly reduce the number of factors you must consider as you enter each corner. Because they are all available independently of one another, you can mix up to find the perfect balance, while also adjusting AI difficulty to keep things feeling authentic. The addition of an adaptive AI setting to this year’s entry keeps other cars near enough for coherent overtakes if you’re less concerned with nailing every lap.
Final Comments
It stands to reason that, in a year when Formula One has seen so many changes, the majority of the focus for F1 22 has been on replicating the slew of regulatory changes in order and provide the expected authentic driving experience for which the series has become known. F1 22 delivers in this regard, providing a pleasingly challenging way to come to grips these excessive racing computers around every track on the Formula One calendar. F1 22 suffers from omissions and lacklustre additions, with less content than this year’s entering and a paid battle pass-like framework that locks away numerous items behind such a paywall. It’s a few rare missteps for a sequence that is incredibly consistent for so long, but thankfully they are few and far between.
