F1 23, the official game of the 2023 Formula One Championship, is back and better than ever, and Codemasters have listened to everything we wanted, adding two new circuits, the first one being Qatar’s Losail International Circuit, and the second letting you fly under streetlights on the new Las Vegas Circuit, but the high-octane fun doesn’t stop there. They’ve also adjusted some fan favorites, like the Circuit De Barcelona Catalunya in Spain, and the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Braking Point is back with the second installment, Braking Point 2, but I’m not going to spoil the story for you. You take control of the young Aidan Jackson once again, and the person that people learned to love, Devon Butler, and they both find themselves signing for Konnersport Racing Team – the newest team to join the Formula One Grid. You won’t be disappointed where this story takes you.

Codemasters have listened to what the people want, and the people wanted 35% Race Distance, so that has also been thrown into this year’s title, which offers a perfect balance. The race is not too short and not too long, but it’s long enough, and you still need to think about fuel and tyre wear, which makes the strategy behind racing all the more immersive. I was able to check this out on a variety of circuits, including Miami, Great Britain, Bahrain, and Imola.

There is a new feature this year called Precision Drive, which has given more power and more control to players using a controller. It’s a complete controller tech rewrite that has given more response in those crucial moments when you need it. I played a fair bit with this feature in the preview, and it’s something that you can really feel the difference in gameplay, which has always been a downfall in using a controller compared to a wheel.

You generally feel like you have more response and more time with the wheel, but with this new system implemented, you feel like you are completely in control of the vehicle, and you feel more in tune with the car.

The developers went above and beyond with this year’s title by listening to real feedback from Formula One Teams. This improved things like the vehicles handling – the level of control players have, and how the cars behave on the tracks. You will instantly feel that you have more traction on the tracks when you need it and more control when you are hitting those apex corners at high speeds. You can also feel the improved control of the brakes when you come flying into a corner after a straight.

Like previous years Grand Prix is back again, which for the die-hard Formula One fans is a much-loved game mode, allowing you to do everything from practice sessions and qualifying laps to the day everyone loves, race day. Like in previous years, there are different-sized Grand Prix events you can choose from, depending on how long you want to put into the gaming session.

The full-sized weekends do take a fair bit of time to complete, but they are something worth doing if you have never done one before. You can choose your favorite professional driver to throw around your favorite track, and if you are like me, the first full-sized Grand Prix you will do is Melbourne’s track.

The campaign mode in this year’s title is good fun, and you can either do it by yourself, or you can recruit a mate and take part in a co-op campaign where you race as teammates. It would have been cool to see multiple online teams racing in the campaign mode for a little more fun, but the campaign alone is amazing, and it only gets better when you have someone to do it with.

Time Trials are back and I’m still as bad at them as when I first attempted them. I’m not sure if I’m putting unnecessary pressure on myself, but I seem to be able to throw laps around my favorite tracks quicker in a race. You can choose your preferred track and your favorite car, and then throw the fastest lap humanly possible, but if you are like me, it won’t be quick compared to some of the racers out there that love the F1 Series.

You can also join or create multiplayer Grand Prix races where you can get a full lobby of people racing on a track, which again, didn’t end well for me, often resulting in a “DNF” for me, which, for anyone that is not a racing fan means “Did Not Finish.” You can have the AI difficulty on as hard as possible and you will still get beaten by someone online, almost making you look like you have never touched the game before.

The controls have been completely dialed in now, but it doesn’t just come down to what controls you are using. The car feels more authentic and you feel like you have more control over it. Everything runs exactly how you would expect in real life, which was something that immersed me further into races. It felt like I was properly behind the wheel winning races as either Hamilton or Verstappen.

Like previous years, the controller setup is much the same for default control users, and if you are new to the series, I would recommend doing some “Quick Races” to familiarize yourself with the vehicles and the controls before going for gold as there is a lot to learn. Compared to previous years, the cars feel like they stick to the ground better and you have more control over how it’s handling, and if you throw it over a corner, you feel it. There was no delay when wanting to put the car in a certain position, which was great when you are throwing it through a chicane at 200 kilometers an hour or even quicker.

There is more to a Formula One game than the amazing sounds that come out of the vehicles, which I’m not going to take away from as Formula One cars will always sound amazing. You have your pit crew talking to you while you are flying around the track, or the crowd making noise as you fly up the pit straight. The game is so immersive in that aspect. The voice acting in Braking Point 2 was spot on, and it felt like I was sitting in a cinema watching a movie. There is nothing better than some strong voice acting and an awesome video to immerse you into the game further, before being thrown behind a wheel going at great speeds.

VR has made its way into our living rooms more times than ever before, and you can now sit down, put on your VR headset, and fully immerse yourself in the Formula One world. There is a long list of VR headsets that are supported, but unfortunately. I don’t own VR, so I could not test this feature. It’s something I might need to look into. Being able to look around the cockpit of a Formula One car is something that would be ideal for my racing career.

There was not one moment where I did not love the graphics in this year’s title. Year after year I comment on how far graphics have come and that it surely could not get better. Codemasters have absolutely blown it out of the park with this year’s title, and it’s hard to understand that we got our hands on a preview build with how beautiful it is. Everything was so dialed in, and for the first time, I can say the environment around the track looked realistic.

F1 23 has been meticulously crafted, and the results are vehicles that look incredibly real and handle like a dream, especially compared to previous years. There will always be tracks that will challenge you, and there are sure to be tracks that you’ll prefer, but F1 23 offers the best way to experience them, and even greater ways to try and set your personal best.

Written by: Hayden Nelson