Formula One 2001 review (PlayStation 2)

Creating graphics for a Formula One game is no easy task. With 22 cars onscreen at once, expansive tracks, and a great number of off-track objects, there are a lot of polygons for the hardware to push. Formula One 2001 is an excellent example of this issue. The cars look great except that the decals and other logos littering their bodies have been removed, making it impossible to tell one car from another. The sprawling tracks have some problems with draw-in during especially long straightaways, and the off-track detail is considerably low for grandstands, buildings, and trees. There are five different weather settings included in the game, and Formula One 2001 looks its best when cars are kicking up trails of water during rainstorms. There are a number of details that aid in making the game immersive, such as grass congregating on tires, particle effects for smoke during spinouts, and real-time reflections both on the bodies of the cars and in their rear view mirrors. There are three different camera angles to choose from, including a first-person view, a cockpit view replete with the bobbing head of the driver, and a traditional view that shows the entire car. The main issue with Formula One 2001's graphics, outside of the lack of off-track detail, is the frame rate. The game will sometimes slow to a crawl when several cars are onscreen at once, and some tracks with a great deal of off-track geometry border on unplayable. The sense of speed is seriously hampered by the erratic frame rates as well--going 150mph often feels more like 45mph. While by no means ugly, Formula One 2001's graphics fail to impress. The cars look fine, but the tracks and the environments surrounding them often look the same due to repeated textures. There are a few nice touches that can be discovered after extended play, but nothing that hasn't been done in F1 games before.

If you've ever been to a live F1 race and forgotten earplugs, chances are you were hanging out by the concession stand before the fifth lap. The cars are loud, but this never really comes through in Formula One 2001. They have the telltale whine that most are familiar with, but the way the car sounds are mixed with the other aural elements makes them seem muted. The announcer is awful. His statements repeat constantly, and he says the drivers' names in such a deadpan manner that when the computer puts all the samples together to form a sentence, it sounds hilarious. The lack of chatter from your pit crew also makes playing Formula One 2001 seem like a solitary experience most of the time. They'll jump in with a snide remark before beginning the final lap, but that's about it. The soundtrack is composed of progressive house. While it doesn't necessarily fit the game all that well, it's good nevertheless.

If you're looking for an F1 game for your PlayStation 2, you would do well to give Formula One 2001 a look. It's not the most visually astounding game, but it finds middle ground between being a rigid sim and a strap-in-and-stomp-it arcade racer. The wealth of customizable options combined with a tight, user-friendly control scheme result in an F1 game that will appeal to more than just gearheads. But the game's several gameplay quirks ensure that it falls short of perfection.