This is as playable as Pro Evolution Soccer – and for me, that’s high praise indeed. Each track, each position gained, each level ascended to in terms of making the car truly yours to control is an achievement. (That said, the developer, Liverpool Studios, has had to expend some time and energy on making the easy starter pieces as easy as an arcade machine on the pier at Southsea.)
And then there are the pit-stops – a selection of timed and sequenced button presses that will win or lose you places, if not races. For many years it was the pit-stops that made real-life F1 watchable, they were close to being the only really exciting bits (what with all the saaaaaftey - I mean, surely the kind of person who wants to be an F1 driver does not want to be health and safety inspector? “That Was The Way He Wanted To Go” was surely the epitaph for our helmeted, fag-logoed heroes, not “He ensured that the walkways were clear and there was a regular fire-hydrant test”). In F1CE they're not quite as centrally fixating, but they are important.
SPOnG Score: 79%
If you’re after graphical and visual stunnery, then head elsewhere. I know the developers have tried to make noise and backgrounds inoffensive, but that’s not the point. The point of this game is speed, control and skill. The exclusion of rumble is a political issue, now hopefully resolved. The inclusion of the wireless Sixaxis tilt for steering, on the other hand (pardon the pun), makes for some engrossing play in which you really have to learn to set your motor up and then make it yours. Finally, boy, can you feel the speed.
