F1 24 review

What is it? The latest instalment in Codemasters’ long-running series of official Formula One games.
Release date May 31, 2024
Expect to pay $70/£60
Developer Codemasters
Publisher Electronic Arts
Reviewed on Nvidia RTX 2070, 16GB RAM, Intel i7 10th Gen
Steam Deck Unsupported
Link Official site

Last year’s F1 23 was great because it offered three compelling single-player pillars, including the lavishly-produced, Drive To Survive-esque story mode. Take that away, in the now-predictable two-year cycle for such major features, and you’re left with something that really does invite the question of whether it could have just been DLC instead, despite a new emphasis on assuming the role of real drivers. 

Without the story mode, there’s a definite feeling of having done this before. Even the supposedly all-new career mode is predictable. Will we start the new weekend with a practice session in which we fulfil three R&D tasks? Yes, we will. What was once an innovative and enjoyable practice session which taught you the track and how to play the game is now some seven years old and overly-familiar. Sure, you can skip the practice targets using the ‘simulate practice’ option, which is a sort-of-fun minigame of risk, reward and quick thinking as you balance time left with percentage chances of failing the task, but if you’re skipping the part of the game where you play it, why did you buy it?

You bought it for the racing, of course. And in that respect at least, it’s still very good. Fast, responsive driving on all the real tracks, including four that have been entirely remodeled. The handling has been tweaked and feels a touch lighter than last year’s game. Max Verstappen himself has apparently helped Codemasters tweak the handling to make it more realistic, which is probably why it feels so smooth and driveable. Unfortunately, the rest of the gameplay is less polished than we’ve come to expect.

Cars still exhibit a tendency to turn in on you even when you’re clearly alongside at