Formula 1 2002 crack

Imagine tearing along a thin strip of tarmac at miles an hour, with your arse cheeks mere inches from the asphalt, and death mocking your every mistake. Well imagine no more. Set yourself up with a decent wheel, slouch down in your chair and move close to the monitor and it almost feels as though you're in the thick of it, with the force feedback sending shudders up your forearms as you glide over every bump and divot.

Whatever your thoughts about Formula One, F1 is a game of such quality that it actually makes you care. It's so immersive, detailed and entertaining that you actually want to try really hard in qualifying, in order to secure a decent position on the grid, where split seconds can make the difference between the contenders and the also-rans. It's so much fun that you won't even want to restart every race when your car picks up any damage. You can even safely play full-length races, and carefully judged pitstops can give you a huge advantage.

It's almost unheard of from an F1 game, and as with its predecessor you can customise each race to either anally-hardcore proportions or simply play from a more arcadey behind-car viewpoint. Buy F1 and you'll be able to live the dream, in whatever way you may envisage it. However, if you want to play the game as realistically as possible, you're going to have to prepare yourself for some extensive car tweaking.

It's easy to dismiss this as essentially a typical EA Sports wash-and-brush-up of the last version of the game, but on closer inspection you'll soon find that this year's model comes with far more features see boxout , catering for F1 lovers of all abilities from Richie Shoemaker to Michael Schumacher. With all the aids switched on, it's virtually monkey proof, enabling you to tear round the tightest of tracks with aplomb.

However, simply switch the autobrake off and you realise you haven't actually been playing the game at all, rather that it's been playing you. There are so many driver aids - brake, steering, shift, clutch, invulnerability, stability - that finding a happy medium is almost impossible, unless of course you're content to play the game as a glorified destruction derby.

Worse still, all of the aids can be altered ingame, so you often find yourself switching off the autobrake in an attempt to make up time, and then flicking it back on as you approach a tricky chicane.

It's tantamount to cheating. And that's before you've even started tinkering with the Al drivers' ability and aggression. It's a minefield, but to be honest that's the only real quibble with what is a superb Formula One game. It looks and sounds brilliant, has all the latest data and even the Al is up to scratch. Traditionally the cars stick to the racing line like shit to a blanket, but here they do seem to have some sense of self-preservation, although that said, they aren't completely averse to giving you the occasional nudge, making for some seat of the pants racing.

Hats off to EA then, whose ruthless business model has seen them forge ahead in the F1 stakes. While Geoff Crammond takes an age to deliver outdated efforts, F1 is sitting pretty in pole position. Following last year's positive review of EA's F1 game, we received a sackload of mail well, one crudely daubed letter berating our lack of professionalism for recommending a game that didn't feature telemetry.

The first game designed to represent the season, the game features the new Toyota F1 and Renault F1 teams in addition to all the returning favorites. This PC version of the title offers special features such as multiplayer racing, fully animated man pit crews, and the option to use the state-of-the-art cockpit technology found in many real-life F1 machines. Race for the checkered flag with skill, strategy, and style.

There's nothing quite like the rush of burning simulated rubber. I suppose that's why there are more racing games around than you can shake a stick shift at. Of course, the spectrum for this genre is so broad that it has broken up into numerous sub-genres over time. On one end of the current spectrum are over-the-top arcade racers like Crazy Taxi, Midtown Madness, and Grand Theft Auto, in which the primary objectives tend to revolve around wreaking maximum havoc behind the wheel.

On the other end of the spectrum are meticulous simulations such as the Gran Turismo games and Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix line. In these games, smashing into the opposition is sourly frowned upon, and the ultimate objective is to become an ace driver capable of tweaking a car to perfection and truly paying your dues for first place status. EA Sports' F1 shares this latter objective, but has a more reasonable learning curve and a more initially arcade-like feel than one might expect from a Formula One racing simulator.

It doesn't go so far as to reward poor driving, but there are enough drivers' aids features available to allow newbies a very smooth transition into what might otherwise be a very daunting game experience.

Of course, to those familiar with the F1 line, this is nothing to be particularly surprised about, even if this latest edition happens to be the best in the series and it most certainly is. But for casual gamers seeking an introduction to the F1 realm, this one's for you.

For those itching to hit the tarmac without a fuss, it's possible to start a race within moments of first installing the game. The initial default settings are pretty forgiving and geared towards the likes of such impetuous gamers. Enter a name for your driver, click through the easy-to-navigate iconic menu to choose your car, driver, nationality, and desired track, and you'll be racing in next to no time not counting the customary sluggish load times that are an irksome trademark of the EA Sports line.

The chances of coming in first place without getting considerably more involved in the particulars are next to nil, but you'll find that as you hug a curve, the car magically helps you along, slowing down a bit, even steering slightly on its own at times.

Moreover, should you happen to plow through an opposing vehicle, you'll find that amid the explosive burst of broken axles and twisted metal, your own set of wheels remains perfectly intact. Should you happen to spin out and face the wrong direction following such a distraction, your vehicle will automatically reorient itself.

This is a far cry from the overall scope of what this game has to offer, but it provides a reasonable segue between casual arcade racing and the more nuanced realm of hardcore F1 simulation. Once you're ready to ditch KITT and turn professional, it's a good idea to read the straightforward "default controls" and "cockpit overview" sections of the instruction manual, then play a few rounds at the driving school, gradually toggling the assistance features off as your skills improve.

Basic controls, from acceleration and general movement to gear shifting, can be handled with any standard joystick, gamepad, wheel controller, or keyboard. Force feedback support is also available, a first for this series, and a definite bonus for owners of the appropriate hardware. More advanced controls such as sorting through various difficulty and display settings are designated to the keyboard by default.

There are far too many control features to detail here, and they are all well catalogued in the instruction manual. Advanced players will appreciate the option to adjust controller rates, which serves to fine-tune your controller's input sensitivity, making for a smoother, more intuitive racing experience.

The driving school serves as more than a simple tutorial session, as you'll be competing with your own best times from the get-go. Colored lines and flashing cones on the driving school circuit indicate the best paths, key braking points, and key acceleration points for each section of track.