Here's a review a wrote for a South African Sunday Newspaper...
Power F1 - by Eidos
Wow, what a disappointment. After the release of Formula 1 Grand Prix 2 by
Microprose last year, internet games newsgroups were gagged with postings
on the genius of the racing simulator, how accurately the game modelled
real Formula 1 driving conditions, and what a joy the cars were to drive.
But with most postings came the same grumbling postscript: "Now here's my
wish-list for a better version of Grand Prix 2 - smarter Artificial
Intelligence, wet-weather conditions, penalties for jumping the start,
higher frame-rates, more control over car setups, and an endless list of
other concerns.
The recent release of Power F1 from Eidos has gone to some lengths to
include some of the features that Grand Prix 2 omitted, but most
unfortunately, has left out some basic elements that make a racing sim
***ive - most notably the ability to steer the car through a race! Talk
about shooting yourself in the foot.
Power F1 blasts the new user through the 1995 FIA Formula One Grand Prix
championship, with all the cars, drivers, advertising and the 17 circuits
of that year - even the new Nurburgring is included. On-track options
include practising, qualifying, and full races on each track, while the
technically minded will love the amount of tinkering that's allowed in the
garage - from suspension settings, gear ratios, tyre pressure and
compounds, right through to brake bias. Graphically Power F1 is easily on
par with the best racing simulators, evergreen trees, advertising boards,
and competitors flash by in a blur of speed and colour, while only in
replays do you get the feeling that cars look a little out of shape, as if
the wheels are sinking through the asphalt track.
Yes, but all these features aren't enough to offset some of the basic flaws
in the game, like that pesky, and downright annoying steering problem. It
just feels like there's no physics involved in this modelling - a wild yank
on the joystick will jerk the car through a hairpin corner, with no
apparent G-Force effects like understeer. The game sounds too seem
sub-standard, what should be the roar of a V12 engine sounds like the
perplexing combination of a sewing machine and a weed-eater.
What's more the track layouts aren't correct - most of the classic tight
corners on the world circuit seem to have been stretched out, made less
challenging. It seems Eidos have created Power F1 to be more of an arcade
game, especially when you consider that track information can be displayed
on-screen, so that drivers gets tips like "Jim Clark Kurve--right left,"
with little arrows suggesting which way you should turn into a corner.
Grand Prix 2, to which this simulator must ultimately be compared, had a
few eyebrow-raising omissions, but what it does simulate it does with 95%
accuracy. Power F1, on the other hand, has tried to include every element
of Formula 1 racing in its simulator, but heck, the overall accuracy just
isn't there.
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This is probably old news and I remember seeing a couple comments about it,
but what do people think of Power F1 from Eidos? Saw it at Compusa
complete with FIA logo and at least the box looks good.
