Formula 1 2009 for Wii and PSP | Game preview
The first title from Codemasters since they obtained the Formula One license from Sony in 2008, and coded by Sumo Digital on Codemasters own EGO engine (of DiRt 2 fame), F1 2009 suffers from high expectations.
This release is in some ways a taster for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, titled F1 2010 and due out next year, which will be much more sophisticated. This Wii version could therefore have been awful – a lazy stopgap, DiRt 2 with different tracks and skins. Not so.
This one is being aimed at "F1 dads and lads", and boasts cleverly thought-out difficulty settings designed to allow a 30-something father to plug in and race with his son, regardless of differing abilities. If you both have saved driver profiles, it will take into account your previous races and suggest difficulty settings to keep the race even. That's a clever idea.
There is a full F1 season mode, too, for single player, and all of this season's circuits and drivers including the brand new Abu Dhabi circuit and Singapore night race are included. It's not a stopgap at all, in fact, but a pretty decent game in its own right.
Coders Sumo Digital have created a bespoke little gem for their Codemasters overlords, and have managed to squeeze every last graphical ounce the Wii has to give.
The graphics are therefore excellent – for a Wii – if a little sparse, but there is no chance of them confusing younger players. It looks, assumedly with the youth in mind, very bright and cheerful. The sky is bright blue, the grass a beautiful green, and so on. It could have been clashing, but it's pretty pleasing on the eye.
Formula 1 2009
There are an overwhelming array of control options. Wii remote, Wii remote in a wheel-shaped holster (one of these will come with the game, a la Mario Kart), Logitech wheel, Wii remote and nunchuk and classic controller, each of which make for very different playing styles, but they're all balanced very well. None of them is a dud option; it is perfectly possible for dad to play the game with the more grown-up classic controller, while his seven-year-old son uses the Wii remote in the steering wheel cradle, with neither finding themselves at a disadvantage – although I did find the Wii's motion sensor made fine car control difficult.
The PSP version is pretty much the same game, and it works very well. It's a serious chunk of game for a portable device.
Sumo have achieved what they set out to achieve. Easy to learn, but with the driving aids turned off and all the customisation features – you can set the camber of your tyres and muck around with your shocks and springs, if that's your cup of tea – also pretty difficult to master.
This is essentially a beginners game, but with enough content to keep experts interested and entertained until the meaty consoles get their versions next year.
On Monday, we will have an interview with the game's lead designer, Ned Waterhouse. Formula 1 2009 will be released on 20 November