Like every year, spring is synonymous with the resumption of the virtual season for budding F1 drivers. Since May 30, F125, the new edition of the official Formula 1 video game, has been available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
This year, we're going to be treated to a fairly complete game with a lot of new features, great improvements, and new content that will allow us to have a solid game that can keep us busy for many hours. Is that enough, though, and will it justify the purchase? Let's take stock.
F1 25: a nice graphical and sound improvement
Let's start with something relatively important, namely the graphical and sound improvements. For a few years now, Electronic Arts has been resting on its laurels and we can't say that the new installments impress us. So, sure, the games are already relatively beautiful, but a good polish wouldn't go amiss.
Please note that with this 2025 edition, the F1 game is entitled to a nice graphical improvement. Nothing revolutionary since we're not changing the graphics engine. On the other hand, we've still given great care to the environments with some circuits that have been completely redone to benefit from the new LiDAR technology.
Thus, the Bahrain, Miami, Melbourne, Suzuka and Imola circuits are entitled to a serious facelift allowing for an almost identical reproduction of the real circuits and their environments. For the rest, the game is still as visually beautiful with extremely detailed single-seaters faithful to the cars we see every race weekend.
The different resolutions of the game:
- Quality mode: 4K, 30 FPS + Ray Tracing (excluding race)
- Performance mode: 1080p, 60 FPS
- Quality mode (PS5 Pro): 4K (via PSSR), 60 FPS + Ray Tracing
- Performance mode (PS5 Pro): 4K (via PSSR), 120 fps
On the audio part, the game had the right There are also some nice improvements with better sound effects, an improvement in engine noise and the sound of the wind which seem much more realistic.
On the other hand, we regret that there was not better work on the audio part of the engineers or even the dubbing. Whether in the Breaking Point mode or the race instructions, it remains rather cheap with looping lines. Too bad.
Revised and improved gameplay
F1 24 was clearly disappointing when it was launched in terms of gameplay. The game was very poorly balanced, with F1 cars that could drift. It was far from the standards of simulation. Updates had helped to make up for lost time, but it was still below what we could expect from an official F1 game.
With F125, Electronic Arts and Codemasters are righting the ship. We are dealing with a much more polished and balanced game that offers much more fun, whether with the controller, but also and especially behind the wheel. The game is more demanding with more responsive F1 where it will be essential to properly dose the accelerator in the turns and when exiting curves to avoid spinning.
Of course, the game remains aimed at the general public and if you have no knowledge of motorsport and no experience, you will not be lost and it will be possible to play the game thanks to all the aids and accessibility options. On the other hand, for those who want a challenge, there will be plenty to do if you decide to launch in manual mode without any help.
Career mode and My Team more advanced
The two main game modes are getting a nice update. Starting with career mode. You can still choose a driver from the F1 grid or create your own driver. In this edition, you can also choose one of the drivers from the F1 movie (which will be released in theaters on June 25) or one of the drivers from the Konnersport team.
Among the new features, you have a whole section dedicated to specialists. They set you objectives to achieve each race weekend to improve your relationships and earn additional skill points. It's not much, but it adds more challenge to your career.
The contract and objectives section is also much more detailed and realistic, with contracts that (finally) end in December and not mid-season. The entire rivalry section, your short, medium, and long-term goals, have been improved and expanded.
But it's really with the "My Team" mode, renamed 2.0, that things have evolved the most. Now, this mode, which allows you to create and fully manage your team, offers you much more. To put it simply, the game mode has been considerably enriched in terms of features.
You must manage your entire team, from your staff, to your two drivers and sponsor management. For your drivers, you have a great responsibility for recruiting, but also for their involvement for each race weekend. You can choose to recruit young talents, drivers from the grid who are with other teams and even F1 icons like Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna.
The different objectives that we could have in the career mode are arriving in My Team 2.0, allowing for more challenges during your adventure. It will therefore be possible to take on rivalry challenges, improve the development of your car, gain more and more subscribers and fans on the networks. You will also have to manage your staff, activities and events outside of race weekends, etc.
In concrete terms, this probably offers us the most comprehensive game mode to date in an F1 game, which will keep you busy for many hours until the dream season when you and your drivers become world champion. Of course, you'll also be able to modify and improve your car with a brand new customization and sticker system to create your unique livery.
However, we regret that no effort has been made for driver creation. For example, we've always had the same avatars for at least four or five games, quite inexpressive, with still no way to add hair, change hairstyles, etc.
Breaking Point 3: The story mode is starting to falter
As with F1 21 and F1 23, this new installment offers us a new chapter of "Breaking Point". The story of the Konnersport team with drivers Aiden Jackson and Callie Mayer. It's been six seasons that we've been able to follow the adventures of this team with its ups and downs. This "Breaking Point 3" allows us to discover the 2024 and 2025 seasons, still with a scripted side, well-made cinematics and a Netflix-style interview side.
We're not going to lie, it's always a plus to have this little story mode in the game. Unfortunately, after three chapters, it's clear that we're starting to go around in circles and that the narration isn't really mastered. A lot of work has been done on the production and rendering of the characters with better animation management. On the other hand, the writing part remains rather unconvincing.
We are in a story very cliché and above all one which goes around in circles a little with pseudo rivalries which always end up having a happy ending. We would have liked a more serious story mode, with better-written dialogue.
The same goes for the objectives, which are often the same with few twists and surprises in the end. It's still enjoyable. You can easily start the story without having done the first two chapters (even if it is still preferable to have done them).
In terms of format, it remains the same with chapters in the different weekends of the season and main and secondary objectives to complete. You don't take part in the entire race, but in parts of the Grand Prix where you must complete your missions within a time limit, which is often defined by the end of the race and the number of laps remaining.
The new feature is that you can now control the director of the Konnersport team and make decisions that will impact the team's performance and reputation.
The F1 movie is coming to F1 25
This month sees the release of the official F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, and Damson Idris. The film, expected on June 25, will introduce us to the story of Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a 1990s F1 prodigy who was forced to retire after a terrible accident. More than 30 years later, he returns to the spotlight to help his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), the boss of an F1 team on the verge of bankruptcy.
With F1 25, you have a game mode inspired by the F1 movie, offering excerpts from the feature film with challenges and missions to complete to relive the film's key moments. For the moment, of the seven chapters, only one is available with a test session at Silverstone. The other chapters will be unlocked on June 30, after the film's release.
Again, this isn't anything revolutionary, but it adds some cool content, especially with official images from the film. We're already looking forward to seeing the next chapters at the end of the month.
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