Hands-onF1 2001

F1 games were a dime a dozen in the last generation of consoles, with nearly every major third-party developer working on an F1 game for one platform or another. But in this new era of superpowered video game machines, the whine of Formula 1 engines has yet to surface. EA Sports will be the one of the first to fill the gap with F1 2001 for the Xbox, which demonstrates that with this new generation of consoles comes a sense of speed that finally does this sort of racing justice.

EA has secured the official F1 license for F1 2001, which enables it to include all the drivers, tracks, and events found in the FIA 2001 Formula 1 World Championship. This amounts to 17 licensed tracks and 22 real-world drivers from 11 racing teams. The only drivers that have been officially announced are Juan-Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikonnen. Representatives from EA stated that the Indianapolis, Melbourne, and Montreal tracks are confirmed to make an appearance in F1 2001. Like in EA's past takes on F1 racing, the Formula 1 cars in F1 2001 suck to the road like a vacuum in dry conditions. If you get caught on a wet track with slicks on the rims, the handling can become treacherous rather quickly. F1 2001 handles more like an arcade racer than a rigid F1 sim, making it possible to take the corners with some gusto without spinning out into the grass or swapping paint with the crash barrier. In the version we played, the A button controls acceleration, the B button applies the brakes, and the X button drops the transmission into reverse.

The artificial intelligence used for the computer-controlled cars has been EA Sports' developmental focus over the past year, and it shows. With 22 cars in each race, the corners quickly become a chess match as drivers jockey for position and fight for the perfect line through a set of turns. The cars take real-time damage if you draw contact with the competition or get friendly with the walls surrounding the track. If the car is damaged too badly, your pit crew will signal you bring it in for repairs. This scenario is made more likely by dynamic weather conditions that change on the fly. It can be raining at one section of the track and dry at another. In addition to alerting you to a badly damaged vehicle, your pit crew will jump on the radio and give you some advanced warning concerning changing track conditions, the position of rival cars, and when it's time to pit for some fuel. Once in the pits, you must orchestrate the tire changing, repairs, and refueling.

The Xbox version of F1 2001 has an impressive sense of speed. The frame rates are solid even when all 22 cars are onscreen at once. The track environments are fairly sparse, but this is a common ailment of driving games that are still in the early stages of development. Save for a few grandstands, there isn't much more in the way of offtrack structures. The cars feature flowing curves with no jagged edges, and the textures applied to each one are crisp and clear enough to read all the sponsor decals each body is plastered with. Particle effects are emitted from the tires when they break loose from the pavement and start to spin or when an unsuspecting driver takes a turn with too much momentum and spins out into the grass. Incidentally, a quick trip through the grass will turn the tires green until enough distance has been traveled on the pavement to wear it off. Rain can appear at any time, and its graphical representation looks quite good. The water that the cars' tires displace sprays out in a realistic manner, and the wet tracks reflect portions of the cars.

On the audio front, F1 2001 already includes the deafening scream that Formula 1 cars are known for, and your pit crew will constantly chime in with advice. The constant chatter can grate on the nerves at times, and there was no option to adjust the sound levels in the version we played.

F1 2001 for the Xbox is still very early in development and should improve significantly before it's released later this year. What has been completed thus far is a solid foundation that EA Sports can build a quality F1 game on top of. The frame rates are solid, the cars look great, and the controls are designed to appeal to a wide range of players. As the only F1 game in development for Microsoft's console, it should get a good look from consumers. We'll have more on F1 2001 when information becomes available.