Formula One 2003 (PS2)

Promising greater detail than ever before, including new AI routines to incorporate rival driver personalities, I was expecting to be blown away. And I was, but let’s get one or two negatives out of the way now. The visuals were not quite as polished as expected, the cars are extremely difficult to drive smoothly… and Jarno Trulli’s virtual alter ego drives like he’s blindfolded behind the wheel of a Jo’burg minibus taxi. Terrible!

But seriously now, besides these “not quite there” criticisms, this game can really get emotions running – utter disbelief as a Renault engine cries enough on lap one after qualifying on pole, for example, or being punted off by your team-mate three laps from the end while in second place (Trulli stupid move that, Jarno).

The sound is brilliant – listen for the traction control – and it offers a variety of gameplay options… arcade, full championship, time trial, race weekend and custom race, where you pick the number of laps, your car and the position on the grid. The game’s challenging nature makes it very addictive. I played it on rookie level, switched off the brake wear and fuel usage options, but activated the crash realism.

Well, about 498 front wings later, all I can say is that, of the six or so games I’m reviewing at the moment, this is the one that I always come back to. And that, if you can win races on professional level, you should be in F1 yourself!