14 DAY TRIAL // 
I used to wake up at six in the morning to watch some Formula 1 races, just to see Schumacher winning. As a Ferrari fan this brought a lot of joy to my heart. Now, with him retired, the only way I can see Schumacher on Sundays is playing some F1 simulator. I suppose that in the next years we'll see him gone from the games as well, or maybe as an unlockable character in racing games. That's what you get for being a legend.
Story October 22 2006, Schumacher retires from Formula 1 racing. October 30 2006, I start playing F1 Grand Prix. October 31 2006, What the...? Racing game, huh? Arcade more likely...Let's give it a chance!
Concept This is a realistic game...NOT! It's all about driving an F1 car in the 2005 season. The pilots and teams are all there, with all the tracks that you knew or maybe forgot. We have the fog effects, the wicked track of Monaco, Alonso winning it all, few pole positions for Schumacher and all the rest. Qualify for a race, or start from the last place, those are your options when racing in the Tournament Mode. However you can also take a practice drive around the track to get familiar with the surroundings.
Oficial FIA license doesn't save the game considering that there are no car tweaks and the pit stop is a button mashing affair. In this game you can't cheat as much as you probably did in other Formula 1 games, and each cutting of a corner or drive through a curve will get you a penalty. The damage concept is funny here because it remains only a concept. By hitting other cars or the wall you'll get a triangular sign on-screen that get reds and says "Damage!" and...that's all. No pieces of your car flying around, flames, other types of wicked car destruction, nothing. I wonder if I'll ever get to see the safety car. Thank God there's one in the intro of this production. I suppose I must mention some of the tracks you'll get to race on. All the ones that you know are there, including the GP of Istanbul and Bahrain and the old ones of Spain, France, Canada or Hungary.
Gameplay Create your own profile, choose a flag and a cool avatar and...that's all. You're set for a couple of races that will surely (not) bring you the title. I wanted to play a racing game and I played this. I had fun the first couple of times, but when I started spinning and I saw the cars making sudden moves I realized that this has "arcade" written all over it. You might have had plans about tweaking your car. Well forget them! The only change you can do is choosing between an aggressive, balanced or defensive setup. Whatever that does to the car, as they're all the same to me with a small difference in grip.
Pit stopping is what you'll do at some point, although I can't understand how you can damage yourself and wear off the tires in just three laps. You heard me: three laps! Even if you're in the tournament mode, that's all you'll get. Beside the Quick Race Mode, Tournament and Multiplayer you'll be able to access some scenarios that bring a little bit of salt and pepper to an almost dull game. You'll have to get to the pit stop with faulty brakes, manage the car stuck in fifth gear, make a perfect pit stop or drive around Monaco when deep dark fog descends.
There's also the Time Trial option that allows you to race a ghost car in an attempt to set new records on each track. "Damn man, this game is tough!" Someone must have said something like that when they played the game for the first time. So, the producers implemented assisted braking making the titanic task of driving an F1 car easier. If racing gets boring (didn't see that coming) you'll have a TV Mode to explore in the menu of the game. Witness the AI having fun while you are not, while eating some popcorn.
Video I was stunned by the first cutscene, amazed and blown away. The speed, the rock music, the water drops on the screen, the roar of the engines...such a great game! And then...I saw that you can't notice any damage on the car, the tires look like gray pieces of concrete, but the tracks look pretty good. And let's not be mean, as the weather effects are nicely done, specially the fog and rain. The public however is not there...they are blocks of pixels probably cheering for their favorite teams. The pit stop is OK as graphics, but bad as the idea of it. If you're tired of over-the-car view you can try an inside view from the cockpit by pressing the triangle button. However the driving process will become a tough challenge.
Sound The first thing that I liked at this game (perhaps the only) was the soundtrack and the fact that I could listen to the songs during the races. I even turned the annoying engine roar down to hear Queens of the Stoneage, Andy Gray or Stereophonics playing. One cool feature is that you can plug in a memory stick and add a couple of new songs to the already original soundtrack.
Multiplayer The AI is pretty dull and boring, Alonso wins all the time and all the races are one and the same. So you'd better be ready to party and call some friends, and set up an F1 fiesta. 8 players can play this game and there's a lot to do. There's that nice Eliminator mode that will eliminate a car each lap and make you speed like a demon through any of the famous track you know. You'll get to do some multiplayer time trials, compare points tables, or just race around endlessly. A funny thing is that if you play in multiplayer mode by yourself you'll end up doing a single race that has 10 laps against 8 AI cars. Finally a decent number of laps to race!
Conclusion I had great expectations after watching the intro of the game and all the trailers. They grew with the menu and the first song of the soundtrack. After reaching a small climax, the expectations fell to agony when I saw the poor gameplay, the limited AI, the useless pit stops and the damage system. I wouldn't jump to call F1 Grand Prix a bad game, considering the producers tried to squeeze F1 2005 from the Playstation 2 to a PSP console. That's why they left out car tweakings, tutorials, but why leave out physics, damage, normal pit stops and a realistic number of laps? Sorry, but it is a mediocre game that can say "Thank You!" to a pretty good and entertaining multiplayer mode. Don't forget to check out the pretty girls on the game's site. They're not to be missed.
