F1 24's career mode has given me the Drive to Survive, and hope for other EA Sports titles
While I love sports games, I’ve never truly vibed with Formula 1 as a sport or as a videogame. While I’m pretty sure my Dad chose my first PS1 bundle for its inclusion of F1 98, I’m not a “sim racer” kind of player.
Forza Horizon? Sure! Burnout? Now you’re just teasing, but F1 both as a sport and as a video game has felt too sterile for me. That is until I watched Drive To Survive, Netlix’s excellent documentary series. Every F-bomb, every teammate disagreement, every dramatic race is gripping - and F1 24 is the closest I’ve come to matching that.
Started from the bottom
Click to enlargeWhile I know the F1 series has had career modes before (and Braking Point which I hear is just as good), I’ve always loved the idea of starting out as a rookie and building a reputation. Whether it’s WWE 2K, NBA 2K, or EA Sports FC, I’ve been a World Champion, a League MVP, and a Champions League winner.
And yet, I never thought I’d set my sights on becoming an F1 Champion, but here I am, leading the pack in Formula 2 and poised to break into the big time. As my reputation grows, I’m getting offers from all of the sport’s big boys (and Williams), and between secret meetings and contract discussions, I’m itching to find out what’s next for this promising younger, more handsome (virtual) version of me.
Career modes in games often feel a little hollow - like they’re there to check a box, but predominantly to get you into Ultimate Team, MyTeam, or whatever other microtransaction-laden mode does get a fresh new feature every year.
By focusing so much of F1 2024’s “Be One of the 20” marketing on career mode, though, it feels as though we may be not only turning a corner but flying around it with sparks being thrown upward, too.
Career kickabout
Click to enlargeMost sports games tend to look the other way when it comes to the recruitment of talent; it’s all done above board, between bosses, as they haggle over a price for, say, a prodigious young footballer.
F1 24 does away with that, though, with a knowing wink at the sport it captures. Secret meetings are part of that, and while there are real-life reputations to uphold, I appreciate F1 24 letting you have a little fun.
Imagine the next EA FC title letting you meet with a club in secret, or use a big offer to leverage a better deal for yourself in your current team. It’s the kind of thing that happens every transfer window in real life (and in Football Manager), but the biggest football game on the planet seems to just imagine two parties sitting down on either side of a table to find a solution.
Aside from the subterfuge, F1 24 also does a much better job of ramping up your ratings as you compete. While you won’t be bothering Max Verstappen anytime soon (unless you choose to play as him), your stats will improve race to race, and even if you have a stinker, you’ll gain race experience from it.
Click to enlargeIn EA FC 24, I’ve been the top scorer in my league three seasons in a row, and won multiple league and cup trophies, and my rating is still only 78 out of 100. In fact, I’ve still not got a call-up to the England squad, but the game will let me take my pick of pretty much any club in the world.
For someone looking to role-play within a sporting universe, EA FC just isn’t fulfilling that fantasy in the same way F1 24, or even NBA 2K does, but I do acknowledge it’s got much better at attempting to do so in the last couple of seasons. The player traits system, and the skill tree, are fantastic additions, as is the ability to change your position mid-season (a life-saver when you’re fed up with banging the goals in from centre forward).
Still, F1 24’s commitment to its career mode has me hoping EA sees the potential in the mode, and what it can offer if fleshed out more in its other titles. Come on, Ultimate Team is done, there’s nothing you can possibly add to it now - give us the career mode of our sporting dreams.
