I've entirely lost track of rambling endlessly in this thread, having missed the chance to freshly update my disappointment in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, my glee at the still-definitely-broken-but-fun-anyways Lego Dimensions, a rapid improvement in PAYDAY 2, and a sort of tepid response to NASCAR Heat 2 definitely being more NASCAR. Like, I like NASCAR. A lot. That's obvious. But I think we finally hit a point where I want a bit of a break from it, game-wise, at least while it's still doing the exact same tracks as the real series; when I was growing up, the track lists used to change wildly, with all sorts of fantasy additions and bizarre extras. Those don't happen for the NASCAR tie-ins anymore, unless you count those cars appearing in Forza and Gran Turismo where you can put them wherever. (I have been greatly enjoying Forza Motorsport 4 now that I've managed to get all the old free DLC working again, by the by.)
But mostly, as of late, I find myself turning, surprisingly, to Codemasters' F1 games. I mean, I guess it's not too surprising; I love the DiRT and GRID series, and Formula One is something I absolutely love conceptually. I mean, who wouldn't love a top-tier racing series with a prestigious history, touring the world in hyper-fast high-end machines, every driver having an astonishing resume behind them? But alas, the fandom rivalries and the imbalance among the teams (I'm more of a spec series kind of guy) make it tough for me to enjoy watching, having nowhere near as many passing opportunities as my usual preferences, and with aggression being more heavily punished with actual in-race penalties rather than just gaining you the ire of fans and co-workers. Really, you can sum it all up with Ferrari's president sneering "we don't want to play NASCAR globally" and NASCAR's Brad Keselowski decrying Toyota's dominance as "feeling like Formula One". Both series use each other as negatives, and it makes sense. They're very much opposites. But they're both awesome conceptually.
Anyhoo. So I got that Codemasters Racing Bundle despite already having most things in it; I've already had F1 2013 for some time as I was intrigued by the historic content. I'm gradually learning that each of these games is kind of its own strange mix, none of them really being a singular superior perfection of the formula (one). F1 2013 was my favorite for a long time, as it included the 2013 season, a nicely deep career mode, a brisker shortened career mode if you just wanted to hop right into the action, a challenge mode, and nicely in-depth tutorials in the form of the Young Driver's Test. Interestingly, how well you completed the tutorials affected your options in the career mode; if you finish most of them perfectly and make it clear you're used to this kind of game, you can hop straight on to a top-tier team. Really adds some nice stakes to it, and educated me nicely on a series I wanted to learn more about anyhow.
What really got my attention in the first place wasn't just the 2013 season, though. It was the inclusion of F1 Classics mode, which added an amalgamated 80's season and 90's season, with top-tier drivers and cars from those decades (as well as one Ferrari from 1976, which can only be used in time trials). These mostly still reuse the 2013 courses, but four historic tracks from those years that are no longer used in F1 were also added, in their classic forms, and you can mix and match the 80's, 90's, and 2013 seasons with any tracks in the game. They all have different HUDs and rosters and voicework. There's clearly a lot of love here. Some things are gimmicky (the KERS system, but that's just part of 2013's season, as is DRS) and some things are broken (using shorter qualifying rounds in career disqualifies you from most R&D upgrades for some reason?), but there's a lot to experience even as a non-fan if you're willing to learn.
The actual on-track action is exciting, but I gotta say, it's absolutely blown away by F1 2015. F1 2015 does also include multiple seasons, but only the 2014 and 2015 ones (which is much of why I skipped to it past 2014). They can't be mixed and matched. Where the rubber meets the road, 2015 is... to say it's smooth would be inaccurate. It's more that it nails the feel of it. You can feel the tires flex and move, you can feel the resistance of the brakes when you push just a bit too far; every single motion is FAR more detailed and immersive than it was before. The character models aren't great, the presentation is awesome but a bit thinner than before, but the actual racing is spectacular. Which presents a bit of a problem.
Almost all of the modes in previous games are just outright gone.
In exchange for far superior handling and gameplay, F1 2015 kinda skips... everything. No career mode, no customization, no challenges, no nothing. There is just racing. And time trials, if you feel like it. The racing, however, is genuinely good enough to be worth it, so it's in a weird spot as a supplementary game to an existing collection. It's a bit more classic-styled. All the appeal is in the core gameplay. And you know what? That's perfectly okay. I keep coming back to it for quick races over and over now.
F1 2013 was the last game in the series to have a full-on historic mode, though F1 2017 apparently brings back historic cars on the modern tracks. Licensing issues with the classic mode led to F1 2013 being removed from sale, so hopefully 2017 doesn't befall that same fate before I get to it.
Also, I'm enjoying F1 Race Stars a lot more now that I realize the career mode isn't actually balanced in a way that I HAVE to win every single event. I can relax a bit. Which I should, in a more cartoonish game where you're racing atop trains or launching over skyscrapers or watching Sebastian Vettel go by you at 215 MPH while leaning out of his car to wave to you and tauntingly shout "Byeeeee~!". It's still absolutely delightful in presentation but iffy on balance and design. Which, damn, I guess that IS accurate for Formula One.
Also, I'm extremely biased towards very much loving Mirror's Edge, but to be fair, I don't do much time-trialing there, despite my love of such modes in more vehicular forms. Plus, you can flip people off in midair. Can't ask for more.