TL;DR: F1 22 is a good entry point for those wanting to experience certain aspects of Formula 1 in a selectively realistic space. The game is welcoming to newcomers, and despite its flaws, provides a bearable experience for those newly passionate for the series. It works well with a controller, and if I had a friend that was getting into the sport, I would tell them to snag the game on sale.

For those who are not newly passionate, the game is a shambles. Various bugs, development decisions, and blatantly incompetent physics quirks have built one of the most intolerable games in the series.

To qualify myself, since most criticism of this game is brushed off as a skill issue: I am extremely passionate for Formula 1, and have been playing the games since F1 2011. I have transitioned from console to PC, and from the controller to a full sim setup. I am consistently within the top 1-5% of the leaderboards, and love improving my skill behind the wheel.

The positives:

- F1 22 is the most beautiful game in the series, bar none. The graphics evolution took a very large step since F1 2021, and during long race stints it is quite common to look around and appreciate the work that went into the looks of the game.
- The audio is also a plus, with engine samples taken directly from the on-track cars this year. Though, the Red Bull’s engine still needs some work.
- The game, without context from the other games (especially F1 2020,) is very, very satisfying. For those who don’t mind the semi-arcade, semi-simulation “simcade” nature of the game, it provides a unique experience for those wanting to experience Formula 1 race weekends.

The negatives:

- F1 22 is plagued by bugs, server issues, and odd data errors that significantly degrade the experience. Some examples include, but by no means create an exhaustive list:
- Consistent server problems absolutely destroy online play, kicking players and sometimes permanently locking them out of online play. The multiplayer co-op has improved over the previous entry to the series, but the server issues and other odd quirks that impede gameplay destroy the experience.
- Time Trial begins to be bugged for some players, and will remain bugged throughout the rest of the game’s life cycle. This leaves players without the ability to access some Time Trials, top setups, and will actively spread to other places in the game like a virus. This issue still has not been addressed, or fixed.
- The multiplayer connection is laughable, at its best. Since the introduction of crossplay, online lobbies have been unbearable, with cars teleporting off the track, wiggling so violently that getting close to them is impossible, and a bizarre bug where any player in the lobby can tab out of the game and completely ruin the synchronization between players.
- F1 22’s physics are, at best, a lazy approach to the new era of Formula 1 machinery. Some positives have been made with the physics engine - namely, the introduction of a sharp peak when the tyres begin to slip, making “the knife’s edge” feel like one. The positives stop there. The cars are not anywhere near the handling characteristics of their real-life counterparts. These cars are allergic to any type of kerbs, save for the ones painted on the track, where their real-life counterparts sail over them due to the emphasis on ground effect with the new chassis. These cars are horrendously prone to understeer, and the term “boat” does not come close to describing the handling characteristics. Even when the cars are fully upgraded at the end of My Team or Driver Career, the cars’ understeer only worsens. Grip, oddly, seems to be connected directly to RPM, meaning shortshifting is currently the best way to drive. These problems become extreme if you have the ability to play the game above 60fps. For some reason, whatever it might be, traction loss over 60fps becomes a violent, unrecoverable spin. Kerbs, at 60fps, are generally annoying, but they become exceedingly violent and dangerous above that framerate.
- F1 22’s AI was, at launch, a step above F1 2021’s own. Somewhere along the line, though, AI meant to replicate professional racing drivers began to resort to dangerous divebombing, consistent lockups in braking zones that result in damage, and blatantly ignoring the player to the point of awkwardly pushing the player off over an extended amount of time.
- For being sponsored by FANATEC, the game not recognizing the CSL DD is quite odd. Nitpick, sure, but the game not recognizing wheelbases and other peripherals is worrying.
- The force feedback has taken a step back for controller players, and has not improved to the standard of games like Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa Competizione, or even rFactor and iRacing. On controller, the trigger rumbles for most controller types was removed, or was dumbed down. On the wheel, the force feedback is inconsistent, unhelpful, and most of it is noise (not generated from events the car experiences, just made to be filler for the experience.) The car has almost no force feedback on tracks like Miami, and on Portugal and Belgium, feels like the wheel noise will rip the wheel off its mounting.

At the end of it all, the game is a mess for those who want to play consistently, and at a level above sitting on your couch using every assist included in the game. The result of wherever this mismanagement of the game comes from has finally trickled down into the product, and its effects unfortunately have shown their ugly collective face. On the surface, the game looks to be well-polished, but anywhere deeper than the fresh coat of paint that is applied to the game every year in the form of features like F1 Life to desperately attract ultra-casuals, the guts of the game prove rotten with years of neglect.

I want to see F1 23 do better. As passionate as I am for the series and the sport, I have clocked 1/4 of the hours on this entry due to the game’s state. If I had to rate this game out of 10, a 5/10 would be generous.