Recent reviews by woody4077

this is the current king of city builders...since EA gave up the throne with the release of a very dreadful "game" simcity 2013

watch the video for my "review"
https://youtu.be/rilvW7Hw48E

Buzz Aldrins Space Program manager is a text book definition of a niche product because of the fact that to even be aware of it you need to have some level of interest in anything relating to space or rocketry. now don't get me wrong BASPM isn't bad per say but it does appeal to what would be a "limited market" that said however what it does it does very good now the thing to remember is that the current edition is episode one race to the moon which focuses on the the space programs of both america and the russians from 1955 to end of the moon missions in the 1970's but one thing that is "new" for this game is the global space agency which works as a "catch all" space agency, which as the name implies allows you do missions from both countries. ok now the bad news there is A LOT of problems with this game chief among them many graphical glitches like the one where you have launch pads on the screen and go to something like SET centre to hire recruits and go back to the default screen and the launch pads are gone or you have a successful a launch of a rocket but the launch failure animation plays instead or the fact that at times there is MASSIVE slow downs not with animations but the game itself to due the fact that you need to R & D everything and there are times when you just can not do any mission(s) because your programs do not have enough R & D to be successful which MASSIVELY slows down the over all pace of game play or this one which is my biggest gripe the developer put in the possibility of your astronauts being killed which if you play GSA or the Russian program is fine but its also possible playing as NASA which is completely wrong NASA NEVER lost an astronaut on or during a mission now it is true that several astronauts and astronaut recruits died during that time period, America did not lost any man we sent into space now we did come pretty close to losing astronauts on amission during the apollo 13 mission but still it never happened and the fact that it happens when playing NASA is a major complaint for me. ok so over all i think its a great simulation of the early space program that said however i do have to repeat my previous statement that it appeals to a very limited market although i would say that it should be a part of school lessons plans for sheer fact it could spark a child or children to have an interest in space so that said i'm going to give Buzz Aldrin Space Program Manager a provisional buy if your into anything relating to space or rockets then buy it if not i would say go to the publishers website and if availible download a demo and try the demo which is the same thing as saying rent the product

if you already have F1 2011 or F1 2012
DO NOT BUY F1 2013
its essentially F1 2012 with a "fresh coat" of paint
i did not have any fun playing this game
grade D+
read the review to find out why

ok whats good about F1 2013
the graphics it looks better then F1 2012
the cars handle a little bit better then last year
new modes and some expanded modes
interface looks better then last year

whats bad about f1 2013
EVERYTHING ELSE
i'm going to be honest here THE AI CHEATS just no other way to say it
it does not matter what car you are driving unless you are running a PERFECT race
you'll run into ALOT of AI issuses first and foremost its perfectly acceptable for the AI
to the use the SAME tire type for the WHOLE race but if i do that its a penalty
also its fine for the AI to cause collisons and cut corners with little or no consequence
but if i do that PENALTY PENALTY PERNALTY also how is it that my tires wear down but the AI's tires last 3 to 4 laps longer then mine? furthermore its perfectly ok for the AI to run you off the track
during a race but if i do that PENALTY and if you haven't figured it out yet the penalty system
is COMPLETELY BROKEN in F1 2013 often you will get penalties for stuff that in many cases were
the fault of the shoddy or overly aggressive AI drivers and the game will not penalize them or
even warn them.

the young driver test was expanded but not in a good way some of the newer tests are just ridiculously hard although i have to say i personally do not like the abu dahbi track they use but still that said some of the tests are just brutal especially with the issuses of braking not working correctly even with full assist turned-on and the accelerator acting like its bi-polar and when it comes to certain tests UNFAIR time expectations for the test like complete this section of corners(section 3 of the abu dahbi track) in 50 seconds for bronze 48 for silver and 46 seconds for gold...it took me 6 attempts just to get a bronze on that test or /shudder the wet driving conditions test i ALMOST broke my controller because that test was so difficult(yes i know driving on water is hard but still.....)

also i have to be frank IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST F1 GAME YOU MADE A VERY BAD CHOICE; THIS GAME IS NOT NEWBIE FRIENDLY. the learning curve is just way too STEEP and part of the problem is that the game assumes from the first loading screen that you have played the other F1 games and it shoe-horns you into a tutorial that is for the most part HORRENDOUS especially when i'm doing what the game is telling me to do but it doesn't accept/register it until you do it perfectly or the game feels like it wants to acknowlegde it i often had to do the tutorial and young driver tests 5, 6, 7, 8 times before the game would let me go to the next stage or test.

at this point i feel the need to call out the LAZINESS on the part of codemasters in the cut scenes and the look of the pit crew no matter what team you are on your pit crew is the SAME for EVERY team in F1 2013 the only thing they change is the outfits they wear otherwise its the same guys for every team and also no matter what position you finish in if you don't place in the top three its the SAME cut-scene EVERY time even if you finish 4th you get the exact same cut-scene at race end as you do for finishing 12th or 14th or 20th or any other place that isn't 1st 2nd or 3rd even if you finish "in the points"

another thing to call out the developers on is this WHY IS THERE NO STEAMWORKSHOP SUPPORT????? and on top of that is it that hard to program in a simple mod checker so people with mods can play online against other people using mods and people not using mods can play against other people not using mods? or if you go to play online all mods are disabled. codemasters solution to modding the game is this: IF YOU USE MODS YOU FORFEIT ONLINE MODE.
and the only way i've heard of to get online mode back is that you have to remove all of your mods
and then uninstall the game then re install the game without the mods so you can play online.
thats a pretty s----y modding policy there codemasters.

here is my overall impression:
the penalty system is broken
the AI WHEN it works presents a decent challenge
however you will often find that the game feels like its
working against you not with you.
the game is not designed around a new player "friendly" experience
some of the new/expanded modes are just terrible and unfairly difficult
when it comes to animations and cutscenes it feels like codemasters "took a nap"
and finally the mod policy is complete and total s--t

Bottomline:
if you already have F1 2011 or F1 2012
DO NOT BUY F1 2013
its essentially F1 2012 with a "fresh coat" of paint
i did not have any fun playing this game
grade D+