Published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and developed by Psygnosis's Studio Liverpool, Formula One 2001 is the first instalment of the popular series to arrive on Ps2. And god knows if Sony's black console needs a decent Formula 1 game. The efforts of Ubisoft and EA Games, with titles like F1 Racing Championship and F1 Championship, resulted in two games that were simply mediocre.

The adventure of Sony in the world of the Formula One started 5 years ago, with the release of the first wonderful chapter of the series, developed by Bizarre Creations. Four episodes followed: Formula One 97 (same developers of the first episode), Formula One 98 (developed by Visual Sciences; definitely the worst title of the series), Formula One 99 and Formula One 2000 (both developed by the great Studio 33). Anyhow, while not all these titles were exactly perfect, they were all top seller in Europe, mainly thanks to the official character of the series and to a massive promotion.

This last instalment of the series has been released in Europe both in a PsOne version, developed by the Studio 33, and in a Ps2 version this May, and it will arrive in the U.S. and in Japan this October. The game has been developed on Ps2 by the same team that's behind Wipeout Fusion, one of the most awaited titles for Ps2, and it's the first F1 title on Ps2 to get the official 2001 FIA license. This means that in Formula One 2001 you'll find all the tracks and all the pilots of the latest F1 Championship.

But we all know this is not enough to make a good racing title.

After a brief intro movie you have access to the main menu of the game. From here you can decide to play a Quick Race or to enter the main game mode. In the main mode you have different game types to choose from. You can take a test drive in one of the 17 official circuits featured in the game, run a single race, start a World Championship or play a Time Attack race. There is also a spectator mode, but you'll probably be interested in it only if you really are a hardcore fan of Formula one.

In this mode you don't drive any car; you just control the different camera angles to frame the cars during a virtual World Championship. For example you can choose to follow Schumacher's Ferrari or Hakkinen's Mc Laren. I really don't know who could be interested in playing this mode for more than 10 minutes when you can take a look at a real race on Tv.

As I've said before, in the game you'll find all the cars, all the pilots and all the tracks of the latest Formula One World Championship. So you can drive a Ferrari as Michael Schumacher or Rubens Barrichello or you can drive a McLaren as David Coulthard or Hakkinen. Benetton-Renault, Williams, Jaguar, Jordan, Prost, Minardi and other manufacturers are available for your driving pleasure.

The 17 circuits are a true reproduction of the real ones. So you can find many medium speed circuits, like the ones in Australia or in Brazil, slow and very challenging circuits like the one in Austria or faster ones, like the Monza circuit, where all you need to win a race is a very fast car.

But three things are fundamental to make a great F1 simulator: very good controls, life-real cars' physics and a good A.I. for your opponents.

Speaking of controls, Formula One 2001 is far away from being a perfect game, especially if you are using your beloved Dual Shock 2. With the X you can accelerate while the Square button is used to brake; using the triangle you can choose among the three different view modes: first person mode, behind the car, into the car (where you see the head of your pilot, just like in a race seen on Tv). The left analog stick is used to steer. While using a driving wheel (the game is fully compatible with the Gt Force) it's quite easy to maintain your vehicle's trajectory, with the Dual Shock 2 it's all another story. The brakes and the accelerator buttons are wonderfully calibrated, but with the left analog stick you have to continuously adjust your position and this is not a matter of realism. The F1 models available on Gran Turismo 3 behave in an absolutely realistic way, but it is pure fun to control each of them with your controller. You'll need a lot of practice to master the controls of the game with your Dual Shock 2.

In the game you can choose among four different difficulty settings (Beginner, Amateur, Semi-Pro, Pro), customize the set-up of your car (fuel load, tyre compound, brake balance, ride height, steering angle, wing aerodynamics, spring adjust, bump and rebound, gearing, anti-roll) and set the race strategy.

Also, you can choose to turn off/on several driving aids during a race (ABS, Traction Control) but not if you are playing in the Pro or Semi-pro modes. And this is not a wise choice of the developers, especially if you consider that in the latest Championship the use of electronic driving aids like Traction Control was officially accepted in order to avoid many risks for the driver. The result is that the Pro and Semi-pro modes are far away from being realistic and amusing. And then, why is not possible to use visual driving aids (for example before a sharp curve) in these two modes? It seems that the developers didn't have any good idea to improve the difficulty of the game for the more advanced difficulty settings.

The car physics are, in a word, unrealistic, especially if compared to what we have seen in Gran Turismo 3. In F1 2001 the cars behave on the circuits like if they were sliding on the ice. Sometimes you'll see you car skidding like a rally car, and this hardly happen in a F1 race. You really don't feel you car with this game like with Gran Turismo 3, and both titles are labelled as “driving simulator”. More than a F1 driving simulator, in the Pro mode Formula One 2001 is a “frustration generator”.

Speaking of the system of collisions this game is not a revolution. More than a time, you can see a car that after a terrible incident jumps in the air and restarts the race with no problems at all, or you can finish against a wall at 200 Km/h without damaging your car. The most spectacular incidents may occur when you wouldn't expect them, for example you just touch lightly your opponent's car and in a second you see a mess of wheels and mechanical parts in the air.

Also the A.I. procedures are disappointing. The cars move clearly in a series of pre-determined trajectories. I've tried to stop my car on the side of the road where I had previously seen a group of cars were passing. And none of them seemed to care about me and they went straight against my vehicle.

The overall gameplay of this game from Sony Computer Entertainment and Studio Liverpool is not sufficient to grant you a decent amount of fun. The Formula One's enthusiast will immediately notice the flaws in the car physics, while the occasional player will be frustrated by the bad controls, especially if he doesn't own a Driving Wheel. Too bad.