Formula One 2002 screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 8.0 Graphics 7.1 Sound 7.5 Value 7.7 Formula One 2002 -  reviewed by Andrew B  Review Date: 17 November 2002 Review Score 7.7/10 Distributed By: Sony		In another few months, racing fans will be seeing a new season of Formula One Racing at Albert Park Melbourne Australia and Sony have come to the rescue by alleviating our wait with the release of Formula One 2002. Formula One 2002 is an official licensed product and features all the drivers, teams and tracks of the F1 2002 and season.  The game supports a variety of different game play modes that include Quick Race, Arcade, Time Attack, Simulation and a new feature called Spectator Mode. The Spectator mode lets you tweak with the race settings such as changing where a driver will be on the F1 grid. Once you have changed all the settings, you can then proceed to watch the race. The Simulation mode is for hardcore racing gamers that want nothing but realism and lets you play a full championship season in the F1. It even allows you to practice on one day, qualify on the second, then race on the third day. As with most good racing simulators, you can tweak your car in the garage and change a plethora of features to get the best out of your car. Personally, I've never been able to master this aspect of the game and the standard settings work quite well.  The controls of the game are quite responsive when using the analog stick for directions and it uses the DualShock quite liberally for some added realism. The main problem with the gameplay are the views that they developers have decided to give us. There are two in car views and one external view that unfortunately looks very unrealistic. Fortunately the internal view is perfect and that is generally the view that most gamers use in racing.  Graphically Formula One 2002 is a fair representation of the real F1 tracks around the world and there's nothing better than racing around Albert Park and seeing familiar land marks. The game also supports a 60Hz mode for PAL users who want that extra bit of clarity on their PlayStation 2's. Just a little side note here, the last person to win the Celebrity Race at the Formula One in Melbourne was a man who won a competition to be allowed to race. He basically won the race by practising on the PlayStation 2 for months by playing Formula One 2000.

The game was so accurate that it showed him where all the corners were and how fast to take them. That said, the only downside to the tracks is that they are quite dull and there is not much movement happening in the backgrounds. The crowd effects also appear quite flat and lifeless. Fortunately the car models are fairly detailed and feature some great looking texture details with the odd bit of advertising and team logos on them. 

When it comes to sound, Formula One 2002 has one of the best sounding sports commentaries of any racing game. As a bonus to F1 racing fans, Sony's Liverpool Studio has managed to snare the man who has been the voice of Formula One racing for years, Murray Walker. Even though Murray Walker is now in retirement, many still regard him as the voice behind the sport and he offers the same commentary as we are all use to. The game also features all the F1 noises you would hear on television such as the high pitched engine noises of the powerful F1 engines or the sound of tyres being left on the road. Unfortunately no game has ever come close to actually recreating the exact same sound effects you would hear at a real Formula One race, unless you want to blow up your speakers. 

Formula One 2002 does have its share of problems but fortunately nothing too major. I would recommend this game to all F1 racing fans because when it comes to realism, you won't get any  better than this.

- Andrew B