F1 05

Until recently, stewardship of the F1 franchise license for video games was the business of Electronic Arts' UK Studio. These days SCEE has snapped it up for in-house development, and the brand is now a PlayStation exclusive.

The game takes the same time honoured `Career Mode' structure regarded by Formula One games over the years. Create a driver alter-ego, tout yourself to a team, and prove your mettle on the track. Finish consistently in a good position and if you're lucky you'll continue to get a drive. Keep getting on the podium and you can fulfill your dream of becoming World Champion one day. The game promises to bring all the sights, sounds, colour and pageantry of the world's most glamorous motorsport to a PlayStation 2 near you soon.

This version is bang up to date, with all the technical rule changes since the 2004 season taken into account. All the sponsors are up to date, and the new teams (Red Bull) and tracks (Turkey) are rendered in glorious detail. Features include a pit stop mode where you control your mechanical crew's performance in the pit, to get the full experience of an F1 team working together like a well-oiled machine. Naturally, as this version is 1st party, it's be a let down if the game didn't support online play. F1 2005 delivers this with panache, and you can race online with every car on the grid driven by a human! Gentlemen, start your engines.