Formula One Championship Edition is more or less guaranteed a huge response in those parts of the world where Formula One racing is bigger, but in the US, this isn't a sure thing. I was happy to see Sony bringing a game that isn't necessarily a mega-smash into the US, and I was equally happy to see that it's actually shaped up to be a good-looking, hardcore racer.

The word "hardcore" is important there. During their preview event, the game's team was careful not to even use the word "arcadey." It is possible to adjust a great many of the game's settings to create a much more approachable experience, but they prefer the term "pick up and play," not arcadey. And after some playtime, I think it's actually an important difference. Even with driving aids on, damage more or less off, and a drive line pulsing on the road in front of me -- in green where I should accelerate, and red for a recommended slowdown -- the game still demanded a great deal more driving finesse than any Burnout or Ridge Racer does. It's an important difference because this is an F1 game. It should be hard. It should force you to be a better driver. And it should have every single team and circuit.

Which, of course, it does. With 11 teams, 22 drivers and 18 circuits, whatever facet of Formula One you're interested in is available. I spent time living in Montreal, so it was awesome to get to drive through its F1 track. Regardless of your particular team or track tastes, it should be here and rendered to meet the demanding standards of the F1 fan.


There were some graphical issues when sitting up close to Sony's televisions -- in particular, shadows had some nasty jaggy edges to them -- but the overall appearance of the game is excellent. Multiplayer will allow for at least 11 human players and 22 drivers; we'll see if that gets changed to allow for all 22 drivers to be actual people, and hope it does. Even if it isn't possible at launch, it would be great to see as an update alteration. Similarly, since the PSP version of the title isn't releasing in the US, there won't be any way to use a PSP as a wing mirror here. It wasn't necessarily the most thrilling example of PSP-to-PS3 connectivity, but at least it offered some connectivity.

Overall, Formula One Championship Edition looks like a great piece for F1 fans and an interesting look at an underappreciated sport for PS3 owners. And while it is probably going to be the closest thing to the team's goal of an "F1 [game] for everyone," it's still going to be a racer for racing fans.