When I saw the announcement of Formula Legends, I was intrigued. Another racing through the decades style game focused on F1. I became even more intrigued when I saw it was 3DClouds developing it. This is a team who have created many a racing game, nearly all of which have been licensed games. So from the many years of creating racing games, does Formula Legends hold up as one of their greats?
The story mode holds various cups, starting from the 60s all the way to modern day. The early cups have just four races to them, while later ones have as many as eight. In getting to the first race, which was the vintage version of the track used for the tutorial, I first had to set my position with the qualifier. Since I already knew it quite well from that tutorial, it was easy to gain a first-place spot.
The driving feel is great with Formula Legends. With the traction and braking assists on. As someone who isn’t the most confident in driving – especially at high speeds – despite loving racing games, I was terrible without those assists. Always locking up the brakes (or not braking hard enough for fear of locking up) and turning in too hard which caused the tyres to lose grip and slow me down even more.
Once activated, I was doing a lot better. Getting into the flow of racing, breezing around the track. The HUD is effective in notifying me of how low health, fuel, and tyre wear are getting. While the information is always present in the bottom right corner, actual notifications would pop up saying when things had reached a certain level. So, halfway through the race, it was time to pit.
Upon entering the pit stop, driving goes automatic. I have a choice of tyre, with early years only having two. Once stopped, the tyres are put on through me needing to press a button per tyre. Get the prompt wrong, it takes longer for the tyre to be put on. While stopped, I can also use the triggers to repair and refuel. Once out of the pit, it was easy enough to keep driving until I claimed that win.
Now, I will say I had the difficulty on easy. As I say, I’m not the most confident in driving. Even on easy, I was having fun. But then came the second race. Based on a track which is the bane of my existence, no matter what racing game I’m playing it on. Monaco. Qualifying last, I saw first-hand how the easy AI weren’t exactly the brightest racers on track. It took so many restarts, but I claimed first.
The two remaining tracks were so easy for me in comparison, even with it raining on both. With the gold on the cup claimed, I moved on to see what else Formula Legends had to offer. There are custom races, where all the rules can be modified whether just doing single races or creating a custom championship. And time trials, where I could compete across any track and any era for the best time on the online leaderboards.
Across those modes, I was seeing challenge progress appear at the end of each race. Challenges include number of kilometres driven, number of podiums, and number of races played, with the completion of them unlocking new drivers to race as per team. Much like in the real F1, drivers are attached to a constructor team, with two drivers per team. In total making for 14 drivers across each time period.
Custom races allow full modification of the assists and rules, letting me turn off collisions, and stop tyre wear, fuel consumption, and damage if I so wanted. It’s even possible to turn off time penalties. Which are generous here. Go off the track, get a warning. After three warnings, time penalties then start getting added. Though it’s only one second per penalty, it can feel unfair when no advantage is gained. One particular race I accidentally left the track, was overtaken twice, yet still got a penalty.
As this is a racing through the decades game, there are changes that happen across them. The vehicles gain upgrades, drivers change teams or drop out from the sport, and tracks undergo modernisation. With some even changing routes. When it comes to the changes for the first two, the showroom let me look at everything Formula Legends holds. It even shows how to unlock particular drivers and records such as wins and distance driven.
Even in the story mode, despite there not being any cutscenes or other elements beyond the racing, the theme of racing through the decades is present. Via the description of each cup. Showing which year of F1 the cup is inspired by, that description gives a brief overview of important events, such as rivalries that formed or major accidents that occurred. There are no names, even the fictionalised ones used in the game, but fans of F1 will recognise who these descriptions are about.
The visuals do look good, even if in motion they can look a little blurred. It’s an issue I’ve encountered with other 3DClouds games, though in those I’m not usually speeding at 100s of kph. That issue can sometimes be a distraction. More of a distraction is the camera, which gets the shakes when getting too near a barrier. Both can easily divert me from the perfect line around a corner.
Formula Legends does its racing very well. There is no denying that. With a nice story mode to work through, you’ll be racing for quite some time, too. Seeing the changes that come with time. The distraction issues from visuals and camera shouldn’t prove too much of an issue, but they are a problem nonetheless. Formula Legends, then, is one I can recommend. Another great time racing through the decades.
Images Taken From:
Formula Legends | Xbox Series S
