Formula One 2005: Reality Bites

With the glory days of Michael Schumacher now a thing of the past, the new Formula One rules have been successful in shaking up the sport, but perhaps not at attracting more fans. But that hasn't stopped Sony treating the existing army of petrolheads with a brand new game so they can recreate the feeling of going at 180mph with your arse millimetres from the tarmac. The 2005 version for the PlayStation 2 is updated with the new Turkish circuit, but otherwise it's business as usual. Live the life of an F1 driver without any of the perks -- yachts, celebrity girlfriends and spraying people with expensive champagne are all out of bounds.

This is another game to graduate from Gran Turismo 4 and Forza Motorsport's school of hyper-realism, and as you can see from our screenshot the game assists drivers with red and green lines on the track so you can see how you are supposed to drive before ploughing into corners like a muppet.

Sony has still made a real effort to make the game as accessible as possible, with EA-style presentation, cool intro music and a virtual email system that links you to your team. One suggestion, though: don't grapple with Formula One 2005 straight after Burnout 3 -- one crash and it's game over, man.

If you're an F1 fan (and you'd better be if you're going to undertake the hours of practice it takes to qualify), you may be disappointed that the realism doesn't stretch to some of the more controversial aspects of the 2005 season -- use of Michelin tyres won't force you to retire from the US Grand Prix or cause angry Americans to throw cans of Fosters on to the track. Now that would have been a fun bonus mode. The PSP version will be out later in the year. -GC