Review - Formula Legends

Nikolas Tolgyesi
6 minutes ago
5 min read

Developer: 3DClouds

Publisher: 3DClouds

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Reviewed on: Xbox Series X

As a Formula racing super fan, this review hurts my heart to write. Also, a bit of a Need for Speed junkie, I like to think I know my way around a race track. With more hours in Gran Turismo than I am ready to admit, a new racing experience had me giddy like a kid in a candy store. Formula Legends was rocky from start to finish.

You play as a racer, establishing your career across different decades throughout the history of Formula racing. You start in the 1950s, when cars were quite a bit different and built without the knowledge we have today. You will then progress through the 1960s, 70s, all the way through to today. Each decade in the game provides very little difference with the exception of minor stat changes, which I will get back to. You race on the same handful of tracks that are only given minor changes to reflect the changing times. Between the 1980s and 2000s, I couldn’t find a single difference in experience, let alone tracks. With the story being over 60 races long, you can imagine how cumbersome this task became.

Tracks Provide Variety

Whether you are the one behind the wheel or you are watching your favorite drivers in the Formula Circuit, there is one common factor. Each event takes place on a different track. With hundreds of top-tier courses around the world, I cannot wrap my head around the fact that Formula Legends limits you to 4 courses for the first two and a half decades of the game. Put more simply, roughly 30 races. The tracks do not even have to be spectacular in any way. The emphasis just needs to be put on the fact that courses help players stay interested.

Story Length Should Match the Content

Throughout your gaming career, you probably came across a game that was just too damn long. This happened to me with a game called Conscript. The premise of the game saw you, a soldier in World War I, navigate the trenches in search of your brother. Since the gameplay was extremely basic, I thought it would have been a 3-6 hour zip-through. Almost 30 hours later, my eyes were glazed over as all I had done to this point was wander aimlessly, picking up an item every once in a while. Similarly, if your racing game has only a handful of courses, no character customization, no car upgrade features, no brands, and no challenges, shouldn’t the length of the game reflect the absence of this? You cannot expect players to stay eager to play with very little to do for more than 60 races. Similarly to Conscript, this one needed to be a fraction of the length.

Let’s Talk Graphics and a Glitch

Arcade racers are some of my favorites. Mario Kart, F-Zero, the Need for Speed franchise, and my latest discovery, Japanese Drift Master, all perfectly captured the arcade feel with lots to do. All these entries also made sure the visuals were polished enough to fit the arcade vibe. Unfortunately, Formula Legends has no atmosphere, looking like more of a beta build than a finished product. The tracks were choppy and clunky, and the actual Formula cars did not look like they were even making contact with the asphalt. The sky was either straight blue or straight grey, with no noticeable weather in the form of sunny days versus cloudy days. There was also a wild viewport glitch that can make even the most hardened racers motion sick. Whenever you get close to a wall, or heaven forbid, you make contact with it, the camera suddenly starts zooming in and out rapidly, completely out of the blue. I found myself giving up speed and adding time to avoid my last meal appearing in my lap. This game really needed to stay in the oven much longer to polish some of these items.

The Hidden Win in Formula Legends

You do not have to look far to see that I struggled to find positives in my playthrough. However, the remapping function here was a dream come true. All too often, games overlook the accessibility features, which I can understand when you are trying to get a game ready to launch. Formula Legends, whether by design or not, made the most glorious ability to move buttons around flawless. In the settings menu, you select the button you want to remap and hit the new button you want. That’s it. Beautiful.

Creating a Driver is a Rite of Passage

Customization is what makes people feel like they are personally in the game. When you slap on your favorite clothing, helmet, and gloves, you insert yourself into the driver’s seat. Now determined to prove yourself and establish your driving career. Without this, you feel as though it is simply a test drive, and whatever happens, well, who cares. This was the first time in quite a while that I did not get to create my own character. To be honest, I was devastated.

Building a Mini Formula Car Would Have Been Great

One of the most exciting aspects of a racing game is modifying and upgrading your car. I can personally spend hours in the shop doing everything from painting to changing parts to souping the hell out of my ride. I never thought this would not exist. It would have been wicked to create my own compact formula race car. But this was sadly skipped over entirely. While the cars do progressively get stronger, they change on their own and are unnoticeable in comparison to your opponents. The change in stats does not provide any opportunity to tune to each driver’s liking, making the races bland and one-dimensional.

Handling A Formula Car Hits Differently

If you have ever played a Formula 1 racing game, you would know there are core techniques needed to become successful. The faster the Formula car, the better the handling. In addition, braking should be done as little as possible since high speeds give the car that critical downforce needed to stay controllable. This is what I also thought was done quite well. The mini cars that closely resembled go-karts could absolutely fly. Topping out at well over 300 kph, you could whip these machines around with lightning precision.

Pushing the Car Across the Finish Line

I wish more time had been spent trying to really dial in the experience in Formula Legends. There were too many negatives and very few compelling positives to make this worth playing. Between the viewport glitch, 4 tracks, and no immersion, there was not enough substance to give players the need for speed they were searching for.