F1 23 VR review – an exhilarating experience with the Meta Quest 2
If you're a Formula 1 fan who loves F1 games, you simply have to experience F1 23 in VR.
Following the launch of F1 23 in June, Codemasters and EA Sports were quick to promote some of the game's key features including the complete handling and physics overhaul, which was inspired by real-life F1 drivers, the new tracks that had been added, new track layouts, updates to league racing and circuit updates. Although all of these changes were impressive, leading to us giving F1 23 a five-star review, there was barely any promotion about how F1 23 can be played in VR.
But based on my time playing it, there should have been a bigger deal made about VR being supported in F1 23, because it's awesome! The previous year's game, F1 22, also supported VR, but it was the first time it had been done, and for that reason, it was an inconsistent experience.
In F1 23, the VR offering is much improved from a technical point of view. This is something that often ruins the experience, particularly in games that aren't purely VR focused. If the VR mode isn't easy to set up, or if there are weird issues, players can often try but then give up before actually playing the game.
Setting up the VR mode for F1 23 with a Meta Quest 2 was pretty straightforward, so you won't have any issues if you're familiar with the headset and interface. You'll need to plug in your Meta Link Cable (or another compatible cable) from your headset to your PC, launch the Oculus software, make sure it's all setup, then open up Steam and launch F1 23 in VR mode. You can adjust the resolution, refresh rate and other graphics settings if needed, but I left mine on auto and it worked just fine.
PSVR 2 is already losing to the Meta Quest 2 in the VR headset battle
With the Meta Quest 2 being almost three years old at this point (but don't worry the Meta Quest 3 is coming soon), the gameplay obviously doesn't match the sharpness that you'd get with a fancy gaming monitor, particularly running the game on VR Medium settings, but it's still good enough to provide an exhilarating experience.
The sense of raw speed that you're able to experience is something that simply can't be matched with a typical monitor set-up, especially with the camera angle being so low to the floor and matching what F1 drivers actually see. The way the image shakes over kerbs and bumps in the road, and of course, the ability to look around at cars to the side of you and at the apex when turning in, allows you to be fully immersed.
The VR experience in F1 23 is outstanding. If you have the right hardware, it's well worth your time and if you're anything like me, you'll be blasting around for hours on end. I just can't wait to experience what it would be like with a better headset, or with a better PC!
On that note, to play F1 23 in VR, you'll need a supported headset, and for PS5 players, I have some bad news. You cannot play F1 23 in VR using the PSVR 2, with VR only available for PC players. You'll need one of a Valve Index, Meta Quest 2 (with Link Cable), Oculus Rift S, HTC Vive or HTC Vive Cosmos. Also, it's important to note that the recommended PC requirements for F1 23 in VR are an Nvidia RTX 2070 or AMD RX 6700 XT graphics card, combined with either an Intel Core i5 9600K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X.
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