November 26 Excellence, RR3 Stage - Formula 1 has arrived!

November 26 shall go down as the day of superb collabs with two games I play have their new versions featuring them released on the same date. Real Racing 3's newest update brought in the 2019 season of Formula 1 content which made it the game's biggest update yet with a couple of changes in game, while The King of Fighters ALL STAR brought in the collaboration with Tekken, a prominent name in the fighting game genre and living up the modern spirit of the series' beat 'em up minigame Tekken Force which existed in the older entries of the franchise, featuring contents based on Tekken 7, the franchise's recent entry.

That said, this post will be split into two parts, both dedicated to RR3 and KOF AS respectively. This first post will revolve on RR3 and its Formula 1 update which featured the 2019 season teams and a new track of Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, among others. The "big" in the "big change" isn't even a joke, as in adding "the same car" to the game. We're talking about dropping an entire motorsporting event like Formula 1 to the game with its dedicated content, something that appropriately has to be reacted with one Metal Slug sound clip.

THE FORMULA 1 THING

Into the brave new world... (Image: Real Racing 3's Formula 1 update trailer on Facebook)

Prior to the update, prominent mobile games with licensed Formula 1 content were F1 Mobile Racing by Codemasters (the same driving force behind F1 2019 and the new GRID) and Hutch Games' racing management game F1 Manager. Real Racing 3 entered the Formula 1 content fray just recently with the dedicated content breakdown showcased days before the actual update which was November 26, bringing all 10 teams, 20 drivers, and Yas Marina circuit to the game, complete with all times of day, from morning to night. The EA/Firemonkeys racing game has featured many motorsport contents of various series, from NASCAR to Australian Supercars, Formula E, and sports car racing, be it those competing the FIA World Endurance Championship or the IMSA Sports Car Championship, and this also made it the first time a modern F1 content come to the game since 2014 where Ferrari F14 T represented the series in the game.

The new Formula 1 content features a lot to get everyone started. All players can get the free F1 Academy Car with a base PR of 110.3 (120.8 fully upgraded) and a starting budget of M$ 350,000 to kickstart their journey in the F1 Motorsport Hub, with new players able to get one for free by completing the tutorial goals covering the racing basics in the game. Daily Races feature three events on one circuit per day to earn currency and fame with all cars, while the 2019 Champion Series relies on cars acquired in the Hub (either from winning it from the Formula 1 Grand Prix events or buying them for M$ 2 million each) which features all F1 tracks and different set of events to further earn your M$. Fully upgrading your owned cars will allow you to access the 2019 Invitational Series, featuring longer-distance races which gives you even more M$s. Worth noting that the actual 2019 cars have varied base PR within the 115.x region, with up to 135.7 PR fully upgraded, and a free-of-charge 3-hour servicing.

The Motorsport $ (M$) is the game's new currency in the spirit of the new update. In order to level playing field and ensure new and existing players get a fresh start with the Formula 1 content, the new currency is established for this matter. Players can earn M$ by playing any Formula 1 content and use it to purchase cars and upgrades, keeping the new content competitive and challenging equally for all players. However, the amount that you can earn per day is limited to M$ 180,000. Bonuses obtained either in the Grand Prix events or by completion do not count towards the daily cap.

The main spotlight of the Hub is of course the Formula 1 Grand Prix 2019 Season, putting RR3's own spin to the actual series, featuring 5 races simulating the actual F1 weekend (done in RR3's Race Day formula, a special event with PR restrictions and all stages available to play without waiting), kicking off with the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2019 (Yas Marina) starting from November 26, then the Formula 1 Rolex British Grand Prix 2019 (Silverstone) starting from December 7, and finally Formula 1 Grand Premio d'Italia (Monza) from December 21. The last two Grands Prix of Suzuka and Circuit of the Americas will come in the next update. Completing any event within the time limit will grant you a car you chose for the specific Grand Prix, but completing all the events will win the player a fully-upgraded 2019 Mercedes-AMG GT R F1 Safety Car which can be used in the Safety Car Showdown. By the way, a pace car as a winning reward? Where did I heard one before, I wonder?

Outside the F1 content, the career progression is now simplified into two: Motorsport and Road Collection, of which it features all the mainstay events of the game and the Exclusive series. New soundtracks are provided by Ryan Kurt which give the game a new feel altogether, and a couple of events with opportunities to win some of the interesting cars, such as Bugatti Chiron, Honda Integra Type R (DC2), Honda Civic Type R (EK9), Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, and Koenigsegg Agera R (with the return of the Special Event formula). The track appearances for Silverstone, Circuit of the Americas, Suzuka, and Monza are also altered as well to match with the Formula 1 Grand Prix appearances.

THE VERDICT

Maximum yeet hours!

Two Grands Prix have passed since the update and I've experienced the F1 content enough to give my own verdict.

First verdict would be dedicated on the car's physics, comparing it to the other modern F1 car, the Ferrari F14 T, since I would expect that the 2019 cars would possess the same physics, down to the point that coasting stops the car faster than braking. Apparently, such problem doesn't exist in 2019 cars as coasting works normally which is nice. A couple of runs with the F1 cars give me the impression that these 2019 cars are basically the F14 T but without the coasting problem, with immense grip level and acceleration. However, slowing down during corners by coasting can be risky since it can skid your car, losing you a good chunk of time, just like the F14 T. Full throttle through Copse and Maggotts before braking towards Becketts in Silverstone seem to be a better strategy thanks to the high downforce the cars have while usually you'd slow down towards Copse in slower cars, but don't overdo it since you'll also skid that way, a true case when tackling Stowe in the same circuit. The strong brakes also allows for late-braking strategy when battling the opponents. The physics for the F14 T can be viewed in ME7's video for reference.

The AIs for the races (based on real 2019 season drivers, mind you) are more aggressive than RR3's default set of bots. More than often you'll be in trouble with any of these guys, but even then they can cause trouble to each other as well thanks to the additional factor that is the car's longer dimension which can spin anyone upon contact, costing one's race. There's always 60% chance that a single race go down with at least one car getting spun off track or towards the barriers, be it you on the opponents or vice versa, or even between the opponents. Yeeting people off to the Shadow Realm has never been this easier. That said, maintaining a clean race can be a challenge at times, especially when you're facing some goals which would require you to not collide with another car or damage your own car.

The underdog's tale; the chase to the unknown's race win against Mercedes!

The Daily Races are good time-wasters for when you haven't got the 2019 season cars yet, but once you earned enough cars to fill up the daily M$ cap, you might render those races (and perhaps the Academy car) obsolete and fully resort to the Champion Series instead since it can fill your M$ faster. As for the M$ itself, it is a double-edged sword. On one side, you don't have to grind hard to reach the daily cap and can just focus on the Road Collection or any other Motorsport events you'd always want to do, or perhaps focus your grinding on another game as well, a true case for yours truly since I have Grand Prix Story 2 and KOF AS's Tekken collab events to deal with. However, on another side, the daily cap can be annoying and you have to rely on calculation if you're short on them during GP events. This was me when starting the Abu Dhabi GP event right after fully upgrading the F1 Academy car and had myself in deficit M$ throughout the closing stages for upgrades until I was able to earn them with less than 3 hours remaining. I would later enter the next GP (the British GP) with M$ 700k+ which actually took me further in less time taken than the first GP with the right upgrading management, also with more challenging goals.

Overall, the 2019 Formula 1 content has been a good addition to the game for me. The Formula 1 experience basically works on the RR3 engine with its streamlined gameplay, and the cars are actually the better version of the F14 T physics, though care during racing and spending M$s should be given when traversing through events. Given the daily cap, it might take long to fully upgrade your owned car unless if you top up for more M$, but at the same time the cap always remind you that there's more life in RR3 than just the Formula 1 content. Outside of that, the new soundtracks are actually decent even though I will certainly miss the old soundtracks.

This concludes the RR3 part of the post. Stay tuned for the KOF AS portion of the post!

~[R]