Formula One continues to grow a new audience in recent years and this is thanks in part to the Drive to Survive Netflix series. Two years ago, Codemasters and EA decided to follow in the steps of this and introduce an impressive narrative mode known as Braking Point. Players would complete challenges as the focus was on protagonist Aiden Jackson as an upstart in Formula One. After taking a year off, EA and Codemasters are doing a sequel to it for this year’s game. We had a chance to preview the first three chapters and even early on in the story, the drama is doubling down.
Upon launching Braking Point 2 in F1 23, a recap of the first Braking Point is shown to give an idea of where the main characters stand. Braking Point 2 will retain Aiden Jackson and Devon Butler, but with a wild change. Devon’s father has started his own race team known as Konnersport Racing Team, and the now former rivals are on the same team. These two have never made amends either as Devon’s persona still focuses on ego and entitlement, as he learned nothing from the end of the previous story. The Team Principal tries to be the common ground early on in the story, but Devon continues to sway to get favoritism.
With the narrative setup in Braking Point 2 between the two characters Aiden and Devon, there has always been a history of something similar happening in the paddock. Whether those things were ever confirmed (Senna-Prost, Hamilton-Rosberg for example), rumors tend to encourage drama and Codemasters is letting that all out here. Aiden is showing quite a bit of emotion and frustration as he puts his foot down as he feels like he’s getting held back.
The narrative is shot like a modern-day documentary that’s reflecting back on the events of 2022, which is where the story takes place. Players will respond to emails and phone calls to progress the story forward, however, as if it is current day. There are dialogue selection portions in-between races whether it be interviews or conversation. This builds different skills in varying areas to help show support in different disciplines. I will say through the first three chapters, the story currently has me wanting more.
Players will go to different tracks on different calendar dates and complete challenges. This mainly means getting to a certain position with a bonus on top of it if a higher place is finished. The first chapter involved the first race at Miami and the goal was to simply finish the race, but finishing in the points netted a bonus. The race never got the opportunity to finish as the car failed, but as a portion of the script, not a random failure. The second chapter took place in Canada where both Aiden and Devon have an altercation on the track and the goal is to make up the positions lost. Hungary was the third chapter as Devon ignores team orders and plays it off as a communications issue. He’s rather confident in all of his plays, to say the least.
Braking Point 2 seems to dive deeper into the drama as the narrative simply jumps right in. This is the benefit of having already-established characters as the mode will also introduce new characters. The writing is important for the success of this mode as sequels have more expectations than the previous story. It also helps that these types of scenarios from both versions of Braking Point have a historical precedence and the writers can take the story, characters and events in whichever direction they choose as long as it remains within the believable bubble. There will be more to come with this story. F1 23 launches on June 16 for PlayStation 4|5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and PC.
