F1 23’s best new mode isn’t Braking Point 2, it’s F1 World

polygon.com:

Ordinarily, when I start playing the newest edition of Codemasters’ F1 series, it takes a couple of hours before I actually hit the track in one of its main modes of play. I dither on the livery for my multiplayer and career-mode cars; I mess around repositioning things in the HUD and setting my preferences; I tune the car to each of the game’s 23 tracks, over lap after lap in Time Trial, then I set the AI difficulty in Grand Prix.

But not this year. Oh, sure, I still fussed over my car’s aesthetics. But ever since I took it into F1 23’s new F1 World just to try the new mode’s onboarding series of events, I haven’t played anything else — not team career, not single-driver career — and I haven’t even touched the Braking Point 2 narrative after more than a week with the game. Somehow, Codemasters has managed to develop another vortex that will swallow a couple hundred more hours of my time.

F1 World is, basically, the hub where one finds the old Time Trials, Grand Prix, and online multiplayer modes, plus a new series of challenges. But there’s a huge change: The car that you used in the multiplayer modes in years past is now your “F1 World Car,” and it’s something that can be improved. With every race, you’re upgrading its performance with the parts and shop personnel you earn each time you race, no matter the mode.

The F1 World single-player races that unlock these parts and personnel are very simple — pick-up-and-play brilliant. There’s no need to worry about the vehicle setup; in many of them, you’re locked to one of the standard configurations (for example, top speed, more downforce, or balanced). There’s no wasted time — just jump right in and you’re racing, usually in five-lap events. A series will terminate with a