Formula Legends: Vintage F1 meets Art of Rally in 3D Clouds’ upcoming racer

You know how much we love Art of Rally here at Traxion. Well, imagine a Formula One game inspired by that modern classic. No, wait – the car isn’t sliding quite so much, dial it back. OK, that’s it. You’re essentially picturing Formula Legends, a new single-player racer from 3D Clouds coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, PC and Switch this year. 

In a setup reminiscent of New Star GP and Golden Lap, you begin your career in the 1960s, racing unlicensed Formula 1-style cars around era-appropriate circuits and scenery. There are 14 tracks in the game, but – unusually – several have up to two extra layouts available based on the era you’re racing in.

So you might get a ’60s version of what looks a lot like Monte Carlo, while the modern variant adds in tighter chicanes, red and white striped kerbing and even different architecture like the tunnel’s changing appearance over the years. 

The gameplay shown so far has been hands-off, but was being played in real-time during the presentation. The car handling looks strong, with weighty older cars exhibiting an impressive suspension simulation and gripping the road well while still being prone to spinning when pushed too hard.

While the AI is still being worked on, the physics engine does allow for cars to flip, and the team’s intention for autonomous AI that can make mistakes and leave the track bodes well for interesting races.

The pits

A pit stop system is already present, adding refuelling if it’s appropriate for the era, and you’ll be able to switch to wet weather tyres. There will also be perks available based on lookalike drivers’ appropriate skills. So you can guess who’ll be getting more grip in the wet.

DRS has been renamed to WRS (wind reduction system) and ERS to BRS (Braking recovery system), presumably to avoid any license problems with F1, though the effects are the same. 

The game is running in Unreal Engine 5 and is visually impressive even at this comparatively early stage. The spectators at the trackside are densely packed, and the water in particular looks gorgeous. The same goes for the rain effect that drenches the virtual camera lens with vision-distorting water. 

But what also stands out is the quality of the road surface. Combining sun-baked asphalt textures with dark rubber build-up and skid marks really looks like racing games ought to look. It’s a lovely aesthetic, though it’ll be interesting to see how the gameplay camera is presented in the final version, as the team is still tweaking it.

Switching view

At present, there are several viewpoints but they’re all clearly elevated further up and away from the cars than most racers of this ilk. Lower options may be incorporated too, which would surely be welcome – seeing this iconic F1-esque world looking so appealing made me really want to get right down into the action.

The cars will suffer from mechanical damage, but won’t lose any pieces of bodywork no matter how hard you crash them. Instead, you’ll just be required to pit and fix your issues. Pulling into the pits brings up a simple sequence of buttons to match as quickly as you can to change your tyres, though there will be something more required for refuelling, which wasn’t demonstrated.

There are cartoony-looking 3d pit crew members all through the pits and it all looks very charming. The cars are even sympathetic caricatures of their inspirations, with 12 unique liveries and driver helmets based on classics from each era. 

The team hasn’t yet had access to a Switch 2 dev kit, but the game is targeting 30fps on the original Switch and 60fps on the beefier machines.

With many cars on track during races, CPU load was an early worry, but apparently the Switch version is running just fine, even at this early stage, with plenty of time left for optimisation. That’s something that can’t really be said of other multiplatform Switch games, like F1 Legends’ own muse, Art of Rally.

One of the areas the team is most pleased with is the sound of the cars. Great care has been taken in using appropriate engine samples to make sure that every era in the game sounds unique, aiming to get your nostalgia glands tingling with the kind of sounds you would listen to on a Sunday afternoon during your childhood.

Final lap

It’s interesting to note that the game is quite a departure from 3D Clouds’ previous racers, namely Race with Ryan and Paw Patrol Grand Prix. The game doesn’t move like either of those titles, and doesn’t have any childishness in its presentation, except for the blocky spectators, though that’s more of a nod to Art of Rally than Minecraft.

Indeed, the big takeaway from the presentation was that the game is a realisation of the idealised F1 world that lives in the minds of people who grew up watching the Murray Walker era of the sport. It certainly looks like the essence of that F1 has been captured, and with more realistic visuals than the excellent but flat-shaded New Star GP, this is definitely one to watch.