There's so much to love about Formula Legends, as we detailed recently in our review of the fun, arcade style racer that pays homage to decades of grand prix racing history.
But if anything was going to hold this game back from getting the repeat playtime it deserved, it was likely to be the handling model, which was disappointingly unresponsive and tough to master.
On some tracks, and with some cars, you could get used to it, but you almost had to anticipate the corner too early to make sure you hit the apex, and there wasn't the responsiveness to adjust once you'd committed to turning in.
Developers 3D Clouds heard the feedback loud and clear, and immediately set to work, releasing a new, more responsive handling model around three weeks after the game came out.
The idea wasn't to entirely replace the original handling, but to create an alternative setting that players can enable if they didn't like the original set-up.
So has it worked?
It's a big step in the right direction, and it's made more of the cars and more of the tracks easy to jump straight into.
With the original handling, you could get on top of it if you gave it time and learned how to work around the lack of responsiveness. But a game like this is designed to provide instant fun and excitement, not something you have to chip away at just to complete a lap cleanly.
The alternative steering setting is a big improvement, and the team behind the game have done well to quickly produce a more sensitive handling model that doesn't suddenly make it feel like you're playing a completely different game. It's been tweaked, not overhauled, and that's what many of us who expressed concern about the original handling wanted.
I'd argue it doesn't quite go far enough, as the cars can still feel a little bit lazy through some of the quickest direction changes such as chicanes, but standard cornering or working your way through a more progressive set of S bends now feels much more enjoyable.
Another update is coming shortly that will address some of the knock-on effects of the new handling model, which requires a rebalancing of the AI behaviour (which has already been toned down post-release) and difficulty levels as the game has effectively been made easier by the handling change.
There are also new cars coming, including an early 1990s model inspired by the Jordan 191, a late 1970s car that resembles the Arrows A2, and - for some reason - an early 2020s car that appears to be tipping its hat to Alfa Romeo!
