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Driveclub is probably the most infamous game available for the PS4; more infamous than Infamous itself.
The game was racing towards the PS4 launch day but it blew a tyre, veered off of the motorway and landed on its roof in a ditch. What didn’t help the delay announcement was the timing; it came pretty close to the PS4 launch date. That wouldn’t have been too much of an issue had it not been promised as a PS Plus freebie on day 1. Naturally, the news didn’t go down well.
The game was then pencilled in for a Q1 2014 release but it wasn’t long before the eraser was used on that proposed release window. As if to kick the impatient gamers while they were down, the full game would no longer be a PS Plus freebie, a cut down version (or glorified demo as it is often labelled) would be offered instead. The internet exploded in rage. The cherry on top of the icing on the cake was the announcement that you could upgrade from the PS Plus version to the full version for a slightly cut down price but you had to remain a PS Plus subscriber if you wanted to retain access to the game you bought. Thankfully common sense prevailed in the end.
Hands on sessions at games conferences like E3 last year did cast doubt on Driveclub being ready for the PS4’s launch so the delay wasn’t a surprise but the length of the delay certainly was. Apparently Evolution needed more time to work on the social side of the game which is a key component of Driveclub. They needed a lot of time as it turned out.
To ease the pain of the delay the PR machine went into overdrive recently. New videos were released alongside plenty of information. It was looking like the delay had benefitted the game no end, the frosty atmosphere on the internet melted and people started to look forward to the game again.
Fast forward 12 months and the game finally crossed the finish line. Better late than never they say; they might be wrong as Driveclub’s troubles were only just beginning.
The social side that is key to the whole concept; you know, the element they needed an extra 12 months to work on, needs an internet connection and servers. Evolution’ss servers collapsed upon the North American launch. The PS Plus version of the game was postponed indefinitely and the internet exploded again. Then Europe joined the party. Without access to servers the club aspect is dead leaving customers with essentially a game called Drive. The single player mode was mostly unaffected although this seemed to be of little comfort.
Evolution thought their servers were ready and they had performed stress tests to simulate the activity they were expecting. Their test results were clearly misleading and I imagine this mistake will never happen again, if they are around for an ‘again’. The length of time to resolve the server issues has caused more pain than the original delay; this time people had paid money and that’s a whole new level of frustration.
3 weeks later and the servers are still not fully up and running and we still don’t have access to 100% of the game but there is more than enough there to review.
The single player mode is a series of race events grouped by class category. Naturally you have to start at the beginning and earn the right to the subsequent classes. Events can consist of a single race or a group or races with points awarded after each ‘round’. Each race has 2 or 3 targets to aim for with a star awarded for each one passed. A set number of stars are needed to progress. These targets take the form of a primary target of a finishing position and secondary targets of aspects like times, speed or points if there are more than one race for the event.
After selecting your car from the available vehicles, you are presented with a first person view of the driver getting into the car. It’s all very nice and clearly Evolution wants to show off the time they have spent on the car interiors. The cars are very detailed and I presume true to life; it’s not like I’ve ever been in any of these cars for real.
When the racing begins it is obvious that Driveclub is a fine looking game. There are some jagged edges if you look close enough but the graphics are very impressive with long draw distances and no sign of pop up. What is more impressive is the sense of speed. I certainly think it is up there with the best of them for creating a sense of speed and I took a little adjusting to the corner coming at me quicker than expected. It certainly adds to the thrill of racing, especially when you reach the ‘real’ cars.
Handling is similar to Project Gotham Racing in that it is closer to sim than arcade but it is not striving for complete realism like Gran Turismo. This suits me down to the ground and I cannot fault the handling at all.
Points are awarded for actions such as overtaking, drifting, high speeds or drafting. You’ll soon find out that the game is strict and points are deducted as quickly as they are added. Points are removed for contact with other cars, going off track or contact with the scenery. Corner cutting and heaving collisions with other cars are punished with a speed restriction for a few seconds. Where it becomes frustrating is when the AI shunts you and you get punished. This seems to be more of an issue as you progress through the classes. On one occasion I was shunted from behind, spun out as a result and whacked the barrier. My reward was a points deduction for the collision with my attacker, a points deduction for going off the track and points deduction for hitting the barrier. Frustrating isn’t the word. And it’s not like I could return the favour as I’d be punished for that too. Evolution have said the collision aspect is something they will look into.
Events take the form of standard racing, time trials and drift events. The first two speak for themselves but the drift events are a mix of drifting and speed. The track is broken into sections where you will have a defined part to drift or go as fast as you can and points are awarded accordingly. I’m not so fond of these events and find them a bit hit and miss. Some of the bends that form a drift section I wouldn’t naturally drift through and at times the sections seem so small it barely seems worth it.
The tracks are based on real locations with some authentic but not always realistic roads. The locations are Canada, Chile, India, Norway and Scotland. I’ve only driven in one of those countries but it seems realistic enough to me, right down to road signs (you’ll get a points deduction for taking a closer look, I’ve tried). It is a nice change as all too often in racing games the tracks are based on real racing tracks which have been appearing in games for years. The tracks take the form of laps or point to point and with 11 tracks per location, it is a good offering.
There is a day and night cycle which is obviously accelerated but adds a great visual touch. The lights of the cars at night can be dazzling and the setting sun can be blinding which is not ideal as you come to that hair pin bend. Sometimes it might be nice to be able to see clearly no matter how impressive it looks.
Car customisation, damage and interior cameras often come up when people talk about racing games. Those who like to tinker under the bonnet are going to be disappointed to find the customisation options are limited to the colour scheme. Those that like interior cameras are catered for and it is an immersive look but no matter how much I want to like it, I still favour an external camera. Car damage is there but there are no car parts flying off and performance isn’t affected. The detail does go right down to the scrapes on the alloys; many scrapes on the alloys based on the wheels at the end of my races.
Rewind features, racing lines and assists are nowhere to be seen. I’ve become accustomed to those features but I’ve not missed them at all. Winning a race without assists or much in the way of guidance over how hard to brake is a more rewarding, I grudgingly admit it.
As the servers came to life, face off challenges popped in. These allow you the opportunity to beat a friend or random person’s score. Speed, drifting and keeping to the racing line through a corner are measured. Having done many races without these challenges I found them a little distracting at first but I’ve got used to them now and passed more than 50 of them according to that shiny silver trophy that appeared. There are some glitches in there though like the time I was challenged to beat a speed of 2422 mph. I don’t quite have a car in my garage capable of that yet and if I did, I doubt very much if I could control it.
The club aspect is an interesting one. I created my club, designed a badge and colour scheme and was all set to go. The points you earn in events are also applied to your club but you need at least 2 members to a club in order to collect points. Each time you connect you are presented with a useful progress update if your fellow club members have been busy. It is a nice idea but so far I’m not seeing much point to it. We collect points for the club but then what? It seems a little hollow at the moment and I’m not sure if that will change.
The multiplayer racing events haven’t been worth the wait either. The solo races feel relatively shallow without the targets of the single player mode but the real issue is other people. Driveclub is strict dishes out point deductions left, right and centre but nobody cares. Each race I’ve been involved in descends into a destruction derby. This was true of the team based events where you are just as likely to be rammed by a team mate as you are an opponent. This is something I’ve found in many online modes in racing games and it does spoil things.
The challenge mode isn’t available yet and this is where I think the connected aspect will thrive more. This will be like Autolog in EA games where you can post challenges to friends and try to beat challenges by friends. I am impatiently waiting on this part to come to life.
There is no denying Driveclub has been a disastrous launch which is a real shame as it is a great racing game but I already know of people who have sold it on. The racing is fast, the single player targets are challenging but achievable and I find the single player racing rather thrilling and up there with the best of them. There are plenty of tracks, plenty of races and it is a great looking racer. The online racing has been a disappointment but that is spoiled by other people. Finding like minded racers would be better but I still feel it would be lacking without the targets. The key concept to Driveclub is the part I find least interesting though, it just feels a bit superficial at the moment.
There are many more updates to come including weather and I just hope people are still playing the game by that point.
8 (in its unfinished state)
9 (if the challenges meet their potential)
The game was racing towards the PS4 launch day but it blew a tyre, veered off of the motorway and landed on its roof in a ditch. What didn’t help the delay announcement was the timing; it came pretty close to the PS4 launch date. That wouldn’t have been too much of an issue had it not been promised as a PS Plus freebie on day 1. Naturally, the news didn’t go down well.
The game was then pencilled in for a Q1 2014 release but it wasn’t long before the eraser was used on that proposed release window. As if to kick the impatient gamers while they were down, the full game would no longer be a PS Plus freebie, a cut down version (or glorified demo as it is often labelled) would be offered instead. The internet exploded in rage. The cherry on top of the icing on the cake was the announcement that you could upgrade from the PS Plus version to the full version for a slightly cut down price but you had to remain a PS Plus subscriber if you wanted to retain access to the game you bought. Thankfully common sense prevailed in the end.
Hands on sessions at games conferences like E3 last year did cast doubt on Driveclub being ready for the PS4’s launch so the delay wasn’t a surprise but the length of the delay certainly was. Apparently Evolution needed more time to work on the social side of the game which is a key component of Driveclub. They needed a lot of time as it turned out.
To ease the pain of the delay the PR machine went into overdrive recently. New videos were released alongside plenty of information. It was looking like the delay had benefitted the game no end, the frosty atmosphere on the internet melted and people started to look forward to the game again.
Fast forward 12 months and the game finally crossed the finish line. Better late than never they say; they might be wrong as Driveclub’s troubles were only just beginning.
The social side that is key to the whole concept; you know, the element they needed an extra 12 months to work on, needs an internet connection and servers. Evolution’ss servers collapsed upon the North American launch. The PS Plus version of the game was postponed indefinitely and the internet exploded again. Then Europe joined the party. Without access to servers the club aspect is dead leaving customers with essentially a game called Drive. The single player mode was mostly unaffected although this seemed to be of little comfort.
Evolution thought their servers were ready and they had performed stress tests to simulate the activity they were expecting. Their test results were clearly misleading and I imagine this mistake will never happen again, if they are around for an ‘again’. The length of time to resolve the server issues has caused more pain than the original delay; this time people had paid money and that’s a whole new level of frustration.
3 weeks later and the servers are still not fully up and running and we still don’t have access to 100% of the game but there is more than enough there to review.
The single player mode is a series of race events grouped by class category. Naturally you have to start at the beginning and earn the right to the subsequent classes. Events can consist of a single race or a group or races with points awarded after each ‘round’. Each race has 2 or 3 targets to aim for with a star awarded for each one passed. A set number of stars are needed to progress. These targets take the form of a primary target of a finishing position and secondary targets of aspects like times, speed or points if there are more than one race for the event.
After selecting your car from the available vehicles, you are presented with a first person view of the driver getting into the car. It’s all very nice and clearly Evolution wants to show off the time they have spent on the car interiors. The cars are very detailed and I presume true to life; it’s not like I’ve ever been in any of these cars for real.
When the racing begins it is obvious that Driveclub is a fine looking game. There are some jagged edges if you look close enough but the graphics are very impressive with long draw distances and no sign of pop up. What is more impressive is the sense of speed. I certainly think it is up there with the best of them for creating a sense of speed and I took a little adjusting to the corner coming at me quicker than expected. It certainly adds to the thrill of racing, especially when you reach the ‘real’ cars.
Handling is similar to Project Gotham Racing in that it is closer to sim than arcade but it is not striving for complete realism like Gran Turismo. This suits me down to the ground and I cannot fault the handling at all.
Points are awarded for actions such as overtaking, drifting, high speeds or drafting. You’ll soon find out that the game is strict and points are deducted as quickly as they are added. Points are removed for contact with other cars, going off track or contact with the scenery. Corner cutting and heaving collisions with other cars are punished with a speed restriction for a few seconds. Where it becomes frustrating is when the AI shunts you and you get punished. This seems to be more of an issue as you progress through the classes. On one occasion I was shunted from behind, spun out as a result and whacked the barrier. My reward was a points deduction for the collision with my attacker, a points deduction for going off the track and points deduction for hitting the barrier. Frustrating isn’t the word. And it’s not like I could return the favour as I’d be punished for that too. Evolution have said the collision aspect is something they will look into.
Events take the form of standard racing, time trials and drift events. The first two speak for themselves but the drift events are a mix of drifting and speed. The track is broken into sections where you will have a defined part to drift or go as fast as you can and points are awarded accordingly. I’m not so fond of these events and find them a bit hit and miss. Some of the bends that form a drift section I wouldn’t naturally drift through and at times the sections seem so small it barely seems worth it.
The tracks are based on real locations with some authentic but not always realistic roads. The locations are Canada, Chile, India, Norway and Scotland. I’ve only driven in one of those countries but it seems realistic enough to me, right down to road signs (you’ll get a points deduction for taking a closer look, I’ve tried). It is a nice change as all too often in racing games the tracks are based on real racing tracks which have been appearing in games for years. The tracks take the form of laps or point to point and with 11 tracks per location, it is a good offering.
There is a day and night cycle which is obviously accelerated but adds a great visual touch. The lights of the cars at night can be dazzling and the setting sun can be blinding which is not ideal as you come to that hair pin bend. Sometimes it might be nice to be able to see clearly no matter how impressive it looks.
Car customisation, damage and interior cameras often come up when people talk about racing games. Those who like to tinker under the bonnet are going to be disappointed to find the customisation options are limited to the colour scheme. Those that like interior cameras are catered for and it is an immersive look but no matter how much I want to like it, I still favour an external camera. Car damage is there but there are no car parts flying off and performance isn’t affected. The detail does go right down to the scrapes on the alloys; many scrapes on the alloys based on the wheels at the end of my races.
Rewind features, racing lines and assists are nowhere to be seen. I’ve become accustomed to those features but I’ve not missed them at all. Winning a race without assists or much in the way of guidance over how hard to brake is a more rewarding, I grudgingly admit it.
As the servers came to life, face off challenges popped in. These allow you the opportunity to beat a friend or random person’s score. Speed, drifting and keeping to the racing line through a corner are measured. Having done many races without these challenges I found them a little distracting at first but I’ve got used to them now and passed more than 50 of them according to that shiny silver trophy that appeared. There are some glitches in there though like the time I was challenged to beat a speed of 2422 mph. I don’t quite have a car in my garage capable of that yet and if I did, I doubt very much if I could control it.
The club aspect is an interesting one. I created my club, designed a badge and colour scheme and was all set to go. The points you earn in events are also applied to your club but you need at least 2 members to a club in order to collect points. Each time you connect you are presented with a useful progress update if your fellow club members have been busy. It is a nice idea but so far I’m not seeing much point to it. We collect points for the club but then what? It seems a little hollow at the moment and I’m not sure if that will change.
The multiplayer racing events haven’t been worth the wait either. The solo races feel relatively shallow without the targets of the single player mode but the real issue is other people. Driveclub is strict dishes out point deductions left, right and centre but nobody cares. Each race I’ve been involved in descends into a destruction derby. This was true of the team based events where you are just as likely to be rammed by a team mate as you are an opponent. This is something I’ve found in many online modes in racing games and it does spoil things.
The challenge mode isn’t available yet and this is where I think the connected aspect will thrive more. This will be like Autolog in EA games where you can post challenges to friends and try to beat challenges by friends. I am impatiently waiting on this part to come to life.
There is no denying Driveclub has been a disastrous launch which is a real shame as it is a great racing game but I already know of people who have sold it on. The racing is fast, the single player targets are challenging but achievable and I find the single player racing rather thrilling and up there with the best of them. There are plenty of tracks, plenty of races and it is a great looking racer. The online racing has been a disappointment but that is spoiled by other people. Finding like minded racers would be better but I still feel it would be lacking without the targets. The key concept to Driveclub is the part I find least interesting though, it just feels a bit superficial at the moment.
There are many more updates to come including weather and I just hope people are still playing the game by that point.
8 (in its unfinished state)
9 (if the challenges meet their potential)
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
Driveclub is probably the most infamous game available for the PS4; more infamous than Infamous itself.
The game was racing towards the PS4 launch day but it blew a tyre, veered off of the motorway and landed on its roof in a ditch. What didn’t help the delay announcement was the timing; it came pretty close to the PS4 launch date. That wouldn’t have been too much of an issue had it not been promised as a PS Plus freebie on day 1. Naturally, the news didn’t go down well.
The game was then pencilled in for a Q1 2014 release but it wasn’t long before the eraser was used on that proposed release window. As if to kick the impatient gamers while they were down, the full game would no longer be a PS Plus freebie, a cut down version (or glorified demo as it is often labelled) would be offered instead. The internet exploded in rage. The cherry on top of the icing on the cake was the announcement that you could upgrade from the PS Plus version to the full version for a slightly cut down price but you had to remain a PS Plus subscriber if you wanted to retain access to the game you bought. Thankfully common sense prevailed in the end.
Hands on sessions at games conferences like E3 last year did cast doubt on Driveclub being ready for the PS4’s launch so the delay wasn’t a surprise but the length of the delay certainly was. Apparently Evolution needed more time to work on the social side of the game which is a key component of Driveclub. They needed a lot of time as it turned out.
To ease the pain of the delay the PR machine went into overdrive recently. New videos were released alongside plenty of information. It was looking like the delay had benefitted the game no end, the frosty atmosphere on the internet melted and people started to look forward to the game again.
Fast forward 12 months and the game finally crossed the finish line. Better late than never they say; they might be wrong as Driveclub’s troubles were only just beginning.
The social side that is key to the whole concept; you know, the element they needed an extra 12 months to work on, needs an internet connection and servers. Evolution’ss servers collapsed upon the North American launch. The PS Plus version of the game was postponed indefinitely and the internet exploded again. Then Europe joined the party. Without access to servers the club aspect is dead leaving customers with essentially a game called Drive. The single player mode was mostly unaffected although this seemed to be of little comfort.
Evolution thought their servers were ready and they had performed stress tests to simulate the activity they were expecting. Their test results were clearly misleading and I imagine this mistake will never happen again, if they are around for an ‘again’. The length of time to resolve the server issues has caused more pain than the original delay; this time people had paid money and that’s a whole new level of frustration.
3 weeks later and the servers are still not fully up and running and we still don’t have access to 100% of the game but there is more than enough there to review.
The single player mode is a series of race events grouped by class category. Naturally you have to start at the beginning and earn the right to the subsequent classes. Events can consist of a single race or a group or races with points awarded after each ‘round’. Each race has 2 or 3 targets to aim for with a star awarded for each one passed. A set number of stars are needed to progress. These targets take the form of a primary target of a finishing position and secondary targets of aspects like times, speed or points if there are more than one race for the event.
After selecting your car from the available vehicles, you are presented with a first person view of the driver getting into the car. It’s all very nice and clearly Evolution wants to show off the time they have spent on the car interiors. The cars are very detailed and I presume true to life; it’s not like I’ve ever been in any of these cars for real.
When the racing begins it is obvious that Driveclub is a fine looking game. There are some jagged edges if you look close enough but the graphics are very impressive with long draw distances and no sign of pop up. What is more impressive is the sense of speed. I certainly think it is up there with the best of them for creating a sense of speed and I took a little adjusting to the corner coming at me quicker than expected. It certainly adds to the thrill of racing, especially when you reach the ‘real’ cars.
Handling is similar to Project Gotham Racing in that it is closer to sim than arcade but it is not striving for complete realism like Gran Turismo. This suits me down to the ground and I cannot fault the handling at all.
Points are awarded for actions such as overtaking, drifting, high speeds or drafting. You’ll soon find out that the game is strict and points are deducted as quickly as they are added. Points are removed for contact with other cars, going off track or contact with the scenery. Corner cutting and heaving collisions with other cars are punished with a speed restriction for a few seconds. Where it becomes frustrating is when the AI shunts you and you get punished. This seems to be more of an issue as you progress through the classes. On one occasion I was shunted from behind, spun out as a result and whacked the barrier. My reward was a points deduction for the collision with my attacker, a points deduction for going off the track and points deduction for hitting the barrier. Frustrating isn’t the word. And it’s not like I could return the favour as I’d be punished for that too. Evolution have said the collision aspect is something they will look into.
Events take the form of standard racing, time trials and drift events. The first two speak for themselves but the drift events are a mix of drifting and speed. The track is broken into sections where you will have a defined part to drift or go as fast as you can and points are awarded accordingly. I’m not so fond of these events and find them a bit hit and miss. Some of the bends that form a drift section I wouldn’t naturally drift through and at times the sections seem so small it barely seems worth it.
The tracks are based on real locations with some authentic but not always realistic roads. The locations are Canada, Chile, India, Norway and Scotland. I’ve only driven in one of those countries but it seems realistic enough to me, right down to road signs (you’ll get a points deduction for taking a closer look, I’ve tried). It is a nice change as all too often in racing games the tracks are based on real racing tracks which have been appearing in games for years. The tracks take the form of laps or point to point and with 11 tracks per location, it is a good offering.
There is a day and night cycle which is obviously accelerated but adds a great visual touch. The lights of the cars at night can be dazzling and the setting sun can be blinding which is not ideal as you come to that hair pin bend. Sometimes it might be nice to be able to see clearly no matter how impressive it looks.
Car customisation, damage and interior cameras often come up when people talk about racing games. Those who like to tinker under the bonnet are going to be disappointed to find the customisation options are limited to the colour scheme. Those that like interior cameras are catered for and it is an immersive look but no matter how much I want to like it, I still favour an external camera. Car damage is there but there are no car parts flying off and performance isn’t affected. The detail does go right down to the scrapes on the alloys; many scrapes on the alloys based on the wheels at the end of my races.
Rewind features, racing lines and assists are nowhere to be seen. I’ve become accustomed to those features but I’ve not missed them at all. Winning a race without assists or much in the way of guidance over how hard to brake is a more rewarding, I grudgingly admit it.
As the servers came to life, face off challenges popped in. These allow you the opportunity to beat a friend or random person’s score. Speed, drifting and keeping to the racing line through a corner are measured. Having done many races without these challenges I found them a little distracting at first but I’ve got used to them now and passed more than 50 of them according to that shiny silver trophy that appeared. There are some glitches in there though like the time I was challenged to beat a speed of 2422 mph. I don’t quite have a car in my garage capable of that yet and if I did, I doubt very much if I could control it.
The club aspect is an interesting one. I created my club, designed a badge and colour scheme and was all set to go. The points you earn in events are also applied to your club but you need at least 2 members to a club in order to collect points. Each time you connect you are presented with a useful progress update if your fellow club members have been busy. It is a nice idea but so far I’m not seeing much point to it. We collect points for the club but then what? It seems a little hollow at the moment and I’m not sure if that will change.
The multiplayer racing events haven’t been worth the wait either. The solo races feel relatively shallow without the targets of the single player mode but the real issue is other people. Driveclub is strict dishes out point deductions left, right and centre but nobody cares. Each race I’ve been involved in descends into a destruction derby. This was true of the team based events where you are just as likely to be rammed by a team mate as you are an opponent. This is something I’ve found in many online modes in racing games and it does spoil things.
The challenge mode isn’t available yet and this is where I think the connected aspect will thrive more. This will be like Autolog in EA games where you can post challenges to friends and try to beat challenges by friends. I am impatiently waiting on this part to come to life.
There is no denying Driveclub has been a disastrous launch which is a real shame as it is a great racing game but I already know of people who have sold it on. The racing is fast, the single player targets are challenging but achievable and I find the single player racing rather thrilling and up there with the best of them. There are plenty of tracks, plenty of races and it is a great looking racer. The online racing has been a disappointment but that is spoiled by other people. Finding like minded racers would be better but I still feel it would be lacking without the targets. The key concept to Driveclub is the part I find least interesting though, it just feels a bit superficial at the moment.
There are many more updates to come including weather and I just hope people are still playing the game by that point.
8 (in its unfinished state)
9 (if the challenges meet their potential)
The game was racing towards the PS4 launch day but it blew a tyre, veered off of the motorway and landed on its roof in a ditch. What didn’t help the delay announcement was the timing; it came pretty close to the PS4 launch date. That wouldn’t have been too much of an issue had it not been promised as a PS Plus freebie on day 1. Naturally, the news didn’t go down well.
The game was then pencilled in for a Q1 2014 release but it wasn’t long before the eraser was used on that proposed release window. As if to kick the impatient gamers while they were down, the full game would no longer be a PS Plus freebie, a cut down version (or glorified demo as it is often labelled) would be offered instead. The internet exploded in rage. The cherry on top of the icing on the cake was the announcement that you could upgrade from the PS Plus version to the full version for a slightly cut down price but you had to remain a PS Plus subscriber if you wanted to retain access to the game you bought. Thankfully common sense prevailed in the end.
Hands on sessions at games conferences like E3 last year did cast doubt on Driveclub being ready for the PS4’s launch so the delay wasn’t a surprise but the length of the delay certainly was. Apparently Evolution needed more time to work on the social side of the game which is a key component of Driveclub. They needed a lot of time as it turned out.
To ease the pain of the delay the PR machine went into overdrive recently. New videos were released alongside plenty of information. It was looking like the delay had benefitted the game no end, the frosty atmosphere on the internet melted and people started to look forward to the game again.
Fast forward 12 months and the game finally crossed the finish line. Better late than never they say; they might be wrong as Driveclub’s troubles were only just beginning.
The social side that is key to the whole concept; you know, the element they needed an extra 12 months to work on, needs an internet connection and servers. Evolution’ss servers collapsed upon the North American launch. The PS Plus version of the game was postponed indefinitely and the internet exploded again. Then Europe joined the party. Without access to servers the club aspect is dead leaving customers with essentially a game called Drive. The single player mode was mostly unaffected although this seemed to be of little comfort.
Evolution thought their servers were ready and they had performed stress tests to simulate the activity they were expecting. Their test results were clearly misleading and I imagine this mistake will never happen again, if they are around for an ‘again’. The length of time to resolve the server issues has caused more pain than the original delay; this time people had paid money and that’s a whole new level of frustration.
3 weeks later and the servers are still not fully up and running and we still don’t have access to 100% of the game but there is more than enough there to review.
The single player mode is a series of race events grouped by class category. Naturally you have to start at the beginning and earn the right to the subsequent classes. Events can consist of a single race or a group or races with points awarded after each ‘round’. Each race has 2 or 3 targets to aim for with a star awarded for each one passed. A set number of stars are needed to progress. These targets take the form of a primary target of a finishing position and secondary targets of aspects like times, speed or points if there are more than one race for the event.
After selecting your car from the available vehicles, you are presented with a first person view of the driver getting into the car. It’s all very nice and clearly Evolution wants to show off the time they have spent on the car interiors. The cars are very detailed and I presume true to life; it’s not like I’ve ever been in any of these cars for real.
When the racing begins it is obvious that Driveclub is a fine looking game. There are some jagged edges if you look close enough but the graphics are very impressive with long draw distances and no sign of pop up. What is more impressive is the sense of speed. I certainly think it is up there with the best of them for creating a sense of speed and I took a little adjusting to the corner coming at me quicker than expected. It certainly adds to the thrill of racing, especially when you reach the ‘real’ cars.
Handling is similar to Project Gotham Racing in that it is closer to sim than arcade but it is not striving for complete realism like Gran Turismo. This suits me down to the ground and I cannot fault the handling at all.
Points are awarded for actions such as overtaking, drifting, high speeds or drafting. You’ll soon find out that the game is strict and points are deducted as quickly as they are added. Points are removed for contact with other cars, going off track or contact with the scenery. Corner cutting and heaving collisions with other cars are punished with a speed restriction for a few seconds. Where it becomes frustrating is when the AI shunts you and you get punished. This seems to be more of an issue as you progress through the classes. On one occasion I was shunted from behind, spun out as a result and whacked the barrier. My reward was a points deduction for the collision with my attacker, a points deduction for going off the track and points deduction for hitting the barrier. Frustrating isn’t the word. And it’s not like I could return the favour as I’d be punished for that too. Evolution have said the collision aspect is something they will look into.
Events take the form of standard racing, time trials and drift events. The first two speak for themselves but the drift events are a mix of drifting and speed. The track is broken into sections where you will have a defined part to drift or go as fast as you can and points are awarded accordingly. I’m not so fond of these events and find them a bit hit and miss. Some of the bends that form a drift section I wouldn’t naturally drift through and at times the sections seem so small it barely seems worth it.
The tracks are based on real locations with some authentic but not always realistic roads. The locations are Canada, Chile, India, Norway and Scotland. I’ve only driven in one of those countries but it seems realistic enough to me, right down to road signs (you’ll get a points deduction for taking a closer look, I’ve tried). It is a nice change as all too often in racing games the tracks are based on real racing tracks which have been appearing in games for years. The tracks take the form of laps or point to point and with 11 tracks per location, it is a good offering.
There is a day and night cycle which is obviously accelerated but adds a great visual touch. The lights of the cars at night can be dazzling and the setting sun can be blinding which is not ideal as you come to that hair pin bend. Sometimes it might be nice to be able to see clearly no matter how impressive it looks.
Car customisation, damage and interior cameras often come up when people talk about racing games. Those who like to tinker under the bonnet are going to be disappointed to find the customisation options are limited to the colour scheme. Those that like interior cameras are catered for and it is an immersive look but no matter how much I want to like it, I still favour an external camera. Car damage is there but there are no car parts flying off and performance isn’t affected. The detail does go right down to the scrapes on the alloys; many scrapes on the alloys based on the wheels at the end of my races.
Rewind features, racing lines and assists are nowhere to be seen. I’ve become accustomed to those features but I’ve not missed them at all. Winning a race without assists or much in the way of guidance over how hard to brake is a more rewarding, I grudgingly admit it.
As the servers came to life, face off challenges popped in. These allow you the opportunity to beat a friend or random person’s score. Speed, drifting and keeping to the racing line through a corner are measured. Having done many races without these challenges I found them a little distracting at first but I’ve got used to them now and passed more than 50 of them according to that shiny silver trophy that appeared. There are some glitches in there though like the time I was challenged to beat a speed of 2422 mph. I don’t quite have a car in my garage capable of that yet and if I did, I doubt very much if I could control it.
The club aspect is an interesting one. I created my club, designed a badge and colour scheme and was all set to go. The points you earn in events are also applied to your club but you need at least 2 members to a club in order to collect points. Each time you connect you are presented with a useful progress update if your fellow club members have been busy. It is a nice idea but so far I’m not seeing much point to it. We collect points for the club but then what? It seems a little hollow at the moment and I’m not sure if that will change.
The multiplayer racing events haven’t been worth the wait either. The solo races feel relatively shallow without the targets of the single player mode but the real issue is other people. Driveclub is strict dishes out point deductions left, right and centre but nobody cares. Each race I’ve been involved in descends into a destruction derby. This was true of the team based events where you are just as likely to be rammed by a team mate as you are an opponent. This is something I’ve found in many online modes in racing games and it does spoil things.
The challenge mode isn’t available yet and this is where I think the connected aspect will thrive more. This will be like Autolog in EA games where you can post challenges to friends and try to beat challenges by friends. I am impatiently waiting on this part to come to life.
There is no denying Driveclub has been a disastrous launch which is a real shame as it is a great racing game but I already know of people who have sold it on. The racing is fast, the single player targets are challenging but achievable and I find the single player racing rather thrilling and up there with the best of them. There are plenty of tracks, plenty of races and it is a great looking racer. The online racing has been a disappointment but that is spoiled by other people. Finding like minded racers would be better but I still feel it would be lacking without the targets. The key concept to Driveclub is the part I find least interesting though, it just feels a bit superficial at the moment.
There are many more updates to come including weather and I just hope people are still playing the game by that point.
8 (in its unfinished state)
9 (if the challenges meet their potential)