Thoughts about the game?

[milanbarca82]

I'm still downloading the game (damn slow connection ) but I would like to know the opinions of those who have already played it.

 

How is it compared to NFS: Rivals, Gran Turismo 5 & 6, and Forza Horizon 2?

 

Is it really a "Forza killer"?

Edited October 7, 2014 by milanbarca82

[Parker]

I haven't played it yet but I can already tell you it isn't a Forza killer. Driveclub is an arcade racer so it already doesn't compete with the Motorsport series because those games are for the simulation guys. Horizon is where the comparisons would kind of make sense but seeing as Horizon is an open world racer I don't think you can really compare it to Driveclub either. You could compare the physics, sure, but the game itself, they are too far apart for an apt comparison. 

 

 

Parker

[Saltyie]

I like it. I haven't played Horizon 2, and as Parker says, you can't really compare it to that anyway. I'm more of an arcadey guy, I don't care about how realistic it is, so I'm more inclined to say I think it's better than forza 5 (but again, I didn't play f5 for very long either). Simply put, it's an 8/10 racer, and does exactly what it sets out to do.

[Sikatiiker]

Any idea when is the free PS+ version coming available for download? For PS+ gamers I've only seen the full game upgrade for 39.95 € (in EU Store).

[milanbarca82]

Any idea when is the free PS+ version coming available for download? For PS+ gamers I've only seen the full game upgrade for 39.95 € (in EU Store).

 

I believe it will be available when the PSN store updates and that is going to be Tonight for the US and Thursday (or Friday, not sure) For EU!!! 

 

 

On topic, the game so far got mixed reviews!  I could care less what reviewers opinions are. One should play the game before trusting others opinions.

Unfortunately, some people are too stupid to do that now.  They would rather wait for someone else to form an opinion for them, so then they can complain about a game they haven't even played.  Smh!

Edited October 7, 2014 by milanbarca82

[kidhero99]

I'm still downloading the game (damn slow connection ) but I would like to know the opinions of those who have already played it.

 

How is it compared to NFS: Rivals, Gran Turismo 5 & 6, and Forza Horizon 2?

 

Is it really a "Forza killer"?

 

For starters you can't kill Forza with a 73 score on Metacritic. 

 

 

Looks like an Evolution game - the meat is only to be found on the track. Though I will say this game has the best menus, UI and lightning fast loads of any Evo game, and might be the best UI I've seen in a driving game on the whole. Nothing gets in the way and nothing keeps you waiting.

 

That there is no story and no setup doesn't matter to me - the work was put into the environments, cars and dynamic driving conditions. No sense of victory or celebration is something that might sour after a while though, especially considering how tough some of the events seem to be as you go up in difficulty.

 

And one thing that I'll agree with some of the reviews is that the game here is more for the sim crowd. The arcade play at work in the driving model runs smack dab against the points system which demerits a driver for leaving the track or even small collisions. While I love that the game incentivizes clean driving, I think that'll be at odds to many arcade racing fans.

 

But in terms of soul I'm not quite seeing the complaint. Don't the environments count? Those environments, rendered out forever and in a million different degrees of lighting and cloud cover - those are the heart of DriveClub and what most sets it apart from the pack.

[SolarCat02]

For starters you can't kill Forza with a 73 score on Metacritic.

Looks like an Evolution game - the meat is only to be found on the track. Though I will say this game has the best menus, UI and lightning fast loads of any Evo game, and might be the best UI I've seen in a driving game on the whole. Nothing gets in the way and nothing keeps you waiting.

That there is no story and no setup doesn't matter to me - the work was put into the environments, cars and dynamic driving conditions. No sense of victory or celebration is something that might sour after a while though, especially considering how tough some of the events seem to be as you go up in difficulty.

And one thing that I'll agree with some of the reviews is that the game here is more for the sim crowd. The arcade play at work in the driving model runs smack dab against the points system which demerits a driver for leaving the track or even small collisions. While I love that the game incentivizes clean driving, I think that'll be at odds to many arcade racing fans.

But in terms of soul I'm not quite seeing the complaint. Don't the environments count? Those environments, rendered out forever and in a million different degrees of lighting and cloud cover - those are the heart of DriveClub and what most sets it apart from the pack.

Storyline isn't really as important in a racing game as it in in, say, an RPG, though, so I'd rather effort be put into the racing side of things.

Honestly, in real-life racing even, how much of a "storyline" is there? Sure, there's always the odd story of an against-the-odds driver making it big, but overall the whole story is the best driver, has the best car/sponsorships, has the most money/fame.

You can make your own storyline, if you want, of course. Friendly rivalries with particular other players does make any game more fun.

While I understand that some people will be upset about penalties for going off the track or smashing into other cars, the same behaviors they're penalizing here are the reasons why I don't drive online against random people in Need for Speed - there's too much to be gained by smash-and-grab "racing" so it's hard to find anyone BUT that style.

I don't have a PS4 yet, but I've set a goal to get one sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas (I have a goal I need to meet first, this is my motivation). DriveClub is the game that has been convincing me it's time. The more I read about it, the more excited I am!

EDIT: About the "review" video below, did he even try the game? I don't see it in the video. It sounds like he's more interesting in making fun of people's opinions than in doing useful things. I didn't watch it the whole was through, it gave me a headache. I do have to say, though, three seconds off the track in a race can be a long time. But then again, I am not looking for an arcade car-smasher, I am looking for something like Gran Turismo but toned down a bit, with a more arcade-y but not arcade feel.I

 

I'm more inclined to trust a review like this one:

GameSpot DriveClub Review

It's a level-headed review of the game from the author's opinion, with details about why he feels that way, and actual footage from the actual game is actually featured.

(I'm still interested, although like I said, I'm waiting on some goals before I get the PS4...  And then I'm sticking with the PS+ version until I get a good wheel to use with it.)

Edited October 7, 2014 by SolarCat02

[kidhero99]

Some more impressions 

 

[BlindMango]

I got the retail version at GameStop and am about to put the disc in! I see it got an average score of 75 on metacritic which isn't bad but it could obviously be better - I'm pretty sure that I'll enjoy it quite a bit though

 

I heard that PSN was having some issues? lol uh-oh!

Edited October 7, 2014 by BlindMango

[MRgreen55]

Does anyone know when the PS+ version Goes live?

[SolarCat02]

The 2nd rule of Driveclub: do not talk about Forza Horizon 2

 

Would the first rule be "Don't ask about the PS+ Edition"?

 

I don't have a PS4, so the delay doesn't impact any of my plans except the part where I was hoping to "claim" this game for my library before I went to bed.

That said, it's not really a good sign.

 

EDIT: @MRgreen55

Mostly the answers seem to be rumors, or people claiming Sony told them it would be online "in X.Y hours".  The most credible-looking one I found was this: "Just got off the phone with sony. They said it's getting released after the next update or something."

But it's in Twitter, so who knows?

Edited October 8, 2014 by SolarCat02

[kidhero99]

 

Would the first rule be "Don't ask about the PS+ Edition"?

 

I don't have a PS4, so the delay doesn't impact any of my plans except the part where I was hoping to "claim" this game for my library before I went to bed.

That said, it's not really a good sign.

 

EDIT: @MRgreen55

Mostly the answers seem to be rumors, or people claiming Sony told them it would be online "in X.Y hours".  The most credible-looking one I found was this: "Just got off the phone with sony. They said it's getting released after the next update or something."

But it's in Twitter, so who knows?

he 1st rule of Driveclub: do not talk about the review scores of Driveclub.

Does anyone know when the PS+ version Goes live?

On Grace Chen's time

[ZeroXOF]

Some more impressions 

 

 

He said something about visual downgrade, if true then we have a watch dogs on our hands.

[kidhero99]

He said something about visual downgrade, if true then we have a watch dogs on our hands.

Oh, likely referring to this picture that has been hitting the rounds lately.

 

[ZeroXOF]

Oh, likely referring to this picture that has been hitting the rounds lately.

 

 

Lol, he's a crazy man but his laugh was too funny in the video.

[kidhero99]

Lol, he's a crazy man but his laugh was too funny in the video.

I will at least admit he's spot on about it missing a few features, but the picture at the bottom does feel a little off graphically compared to the top

[ZeroXOF]

I will at least admit he's spot on about it missing a few features, but the picture at the bottom does feel a little off graphically compared to the top

 

Pretty much, I was thinking that you showed me a picture of a sega saturn racing game.

[kidhero99]

Pretty much, I was thinking that you showed me a picture of a sega saturn racing game.

One would think, but seeing some gameplay streaming on Twitch, It's really is DriveClub final code

[Sikatiiker]

Does anyone know when the PS+ version Goes live?

On EU it was supposed to arrive today. Heard there's some problems with the servers and it's gonna be delayed.

[kidhero99]

On EU it was supposed to arrive today. Heard there's some problems with the servers and it's gonna be delayed.

Not even with a paid suscription Sony is able to provide decent online infrastructure.

[Sikatiiker]

 

Not even with a paid suscription Sony is able to provide decent online infrastructure.

 

Well that's just how it's like, that's life. It's just a job like any else, you'll learn a thing or two about it when you have to make your own money one day.

[basti_memphis]

24h and 20mins later. Not once connected to the Server 

[kidhero99]

Well that's just how it's like, that's life. It's just a job like any else, you'll learn a thing or two about it when you have to make your own money one day.

That's one way to give it a PR spin I suppose. 

[vmc_y77cx7868]

 recorded driving very slowly, vs driving competitively, then played both back watched the mini map, watched the AI results at the end of the race. It was very obvious.

The difference in driving speed - over the whole lap - of the AI cars when you tootle around like you're in a prius is dramatic vs when you're up front.

Since the AI cars/drivers are able to post lap after lap of decent times if you're at the front, and yet they still all occupy the same chunk of the track, with maybe one or two laggards that you can still never lap, the conclusions are straightforward.

In fact I wager the slowest AI driver when you're driving out front can easily beat the fastest AI driver when you're driving last, in terms of total time for the race.

The AI setting was "semi-pro" if that matters that much. Maybe they tune it down a bit for pro level maybe not. More experiments needed.

Try lapping the slowest car in a 25 lap race -- will be much harder than you expect based on the finish time of a 1 lap race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Graphics are definitely not as good as some of the preview footage we've seen for some reason. But I am still happy with what I see. As a total package it's the best looking racer I've ever played. Can't wait for weather.
• Aliasing is an issue - not sure how people don't see the problems. The little flickering white dots on some of the cars is really jarring. (and no it's not my TV, I used a Spyder to calibrate it).
• It's obvious the "soulless" claims come from people who have not played the game with its online features and clubs. I also felt lonely playing the single player tour offline. Can't wait to play with everyone from DriveClub-GAF (I added like 400 people last night >_>).
• The gameplay is damn fun. It's 100% not a sim, but it's not NFS power slide around 90degree angles at 150+mph either. I love that this game takes skill.
• The car models are some of the best I've ever seen - they really make Forza's cars look plastic and fake when switching between both (comparing same car on two different HDMI inputs.). I think it might just be the way Forza decided to render the paint...
• The soundtrack is great. It just works and blends seamlessly into the racing.
• The sense of speed is unmatched.
• When the handling clicked in my head, combined with the visuals and soundtrack I actually got goosebumps several times last night.
• It really is an amazing experience and I can't wait to see how it evolves.

[Im2Fast_4U]

For everyone wondering...

 

The PS+ Version of Driveclub will go live shortly, SHORTLY after the online servers go up. They aren't up as of yet, they apparently had a few bugs to fix they didn't catch. Hope that's helpful! Definitely worth the wait though, the game is very pleasing both graphically and gameplay wise.