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DriveClub Review Thread.

KingJ2002

Member
I was betting between a 75-80 due to it's lack of hype and it's falling right in line with these reviews... but some of these are questionable to down right invalid.

For example... IGN knocked the game because it's not an open world racer! They should rate the game for what it is.. not what it isn't. Also some of these guys clearly don't play racing titles... spending most of their time smacking into walls rather than actually racing and assessing the mechanics. I could go on but it just goes to show you how many of these reviews are questionable and the best assessment is to just play the game yourself.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Bland is not mature. Bland is bland. Mature is giving character and depth to realism.

I read those men magazines at the store or hair salon and the guy stuff is always bland. Bland leather, simpl bland bottles of cologne, and bland suits out to dinner. There's some wallpapers with bland atmosphere that have awesome visuals. The castle at Disney World is bland without its history and background.
 
GameSpot's review

Don't those contradict each other? If it's beautiful then why is it bland? Can't bland be the mature form of beautiful?

There's always one guy whose going to spin out or cause problems.

Plenty of games can be visually beautiful while still having a bland atmosphere. Just take a look at Destiny. There's no doubting the incredible power behind the visuals, but they build to absolutely nothing. The game world is technically impressive, but fails to inspire. Games like Forza Horizon have some level of fun to them, something to break the monotony. Forza prime even has some levity in the form of all the Top Gear integration. Gran Turismo has passion, though that has wained with the last few games.
DriveClub has leaderboards. That's what it intends to use as a soul.
 

Denton

Member
What a shame. So far only one game on PS4 is appealing (Bloodborne obviously). Not enough to make me get it. Maybe this time next year there will be some more good games.
 

BiGBoSSMk23

A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
So glad I can have an opinion of my own. Some of these reviews are laughably misinformed.

Most of them even rate the game down for being bad at it. Really?
 

Mononoke

Banned
I was betting between a 75-80 due to it's lack of hype.. and it's falling right in line with these reviews. but some of these are questionable to down right invalid.

As an example... for IGN to knock the game because it's not an open world racer is a bit ridiculous. They should rate the game for what it is.. not what it isn't. Also some of these guys clearly don't play racing titles... spending most of their time smacking into walls rather than actually racing and assessing the mechanics. I could go on but it just goes to show you how many of these reviews are questionable and the best assessment is to just play the game yourself.

Yeah, that's my thing. I'm okay with reviews being bad, or a reviewer just not liking a game. But it's hard not to...question their main gripe with it sometimes. Like, would you knock down Forza for not being open world? Are all racing games no longer as good because they aren't like Forza Horizon or The Crew?

It's just weird.
 

cool_dude

Banned
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.
 
Man a racing game where you're evading cops while weaving through crumbling buildings and trying to avoid getting into a massive, visually spectacular crashes sounds amazing, particularly with the power of the new consoles.
And Evo's done similar stuff with their Motorstorm franchise. Look, there's a place for those fantastical games and I understand why some people crave stuff like that. But sometimes I just want a racing game where you actually race against other people or AI. The moment-to-moment of racing against someone else is what appeals to me, not the flashy stuff. That stuff is fleeting.
 
lol, definitely worse than I expected. Will play this tonight. I love cars and racing so I am sure it will be great for me. I don't trust these journalists to really judge a racing experience.
 
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.

dude... stop it.
 
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.

Comedy gold.
 

prwxv3

Member
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.

You should cut it out. Because based on your past posts in this thread it look like you are rubbing salt in the wound.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Plenty of games can be visually beautiful while still having a bland atmosphere. Just take a look at Destiny. There's no doubting the incredible power behind the visuals, but they build to absolutely nothing. The game world is technically impressive, but fails to inspire. Games like Forza Horizon have some level of fun to them, something to break the monotony. Forza prime even has some levity in the form of all the Top Gear integration. Gran Turismo has passion, though that has wained with the last few games.
DriveClub has leaderboards. That's what it intends to use as a soul.

I miss the Circus Attraction vehicle they had in Test Drive was it? It made things interesting because it went super fast. I like quirky fast cars rather than racing a factory based model Honda Accord :p

I think there's some hate coming from trailer watching here. I think it looks good. Cars aren't always going to appear like they're out of Roger Rabbit's toon land.
 

Kiraly

Member
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.

Hahaha this post
 

NicoLeNano

Neo Member
French reviews are pretty bad.

Gameblog (http://www.gameblog.fr/tests/2071-driveclub-ps4) : 7/10 but poor review said gameplay mechanics don't work very well and not really impressive on screen.
Gamekult (http://www.gamekult.com/jeux/test-driveclub-J3050117108t.html#ps4) : 5/10 said bad gameplay, poor content, and too much old-fashioned (saying FH2 is now the standard)
Jeuxvideo.fr (http://www.jeuxvideo.fr/jeux/driveclub/preview-test-driveclub.html) : 5/10 said bad feeling, very poor content (lack of weather mode etc..), and very bad AI.

Pretty disappointed but always teased.
 
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.



@NeoGafShitPosts Contestant of the day.
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.

might want to make sure you're around if he plays sunset overdrive. might die from visual orgasm -_-
 
Personally wasn't a fan of this game at all when I played it a month ago. That wasn't the full game though so I'm interested to play the full game hopefully this week.

That being said reviews are pretty much in line with what I expected after getting some hands on time with it.
 
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.

Maybe he should play it while sitting under a sun lamp.
 

benzy

Member
There's only 5 locations, it might seem repetitive even if you've never seen a certain corner before. ...that and reviewers definition "same tracks".

Only 5 locations and it's still not repetitive at all though. You have a 24h day to night cycle. You have a weather system with dynamic clouds that also changes the lighting considerably when they roll in. There are a huge amount of variations to how the track looks.

panwlc.gif
 

Hugstable

Banned
Only 5 locations and it's still not repetitive at all though. You have a 24h day to night cycle. You have a weather system with dynamic clouds that also changes the lighting considerably when they roll in. There are a huge amount of variations to how the track looks.

panwlc.gif

Wait the Weather system in already in? I thought that was supposed to be coming later in a patch?
 
I was betting between a 75-80 due to it's lack of hype.. and it's falling right in line with these reviews. but some of these are questionable to down right invalid.

As an example... for IGN to knock the game because it's not an open world racer is a bit ridiculous. They should rate the game for what it is.. not what it isn't. Also some of these guys clearly don't play racing titles... spending most of their time smacking into walls rather than actually racing and assessing the mechanics. I could go on but it just goes to show you how many of these reviews are questionable and the best assessment is to just play the game yourself.

IMO IGN reviewers are hipster dudebros. They never review serious racers well, and have the dumbest ways to weight their critique. 'Amazing, never been done technical achievement that sets the bar for sound, online, and presence, but oh I saw a pixel in a shadow and AI doesn't act like how i think a human drives so 7/10'. Spot on
 

Gen X

Trust no one. Eat steaks.
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.

Cloudy skies make me sad too.
lol
 
Decent to good reviews; unsurprising. I just got back a bit ago from a friend's house playing this and I think the game is amazing. Some of the most fun I've ever had in a racing game.

From reading some of the reviews, even if weather and whatnot were in the game at launch, I don't think it would've reviewed much better. It seems a straight up pick up and play racing game, no matter how fun it may be, and how great the driving is, just will no longer cut it for some if the game doesn't offer a crap load of things to do.

I do believe that if this were an open world game where you can do whatever/go wherever you want (which are less focused and don't really make for better racing, in my opinion), and/or a simulation (or something closer to one) with tons of vehicle customization, the scores would be higher. Racing games that are more "traditional" pick up and play like Driveclub (and in today's world, maybe even PGR), are just not gonna fair as well as they used to.

If there's one thing I do have to disagree with, it's with those saying the game is bland and soulless. I would go so far as to say that's objectively wrong. The attention to detail in the tracks, environments, and even the menu/UI just completely contradicts that. Not to mention the incredible audio this game has on offer, and the actual driving.

Bland is something I could agree with in sims like Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport (not Horizon), Project Cars, etc.
 

BiGBoSSMk23

A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
Metacritic 73 and decreasing...

My friend also agreed that it is soulless, bland, frustrating, and dull. He has seasonal affect disorder and the washed out colors and too much cloudy skies made him feel sad when playing it. I understand that how other developers have a better grasp on art direction and make games that are vibrant and fun.

What it comes down to is a bunch of spoiled , misguided people literally WHINING for the sake of whining.

"This racing game is too focused on racing. Racing is difficult. Drifting is difficult. The challeneges are too challenging, my laptimes aren't that great. I prefer to crash into rocks and trees out in the distance because videogames."

The fact of the matter is these people that rated the game down had no anticipation or interest in a compelling racing game, and it's shame that they're the ones with a public voice .
 
What it comes down to is a bunch of spoiled , misguided people literally WHINING for the sake of whining.

"This racing game is too focused on racing. Racing is difficult. Drifting is difficult. The challeneges are too challenging, my laptimes aren't that great. I prefer to crash into rocks and trees out in the distance because videogames."

The fact of the matter is these people that rated the game down had no anticipation or interest in a compelling racing game, and it's shame that they're the ones with a public voice .

Or maybe some people just don't like it.....I know that at conference talking to dozens of people getting hands on with it most weren't really impressed.

Like I said I still need to play the full game before making my final judgment but what I played I didn't really like much at all.
 

Gestault

Member
The Destructoid review by Dale North (who's basically unassailable, in terms of his editorial credibility for racers) fits closest to my reactions. Which regards a lot of the positives, but notes the real issues that pull back the experience. Even just from his intro, you can tell he understands and appreciates what the game tries to do.

Its strongest point is that it is smartly networked so that even single-player events' scores and times are automatically compared to your friends' results, making for instant competition fuel. Leaderboards exist for nearly every trackable aspect of Driveclub, and the game's Social Hub keeps you up to date on yours and others' stats. Being online also adds pop-up challenges to just about every race. The connective-ness of it all really does have it feeling like a big, digital hangout.

And then there's the actual club aspect of the game, which lets you team up with five friends to work through the game as a group. Your successes benefit the rest of the team along the way, with points going to each member for taking on challenges. When you earn new rides or access, your club members do, too.

The AI created problems when it came to on-the-track gameplay

Yes, avoiding collisions is a part of racing, but there were too many instances during my time with Driveclub where they felt unavoidable. Pretty much every single race I took part in had me playing what felt like bumper cars with AI cars in some way. At best, I'd get an unfair bump off the road by a passing car during the last stretch of the last lap of a race, knocking me off the road, taking my chances of a podium finish off the table. At worst, AI cars would ram me from behind, smashing me into a wall, making the time spent racing up until that point fully wasted. There have been several instances of an unexpected, unwarranted AI car crash resulting in me earning a collision or cornering penalty. Imagine having your car temporarily throttled for something you didn't do. That's not fun at all.

On a superficial note, he points out visual problems though that I hadn't heard about, pre-release.

It's too bad about the infrequent weird visual bugs, especially in the in-car views. Floating gauges and highlights from the environment looked to be pasted on the windshield at times, like weird decorative stickers. Other times I saw floating semi-transparent boxes obscuring the race view in first-person modes, sometimes way in the distance, and others just at the corner of my view. When glitches distract from or obscure the player's view like this, it's hard to overlook them.
 
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