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DriveClub Review Thread.

rnaud

Member
It's like this for every exclusive to any platform.

Metacritic might want to add the same kind of verification than Amazon does. They precise if the reviewer actually bought the item next to their name.

Given some people still try to cheat the system on Amazon but overall it works okay I believe.
 

Curufinwe

Member
Have been sampling a few - and I don't mind if an outlet loves the game or hates it - that particular Gamespot review just bugged me for being so lazy and almost completely void of information besides the fact that the reviewer didn't think highly of it.

I don't know if VanOrd appreciates being stuck with racing game reviews after half the staff got fired.

I've read reviews from him before with so much detail I felt like I had played the game myself. This one had nothing to it.
 
DC has likely had about 4 years in development, plus they received an extra year. I just think that right from the start, the way the game has been handled has been a mess.

How do you explain the tweet of an employee mentioning the game's finished "after two years"?

Concern?
 
DC has likely had about 4 years in development, plus they received an extra year. I just think that right from the start, the way the game has been handled has been a mess.

Hindle, for stuff that you can find out the answer with a little bit of help from Larry Page and Dick Costolo, you don't need to "likely." as you love to do.

Just do a bit of research before typing.
 

Game4life

Banned
I implore everybody to ignore reviews if they're confused as to the spread and try the PS+ edition if available to them and make their own determination. DriveClub will remind you of the glory days of skill-based, meticulously hand designed racers, but with next-gen sprinkled on top. It's supremely well designed and streamlined in exactly the right way.

Racing is one of my favorite genres and I'm extremely critical of shit racers. Under no classification, not even with the shittiest of shit opinions, can this be called a bad racing game. I would go so far as to suggest people who say it is a bad racing game need to seriously have their views analyzed to the fullest. Every aspect that makes a racing game great is nailed pretty much in DriveClub - supremely well honed simcade mechanics, great track design, and a moderately well classed selection of vehicles (probably my main complaint, other than the fact a lot of very meaningful content is still not here until future DLC, is that they needed a more globalized selection of vehicles).

This sort of "straightforward racing" (i mean this in non-euphemistic way, there's nothing remotely wrong with this) may not be your flavor - you may have played enough of this sort of racing game or you may not be in the market for it right now - but it is designed in best-of-its-class way. This is a fantastic game.

Your attempt is in vain if you are trying to convince console warriors like Bruiserbear and Hindle.
 

Hindle

Banned
Hindle, for stuff that you can find out the answer with a little bit of help from Larry Page and Dick Costolo, you don't need to "likely." as you love to do.

Just do a bit of research before typing.

I did my research, but the specifics are not common knowledge, hence my term likely.
 
Motorstorm Apoclypse finished development round about late 2010/early2011. Development on DC would Have started not long after.

Motorstorm RC was released in 2012.

It's not a big title, but around 2011, Evolution was at risk of shutdown due to Tohoku and Apocalypse mega bomba , and thus couldn't afford to start development on any large scale project even after Apocalypse shipped.

It's because RC was a success that Evolution got a second lease in life.

The confusion on Driveclub being a long term project is because it's touted as Evolution's what we wanted to make game for so long. Evo trademarked the Driveclub brand 10 years ago, but nothing happened until after RC.
 
Motorstorm RC was released in 2012.

It's not a big title, but around 2011, Evolution was at risk of shutdown due to Tohoku and Apocalypse mega bomba , and thus couldn't afford to start development on any large scale project even after Apocalypse shipped.

It's because RC was a success that Evolution got a second lease in life.

So is this the end?
 

benzy

Member
I implore everybody to ignore reviews if they're confused as to the spread and try the PS+ edition if available to them and make their own determination. DriveClub will remind you of the glory days of skill-based, meticulously hand designed racers, but with next-gen sprinkled on top. It's supremely well designed and streamlined in exactly the right way.

Racing is one of my favorite genres and I'm extremely critical of shit racers. Under no classification, not even with the shittiest of shit opinions, can this be called a bad racing game. I would go so far as to suggest people who say it is a bad racing game need to seriously have their views analyzed to the fullest. Every aspect that makes a racing game great is nailed pretty much in DriveClub - supremely well honed simcade mechanics, great track design, and a moderately well classed selection of vehicles (probably my main complaint, other than the fact a lot of very meaningful content is still not here until future DLC, is that they needed a more globalized selection of vehicles).

This sort of "straightforward racing" (i mean this in non-euphemistic way, there's nothing remotely wrong with this) may not be your flavor - you may have played enough of this sort of racing game or you may not be in the market for it right now - but it is designed in best-of-its-class way. This is a fantastic game.

This is spot on, exactly my sentiments.
 

Hindle

Banned
Motorstorm RC was released in 2012.

It's not a big title, but around 2011, Evolution was at risk of shutdown due to Tohoku and Apocalypse mega bomba , and thus couldn't afford to start development on any large scale project even after Apocalypse shipped.

It's because RC was a success that Evolution got a second lease in life.

A project the size of DC would easily have needed 3 years dev time. Motorstorm RC was a small scale game, that would not have needed everyone at Evolution to develop.

Edit. The majority of Evolution would have started development in 2011 on DC, mainly building the engine, whilst a splinter team would have made RC.
 

EBreda

Member
Eurogamer review absolute nails it imo.
By the books racer, with zero presentation efforts, uninspired/no passion/no soul whatever you wanna call it. Forgettable.

Anyway, hopefully it gets better when the servers are finally up. What's up with that..
 

VanWinkle

Member
A project the size of DC would easily have needed 3 years dev time. Motorstorm RC was a small scale game, that would not have needed everyone at Evolution to develop.

He mentioned that it was small and why in the very post you quoted. It's like you just glossed over the whole post except mentioning Motorstorm RC releasing in 2012.
 

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.
This is way off base. Like, actually, completely off base.

Comparing the driving model is pointless in that, one person will prefer another and also you can basically completely change the way Forza handles by adjusting assists. On top of that, you can change the way the individual cars handle even more because every vehicle in the game is subject to some decently robust car tuning options. On top of that, all of the said cars in the game will handle differently on the road and off the road. So, going back to that statement, which driving model is that you want to compare? Fully assisted? Fully UN-assisted? Un-tuned? Street race? Rally or completely off road race? Somewhere in the middle ground? As it stands, there is MUCH more to consider from a driving standpoint and that is not even remotely arguable.

This leads to the other point of Forza having more even IF it wasn't an open world racer. If you were to be lead from race to race in a tour mode, the races consist of a wider variety of racing types. Forza has a wider variety of car types as well to get a feel of the top end and bottom end of the driving world. There are city circuit races, rally races and off road races with some combining the types. There are in game challenges that compare your scores/times/drifts etc with others on your friends list or in your club. There are online races of all of these types on top of just for fun modes like infection or king. There are straight up co-op racing challanges. As mentioned earlier, there is a full blown car upgrade and tuning system for all of the vehicles. There is a marketplace for you to find and apply designs for your car as well as a livery shop for you to create your own. There is quite a lot of "strictly racing" in Forza. There is also quite a lot of other stuff in the game as well with no detriment to its driving.

It certainly holds a candle to Driveclub. For all intents and purposes it is Driveclub that doesn't hold a candle to it. The game, for what it is, is sitting at 75 on metacritic, which means it is a good game. Forza is sitting at 85 or some shit. It deserves it because it does what it is supposed to, driving fast cars around beautiful locales, at the top of its class. It also does more than that. It is easy to see how the game would draw ire for its lack of anything but straight driving, especially being released so close to Forza.

Everything you just outlined is complete and utter fluff.

It doesn't matter how many tuning options it has when it all boils down to the same fare every race, slide around on road or offroad more or less clumsily depending on which assist your turn off or on, and also only further divides the community leaderboards for a game that's already all over the place with its focus.

At the end of the day you're going to stick to the settings you prefer in order to be competitive, and all that host of options you mentioned are simply going to be left alone. It's classic case of jack of all trades, master of none.

Meanwhile DC focuses strictly on pitting the players with the same set of tools in a persistent online infrastructure that tracks everything you accomplish instantaneously with the same amount of event types, circuit race, rally, time attack, drift, etc... It's focused design vs amusement park design.

But, oh, FH2 let's you play tag with supercars in a cornfield with tuning options. Yeah, that's the racing GOAT right there.
 

Hindle

Banned
He mentioned that it was small and why in the very post you quoted. It's like you just glossed over the whole post except mentioning Motorstorm RC releasing in 2012.

I was adding that a game the size of DC can not be completed in 2 years, especially as they built a new engine.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Your attempt is in vain if you are trying to convince console warriors like Bruiserbear and Hindle.

I don't care about disingenuous people, only those who are of the ilk to be convinced by 70 type review 'consensus' over legitimate experience.

This is the clearest case of modern game reviewers simply being completely disconnected with all the things that made a genre great from yesteryear, and then profoundly failing to realize that all those things remain great. Not only that, DriveClub improves on many of those classic features in ways that do make a difference - astounding visuals, decently integrated social mechanics - and combine to make any genre classic fan seriously fall in love.

This is a game which clearly understands compelling racing only comes at the end of solid mechanics and good track design, and DriveClub has some of the best racing mechanics I've encountered in years. They'd probably make a child's nursery rhyme about how perfectly DriveClub nailed the fundamentals. And then it's all put to service in some seriously great fashion - your skills vs. extremely aggressive and intelligent A.I., and you win or lose based squarely on how you apply your skill set on the track. The tracks don't have loops, but they are filled with interesting lines and curves and have never once made me 'bored.'

I guess today's racing games requires, I dunno, fucking purple mascots dancing on the side and fucking speed boosts that let you do backflips and fucking tricks and shit or open world in order to be considered appropriate "modern" affair. And there's totally a place for that, I love my racing games like Wipeout and F-Zero, and I'm super in love with Forza Horizon 2 (I love DriveClub almost as much as FH2 so far, but different flavors of ice cream entirely. Not to be compared).

But DriveClub delivers a different type of racing game, one borne from a more classic foundation, one where bullshit is placed off to one side and what's in front of you is phenomenal simcade mechanics which you can master with some skill, and a litany of challenges for which you can apply your skills. There's nothing in between you and mastery but your skill, and in the meaningful sense: there is a real feeling of improvement that is extremely well maintained throughout ones playtime. It doesn't feel like so many games today where there is basically no skill motivation at all, or where it comes in fits and goes, or where it's extremely unbalanced. And there's so few racing games - or games at all - that are as straightforward anymore.

Reviews keep using that sort of thing as a euphemism to mean "not next-gen enough", but in my view it's completely embarrassing bullshit. This is as next-gen as any game I played, and that means: fucking fantastic gameplay with the best racing visuals ever on a console.

There's no problem at all to dislike the game, and I always ignore media reviews as it is (i only read trusted GAFer reviews. A trusted GAFer gets on my list -only- after I reviewed a game I liked or hated, and that GAFer disagreed with me. But that disagreement is done in a way that shows a supreme command of critiques, where one can say 'I can respect your point of view even though we've come to different conclusions'), but this is the clearest case yet of game reviewers reviewing the game they wish it was rather than what it actually is.

Try it out and see if it's for you. PS+ makes that possible. Subvert mass market review consensus and decide for yourself. DriveClub deserves it.
 

EBreda

Member
This is spot on, exactly my sentiments.

That's absolutely contrary to my impressions though. DC does nothing to differentiate itself from the rest of streamlined simcade racers apart from "let's up the visuals to the absolute highest level we can", imo.

It's bare bones, devoid of any presentation, with bad crash mechanics and an unintelligent penalty system.

But hopefully enough people give it a go and Evo can make another MS, that was exciting.
 

impact

Banned
That's absolutely contrary to my impressions though. DC does nothing to differentiate itself from the rest of streamlined simcade racers apart from "let's up the visuals to the absolute highest level we can", imo.

It's bare bones, devoid of any presentation, with bad crash mechanics and an unintelligent penalty system.

But hopefully enough people give it a go and Evo can make another MS, that was exciting.

Hopefully enough people give it a go that they can make Driveclub 2. It's already better than any of the Motorstorm games.
 

Hindle

Banned
Hopefully enough people give it a go that they can make Driveclub 2. It's already better than any of the Motorstorm games.

It's about time Evolution got a chance to make a Gran Turismo. They're a far more efficient developer then PD, and a lot more modern as well.
 
GiantBomb

2/5

DWADE.gif
 

Chobel

Member
A project the size of DC would easily have needed 3 years dev time. Motorstorm RC was a small scale game, that would not have needed everyone at Evolution to develop.

Edit. The majority of Evolution would have started development in 2011 on DC, mainly building the engine, whilst a splinter team would have made RC.

Jesus Dude! Can't you read?

"... around 2011, Evolution was at risk of shutdown... thus couldn't afford to start development on any large scale project [like DC]...because RC was a success [in 2012] ...Evolution got a second lease in life [DC started]"

GiantBomb

2/5

Ouch!
 

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.
That's absolutely contrary to my impressions though. DC does nothing to differentiate itself from the rest of streamlined simcade racers apart from "let's up the visuals to the absolute highest level we can", imo.

It's bare bones, devoid of any presentation, with bad crash mechanics and an unintelligent penalty system.

But hopefully enough people give it a go and Evo can make another MS, that was exciting.

I see DC as a competitive service/platform. To design it the way it is wasn't only ballsy but genius .

As it's the case with brilliant ideas some will acknowledge them and others will laugh then off.

A fully fledged series of racing events with a steep difficulty spike with a car selection that ramps up in performance commensurately to the campaign, it's not exactly barebones. Not to mention the events are fully customizable into solo or club challenges.

And the presentation is sleek, accessible and intuitive, backed with an excellent musical score.

Please explain what entails bad crash mechanics and " unintelligent" penalty system.
 
Giant Bomb - 2/5

And, ultimately, that's the real problem with Driveclub. It's a shame that there aren't more options to choose from and the challenge system has potential. But it just isn't much fun to play. The core act of driving a car feels off in a way that completely put me off of playing the game. Without that in place, the rest of it just falls apart. The PlayStation 4 has been without a serious racing option since launch, and Driveclub doesn't fill that gap.
 
A project the size of DC would easily have needed 3 years dev time. Motorstorm RC was a small scale game, that would not have needed everyone at Evolution to develop.

Edit. The majority of Evolution would have started development in 2011 on DC, mainly building the engine, whilst a splinter team would have made RC.

DC wasn't started right after M:RC not even close.
The whole team was shifted around and built again. Its 2+ years of dev time
 
I'm not seeing the option to download the free PS+ version anywhere on PSN. The only option I can find is the $49.99 PS+ Exclusive version to purchase. Is the free version a time delay release like other PS+ offerings throughout the month or am I missing something?
 

Hindle

Banned
Jesus Dude! Can't you read?

"... around 2011, Evolution was at risk of shutdown... thus couldn't afford to start development on any large scale project [like DC]...because RC was a success [in 2012] ...Evolution got a second lease in life [DC started]"



Ouch!

I can read just fine, but don't agree with what he says. Unless a link can be provided?
 

Loudninja

Member
I'm not seeing the option to download the free PS+ version anywhere on PSN. The only option I can find is the $49.99 PS+ Exclusive version to purchase. Is the free version a time delay release like other PS+ offerings throughout the month or am I missing something?
Not up yet.
 

HowZatOZ

Banned
I'm not seeing the option to download the free PS+ version anywhere on PSN. The only option I can find is the $49.99 PS+ Exclusive version to purchase. Is the free version a time delay release like other PS+ offerings throughout the month or am I missing something?

Isn't out yet. No clue when it will be.

Also, does this game really only have 55 cars? Are they at least of different makes/origins or is that Crave Online correct in them being mostly European?
 

SgtCobra

Member
LOL, that's pretty good.

Although I need DC to succeed so Evo doesn't get shut down. They need to make a next gen open world Motorstorm.
Open world? Please no, the original track design was fine as it was.

Everything has to be open world these days. I sure can't wait for an open world pool game and be able to walk from the table to the rest rooms to jack myself off.

/yells at cloud
 

GHG

Member

Ok this got me:

Driveclub's complete lack of meaningful choices makes it feel like a weird throwback to the old, dark days of console driving games.

The "old dark days" like when we had real racing games like TOCA, Colin McRae, a real Le Mans game, authentic F1 games, RBR? And then arcade racers like PGR, Ridge Racer, V Rally? Yeh ok Jeff... You can go back into your hole/cave now.

Sorry the game isn't noob friendly enough for you.

That's all I have to say. What sad times we live in.
 
I see DC as a competitive service/platform. To design it the way it is wasn't only ballsy but genius .

As it's the case with brilliant ideas some will acknowledge them and others will laugh then off.

A fully fledged series of racing events with a steep difficulty spike with a car selection that ramps up in performance commensurately to the campaign, it's not exactly barebones. Not to mention the events are fully customizable into solo or club challenges.

And the presentation is sleek, accessible and intuitive, backed with an excellent musical score.

Please explain what entails bad crash mechanics and " unintelligent" penalty system.

It may well turn out to be genius once the game is fleshed out. But, the problem is they are essentially releasing the game in an episodic fashion but charging a full retail price for only the first chapter, so to speak, with only vague promises that you will see more content later...most of which you will still have to pay for (tho they may throw us a free promo bone here n there).

Ultimately, the end result is that value-minded buyers like myself see this as less "genius" than simple "nickel dimey". I'm not in the habit of paying full retail for most completed games, let alone ones that feel unfinished and bare-bones. See: Destiny.

As someone else mentioned earlier in this thread, its getting to the point where one begins to wonder if there is really any point to buying games at launch anymore. The "genius" of it all seems only a way to milk consumers for more money by essentially charging ~$100 or more for the "full experience" over time. So, in essence it feels like nothing more than new sales models designed to raise the price of games from $60 upwards to double that or more without letting on the price has been raised.

Edit: I'll give it a chance when the free PS+ version drops. But I really only need one current Gen racer. The FH2 demo is incredibly fun and with the game basically being "complete" for the retail price without the need for further purchases DC has some tough competition for my $$$. Given the micro-transaction hot mess that was Forza 5 I never thought in a million years I'd likely get another Forza game instead of DC...but it is what it is.
 

orochi91

Member
why it gotta be open world man Motorstorm track design was stellar

Why can't they have both modes in the game? You need to understand that pure track
arcade racers just don't cut it these days, unless they are sims like GT/Forza/PC.

DC is so limited from car selections, customization and gameplay options. This literally
feels like a launch game despite the year delay.

FH2 has set the bar for the arcade genre, standards have changed.
 
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