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DriveClub Review Thread.

GHG

Member
Theres a lot of spin going on in this thread, like all threads where people are emotionally invested, that reviewers are just refusing to judge something for what it is or hate anything that is not exactly like the last one they played. They talk about a perceived agenda or perceived hangup rather than the literal words of the review that criticize specific things. Its silly, GG-esque fanboy delusions. Amirox basically said Gerstmann should stop playing games, lol. This is all very silly.

Seriously after saying this:

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

Gerstmann should never be allowed to review a racing game ever again. Other games? Well that's not my place to say.
 
GOTY nomination for a racing game? Now I know this thread is full of not serious posts.

I hated Forza 5, primarily because it was infested with microtransactions. Returned it the same day I bought it.

But FH2 is really amazingly fun. So far its the most fun I've had with any game on either next Gen system since launch. And racers as a genre are far from my favorite.
 

StudioTan

Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
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.

You really should stop talking about what FH2 is and isn't, you clearly have no idea about the game at all and have never played it. I'm glad you like DC but stop with the comparisons against games you haven't played.
 
Seriously after saying this:



Gerstmann should never be allowed to review a racing game ever again. Other games? Well that's not my place to say.

lol

why

because he has a different opinion than you?

i can almost guarantee hes played more racing games than you

its okay for you to realize that maybe you have different tastes than the man

thats okay
 

GHG

Member

Fantastic input.

lol

why

because he has a different opinion than you?

i can almost guarantee hes played more racing games than you

Simply put? Because it's a statement that completely shits on and devalues all of the fantastic racing games of yesteryear. The types of racing games that unfortunately don't get made anymore because they would not be "accessible" enough in this day and age.
 

kcp12304

Banned
Sorry that someone who runs a gaming website has a different opinion on what makes a racer good. We should collectively boycott and make sure he can never touch a racing game again!!!

Exactly. Let's start a hashtag. #GerstmannGate

Edit:
My post stated that GiantBomb were full of shit. His post turned it into a media conspiracy. How is that not a strawman?

It's not a strawman. He was just mocking you.
 
Fantastic input.



Simply put? Because it's a statement that completely shits on and devalues all of the fantastic racing games of yesteryear. The types of racing games that unfortunately don't get made anymore because they would not be "accessible" enough in this day and age.

oh not the games of yesteryear that he also has an opinion about that you disagree with him on!

What a weird thing to say.
acting like hes ignorant instead of having a different opinion doesnt really apply here

My post stated that GiantBomb were full of shit. His post turned it into a media conspiracy. How is that not a strawman?

its not a strawman because its clearly a joke
 
Fantastic input.



Simply put? Because it's a statement that completely shits on and devalues all of the fantastic racing games of yesteryear. The types of racing games that unfortunately don't get made anymore because they would not be "accessible" enough in this day and age.

You're attributing meaning to that statement that likely has little to do with what the reviewer believes.
 

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.
You really should stop talking about what FH2 is and isn't, you clearly have no idea about the game at all and have never played it. I'm glad you like DC but stop with the comparisons against games you haven't played.

I'm just going by what he said FH2 is.
 

denshuu

Member
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.

Yeah, speak for yourself on this one. The best arcade racers either don't bother with open worlds or build an "open world" around designed courses. Designed courses will always be more fun to race in games built around repetition than sandbox style no-design-required open worlds. Changing the handling from arcade to sim doesn't change this fact.
 
I'll take this

In Short: A game that should probably have been cancelled rather than delayed, with its complete absence of personality or new ideas.

Pros: The graphics are excellent and the driving model is a good balance between accessibility and realism. Plenty of cars, all of which look great.

Cons: Utterly soulless on every level, with a bland single-player experience and online options that seem oblivious to the fact that Autolog already exists
 

GHG

Member
Sorry that someone who runs a gaming website has a different opinion on what makes a racer good. We should collectively boycott and make sure he can never touch a racing game again!!!

Yeh because that's exactly what I said.

It's like someone reviewing a sports game where they have no interest in the sport itself.

Like I said before, inside sim racing is the only place that does valuable reviews for racing titles anymore so I'm more interested to see what their opinion is. The mainstream gaming press have been well off the mark for a while now as far as racing games are concerned.
 

Shaneus

Member
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.
If anything, the game's too not open world enough. 2/5.

Yeh because that's exactly what I said.

It's like someone reviewing a sports game where they have no interest in the sport itself.

Like I said before, inside sim racing is the only place that does valuable reviews for racing titles anymore so I'm more interested to see what their opinion is. The mainstream gaming press have been well off the mark for a while now as far as racing games are concerned.
TeamVVV is far better IMO. Much more of a consumer-level reviewer than a sim-racer reviewer that's too anally-retentive for console racers (I say that for all sim-racer reviewers, not just ISR). Alan's great in that regard, he covers any games that involve cars and racing, basically.
 
Yeh because that's exactly what I said.

It's like someone reviewing a sports game where they have no interest in the sport itself.

Like I said before, inside sim racing is the only place that does valuable reviews for racing titles anymore so I'm more interested to see what their opinion is. The mainstream gaming press have been well off the mark for a while now as far as racing games are concerned.

So does FH2 suck?
 
I'll let any criticism slide. But I don't get this "soulless" bullshit.

Can someone explain what a racing game's soul should be?

And if you say "Storyline" or "Characters" I'm going to gnaw on your skull.
 
Fantastic input.



Simply put? Because it's a statement that completely shits on and devalues all of the fantastic racing games of yesteryear. The types of racing games that unfortunately don't get made anymore because they would not be "accessible" enough in this day and age.
I watched the quick look. Jeff said it felt like a racing sim from back when handling in racing sims was still a primitive recreation and tended to suck.
 
I'll let any criticism slide. But I don't get this "soulless" bullshit.

Can someone explain what a racing game's soul should be?

And if you say "Storyline" or "Characters" I'm going to gnaw on your skull.

Personality. Excitement. Flare. It is just a driving game. The music is bland. The menu seems bland. The cars seem bland. The environments seem kind of bland.

I see this comparison when comparing NBA 2k vs Live. It's kind of hard to explain. 2K feels like a perfect mix of basketball culture and music. While Live is just... A basketball sim.
 
Personality. Excitement. Flare. It is just a driving game. The music is bland. The menu seems bland. The cars seem bland. The environments seem kind if bland.

Music and menu design are entirely personal opinion though. People like different styles.

Some people like big, flashy, and loud. But others like slick and subdued.

Also, the cars and environments seem bland? They are based on real cars and places. What are they supposed to do? Add wings to the cars and put a vocano on every track?
 
Yeh because that's exactly what I said.

It's like someone reviewing a sports game where they have no interest in the sport itself.

Like I said before, inside sim racing is the only place that does valuable reviews for racing titles anymore so I'm more interested to see what their opinion is. The mainstream gaming press have been well off the mark for a while now as far as racing games are concerned.

I think there's probably some legitimacy to this statement. Most of us, myself included, are more interested in arcade or simcade hybrid racers with a heavy emphasis on the arcade part. It may be part of the problem is DC leans to the sim side even tho its technically a hybrid.

With all that said, maybe DC will grab me. Guess we'll have to wait n see when the demo drops.
 

StudioTan

Hold on, friend! I'd love to share with you some swell news about the Windows 8 Metro UI! Wait, where are you going?
I'm just going by what he said FH2 is.

Yeah, I've read most of your posts in this thread and you've claimed many things that DC does better while constantly disparaging FH2 yet you haven't played the game. It doesn't do your opinion any favours.
 

Shaneus

Member
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.
But this is a pure track arcade racer. Why review it as something else?

Oh, I don't like this hamburger, it's nothing like a steak.

DC is so limited from car selections, customization and gameplay options. This literally
feels like a launch game despite the year delay.
Literally feels? So you've played it, then? From what I can tell, you're waiting for the PS+ version that hasn't been released yet.

FH2 has set the bar for the arcade genre, standards have changed.
Can't remember the last time I played an open-world arcade game.

Personality. Excitement. Flare. It is just a driving game. The music is bland. The menu seems bland. The cars seem bland. The environments seem kind of bland.
It IS just a driving game. If you want personality and cars, watch Top Gear. Give bad reviews to games that do what they set out to do poorly, not what they don't do based on what you think they should be.
 
Music and menu design are entirely personal opinion though. People like different styles.

Some people like big, flashy, and loud. But others like slick and subdued.

Also, the cars and environments seem bland? They are based on real cars and places. What are they supposed to do? Add wings to the cars and put a vocano on every track?
Dont be dense. Bland does not mean slick and subdued and there is no reason to pretend that poster has the sensibilities of a five year old.

I agree that everything feels quite bland including the music which was produced by a group I am fond of. Everything is very sparse in terms of character and detail in the presentation.
 
Dont be dense. Bland does not mean slick and subdued and there is no reason to pretend that poster has the sensibilities of a five year old.

You just contradicted yourself.

Also, yes. One man's Bland CAN be another man's Slick.

I thought the menus in GT were always slick. But other people call them bland.
 
Personality. Excitement. Flare. It is just a driving game. The music is bland. The menu seems bland. The cars seem bland. The environments seem kind of bland.

I see this comparison when comparing NBA 2k vs Live. It's kind of hard to explain. 2K feels like a perfect mix of basketball culture and music. While Live is just... A basketball sim.

The game needs 15 pieces of flair.

flair%5B1%5D.jpg
 

GHG

Member
So does FH2 suck?

My opinions on that game have already been well documented in this thread:

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=133259327

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=133258106

And also in the OT for that game if you care enough to go look.

I watched the quick look. Jeff said it felt like a racing sim from back when handling in racing sims was still a primitive recreation and tended to suck.

But this isn't even a racing sim...

Look, we are talking about a guy here who gave NFS most wanted an 8.4 but then said this in the summary:

"While the actual racing in Need for Speed Most Wanted is probably the weak link in the chain, it's still solid enough to keep you interested as you move from racer to racer"

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/need-for-speed-most-wanted-review/1900-6139898/

Racing is the weak link in a racing game but it gets 8.4? Yeh ok.
 
DC is all over the place. Day races look odd because it's overly sharp but the great looking dawn and dusk it's hard to see. Someone suggested, "well it IS hard to see at that time of day" but that's not fun. I have a visor and sunglasses in real life, here it's just annoying. And normally the low car count wouldn't bother me but they cut you off from a majority of the cars because of level so you have even less choice. Some of the AI are flat out driving better cars than you.

The AI also reminds me of drivatars in their over aggressive ness and you're penalized when they hit you. The handling model is fine and the sound design is really good but the inside the cockpit is over muffled. For everything I think this game does right there's something negative right next to it. I wonder what this game was a year ago?
 

orochi91

Member
But this is a pure track arcade racer. Why review it as something else?

Oh, I don't like this hamburger, it's nothing like a steak.


Literally feels? So you've played it, then? From what I can tell, you're waiting for the PS+ version that hasn't been released yet.

Yup, a friend (with a wheel!) let me try it out.

But seriously, I guarantee you reviews for this game would have been much better had it released before FH2. Preferably during the summer drought.
 
I'll let any criticism slide. But I don't get this "soulless" bullshit.

Can someone explain what a racing game's soul should be?

And if you say "Storyline" or "Characters" I'm going to gnaw on your skull.

It'd be difficult to put into words, but I do know that sheer, white-knuckle, giggle-inducing fun-factor is a part of it. For example, I and my fiance were both laughing our asses off half the time as we played the FH2 demo for hours. Its just fantastic fun. It may be that for certain tastes something like DC leans too far to the technical, exacting nature of actual racing which removes some of that fun-factor for certain people (while others will love that need to be exacting). I haven't played DC yet so its difficult for me to elaborate further on the differences until I do. It may be ill love both games. In the end, reviews are subjective opinions. And likely its just that for a greater majority of reviewers and gamers in general FH2 is more likely to nail down what they like. While a minority will swear by DC. Both are OK.
 
Yup, a friend (with a wheel!) let me try it out.

But seriously, I guarantee you reviews for this game would have been much better had it released before FH2. Preferably during the summer drought.

I'm playing FH2 right now and its solid but nothing amazing. I don't think it has anything to do with it. Visually it doesn't look at that great either. Great IQ though
 

AlphaDump

Gold Member
Waiting for the DF analysis, but my gut wants to say the game has next to no anti aliasing. Pop-in is also extremely distracting.

the lack of anti aliasing is what stood out almost immediately to me in the first race. the daytime races pronounce it even moreso.

perhaps the weather effects and night time lighting hide it better but it does look a bit different from the footage i saw in the pre-release.
 
But this isn't even a racing sim...

Look, we are talking about a guy here who gave NFS most wanted an 8.4 but then said this in the summary:

"While the actual racing in Need for Speed Most Wanted is probably the weak link in the chain, it's still solid enough to keep you interested as you move from racer to racer"

http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/need-for-speed-most-wanted-review/1900-6139898/

Racing is the weak link in a racing game but it gets 8.4? Yeh ok.
He knows its not meant to be a sim. He says it ends up feeling like a primitive sim when describing why he doesnt like the handling. Thats simply what the end result reminds him of.

I see nothing wrong with what he said about NFS. Saying that the racing is the weakest link is a comparitive statement, not a statement of actually how strong or weak it is, so there is no basis for you to translate that into a number and deem 8.4 to be too high. You're really grasping at straws here to discredit his opinion. Just grow up and accept that you simply disagree with it.
 

Fox Mulder

Member
I hated Forza 5, primarily because it was infested with microtransactions. Returned it the same day I bought it.

But FH2 is really amazingly fun. So far its the most fun I've had with any game on either next Gen system since launch. And racers as a genre are far from my favorite.

it's also been a shit year for AAA titles, and two great titles like TLOU and GTA 5 are ports. So a really fun and well reviewed racing game should at least get consideration.
 
I'm a fanboy just for questioning a criticism?

I don't even own a PS4 and am not buying Driveclub. How's that for a fanboy....
You're projecting the most condescending and infantilizing opinions onto someone for saying something reasonable like "its bland". It looks silly.
 

Raonak

Banned
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.

I disagree, the implication that arcade racers have to be open-world is absurd.
It reminds me of the "all games must have online" nonsense that was around the start of last gen.
 
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