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GVMERS: Sony's Failed "Forza Killer" - The Tragedy of Driveclub

adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
​


Hardware manufacturers typically position racing games as the premier showpiece of a new console’s graphical and performance capabilities. The original PlayStation had Ridge Racer; the first Xbox hit the scene several years later with Project Gotham Racing in tow. While Microsoft managed to ship Xbox One with a first-party racer—Forza Motorsport 5—the PlayStation 4 had to rely on third-party fare such as Need for Speed: Rivals. Notably, Driveclub from Evolution Studios initially constituted the must-have racing experience on PS4, but issues with the game's core conceit postponed it well beyond the console launch window.
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Having long developed top-tier racing titles for PlayStation consoles, the team at Evolution dreamt of ushering the genre into a new era, wherein community-building and team-based racing occupied center stage. The studio arguably accomplished as much with Driveclub but not without more than a fair few growing pains. Throughout its stunted life cycle, the arcade racer accelerated from a disastrous launch to a redemption arc that hit its stride too late.
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Many a PS4 owner still remembers the thrill of speeding through real-world-inspired locales, though, racing or tackling challenges to boost the dominance of their community-made club. Evolution’s injection of motorcycle races a year after launch further amplified the high-octane experience, and seemingly left the door open for the game’s continued expansion into new avenues. Unfortunately, the untimely closure of the development house resulted in Driveclub riding off into the sunset with only a middling VR port following in its wake.
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TheMan

TheMan

Member
Wouldn’t GT be the Forza killer? Driveclub was pure arcade. I’ll admit I really thought it would become a staple of the library, especially when they announced plans to make it free with ps plus. Then it was delayed again and again and it all went to shit.

Oh and the actual driving kinda sucked
 
Fake

Fake

Member
Wish I could buy the Lamborghini DLC.

Someone know a place that still sell Driveclub DLCs?
 
Y

YCoCg

Member
Drive Club's biggest enemy was Sony themselves, that period was a fucking disgrace for UK studios being shut down and kicked away by Sony, they gutted the Wipeout Team AND Drive Club, and Drive Club was more out of jealousy from the Gran Turismo team as initially Evo wanted Drive Club to be the Horizon to Gran Turismo's Forza, but they got insulted by that.
 
D

DragoonWalker

Member
The problem with Driveclub is that it's an arcade studio making an arcade racer stuck in sim clothing. Too sim and stuffy for arcade fans, too arcady for sim fans. It punished you for shunting opponents, and cutting corners, but doing so felt so good. It presented you with pristine shiny cars, which you could easily get so banged up and dirty. You could just feel the Motorstorm DNA struggling to break out of the tie and suit.

All the people who laugh at the Driveclub gifs obviously didn't play it. Yeah it's been almost a decade now so DUH there are better looking racers, and the original was chained to the OG PS4 so stuff like resolution, draw distance, and a shitty AA solution couldn't be helped, but come the fuck on! It looked amazing at the time, most of the time, especially against the competition from those years. For a game without ray tracing, the lighting is unbelievable on most tracks in most weather conditions. Coming off Pacific Rift, Evolution knew how to make mud and rain look good, and little arcady touches that made you car feel powerful instead of sterile like so many sims.
 
AllBizness

AllBizness

Banned
I'm sorry but Driveclub shits on Horizon, my cousin has his Xbox 1x over here with Gamepass on it. That game is fucking trash I cant believe I fell for the internets hype. Killer Instinct is the only game I can really rock with. Glad this is all changing soon with all the new exclusives from their recent publisher buyouts because they have zero creativity internally, all their hit IP became a success before Microsoft bought them. Xbox can finally be worth buying again but I'm just going to buy thier games on Steam instead, I already pay for PS+ no need for 2 game subs.
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Bernd Lauert said:
I still don't get why this game failed. Granted, I only played it once all the DLC was out, but still, game was quite fun. Imagine a PS5 exclusive DC2.
Click to expand...

The game sold decently, reviewed above average. Not sure why Sony just up and abandoned the IP and studio. It's unlike their usual MO.
 
octiny

octiny

Banned
AllBizness said:
I'm sorry but Driveclub shits on Horizon, my cousin has his Xbox 1x over here with Gamepass on it. That game is fucking trash I cant believe I fell for the internets hype. Killer Instinct is the only game I can really rock with. Glad this is all changing soon with all the new exclusives from their recent publisher buyouts because they have zero creativity internally, all their hit IP became a success before Microsoft bought them. Xbox can finally be worth buying again but I'm just going to buy thier games on Steam instead, I already pay for PS+ no need for 2 game subs.
Click to expand...

F6OfF3C.gif
 
LordCBH

LordCBH

Member
Bernd Lauert said:
I still don't get why this game failed. Granted, I only played it once all the DLC was out, but still, game was quite fun. Imagine a PS5 exclusive DC2.
Click to expand...

First impressions matter ,and players first impressions for a couple weeks were nothing but server problems in an online required title.
 
SirTerry-T

SirTerry-T

Member
AllBizness said:
I'm sorry but Driveclub shits on Horizon, my cousin has his Xbox 1x over here with Gamepass on it. That game is fucking trash I cant believe I fell for the internets hype. Killer Instinct is the only game I can really rock with. Glad this is all changing soon with all the new exclusives from their recent publisher buyouts because they have zero creativity internally, all their hit IP became a success before Microsoft bought them. Xbox can finally be worth buying again but I'm just going to buy thier games on Steam instead, I already pay for PS+ no need for 2 game subs.
Click to expand...
You ok, mate?
 
Iced Arcade

Iced Arcade

Member
AllBizness said:
I'm sorry but Driveclub shits on Horizon, my cousin has his Xbox 1x over here with Gamepass on it. That game is fucking trash I cant believe I fell for the internets hype. Killer Instinct is the only game I can really rock with. Glad this is all changing soon with all the new exclusives from their recent publisher buyouts because they have zero creativity internally, all their hit IP became a success before Microsoft bought them. Xbox can finally be worth buying again but I'm just going to buy thier games on Steam instead, I already pay for PS+ no need for 2 game subs.
Click to expand...
damn that is a lot of tears.
 
Lady Jane

Lady Jane

Banned
Development hell and a botched launch killed DriveClub and eventually Evolution. It's a shame, Motorstorm was a killer arcade racer.
 
Fbh

Fbh

Gold Member
Still my favorite modern racer. It sucks it will never get a sequel or at least a resolution and fps bump on Ps5.
I hope that maybe someday there's some sort of 4K/60fps emulated version on PC.

I'm in the niche that this game really appealed to.
- Not open world and with tracks from all over the world.
- Not just official racing tracks but also cool courses on regular roads
- Arcade gameplay but not over the top fast&furious type shit like NFS (also no terrible story and dialogue)
- Awesome graphics

anthony2690 said:
Queue all the same few rain GIFs we get every driveclub thread!
Click to expand...

I'm going to subvert your expectations and post a non rainy gif!
DriveClub007.gif
 
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VinnyMac

VinnyMac

Member
They have GT they didn't need two racing Sims. I'm personally not a racing sim guy but I can see why drive club had to go it was a good experiment
 
StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Bernd Lauert said:
I still don't get why this game failed. Granted, I only played it once all the DLC was out, but still, game was quite fun. Imagine a PS5 exclusive DC2.
Click to expand...
From what I remember, gamers were fine with the driving and graphics, but the game got delayed a year that buzzkilled it and I remember people saying it was full of penalties which in tight lane racing were lame. Gamers on YT would show it wasnt even them causing the bump but they'd get penalized pts.
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
AllBizness said:
I'm sorry but Driveclub shits on Horizon, my cousin has his Xbox 1x over here with Gamepass on it. That game is fucking trash I cant believe I fell for the internets hype. Killer Instinct is the only game I can really rock with. Glad this is all changing soon with all the new exclusives from their recent publisher buyouts because they have zero creativity internally, all their hit IP became a success before Microsoft bought them. Xbox can finally be worth buying again but I'm just going to buy thier games on Steam instead, I already pay for PS+ no need for 2 game subs.
Click to expand...


UserPostGivenExpiresReason
AllBizness AllBizness Sep 9, 2022PermanentYour constant, infantile crying about Microsoft is over. Find a new community, maybe one that accepts 12 year olds.



Iconic.
 
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