DriveClub hands-on

Originally revealed during the PlayStation Meeting that announced the PlayStation 4, DriveClub has been, without a doubt, one of the titles that received more acclaim for the new console, being able to draw attention to PS4 thanks to its visual appeal and social features.

Things got even more interesting for players when it was announced that a free version of DriveClub (feature complete to the point that even the Platinum trophy can be gained, but with a decreased number of tracks and cars when compared to the full release) will be available for PS+ subscribers. WorldsFactory had the chance to try the game (and record some footage) at the recent Gamescom in Cologne, and I can anticipate that we came away positively surprised.

Before going into our hands-on impressions, I’ll focus on the short but interesting closed-door meeting with the Evolution Studios team, who briefly summarized the most important features of their title and then granted to the restricted audience some time for a few questions.

The first bits of information disclosed were about the technical aspects of Driveclub, a good way to understand the true potential of this PS4. Clean and highly detailed scenarios, of which the developers are particularly proud, appeared on TV in order to captivate the audience of journalists. Before anyone in the room asked the big question, Col Rodgers in person, Game Director of DriveClub, announced to the audience that the fateful 60 FPS threshold hasn’t been achieved yet, but it is their priority objective and they are confident to reach it before the launch date. Rodgers then focused a lot about the game, especially on the recreation of cars that, by his own admission, are the result of painstaking and, in a way, crazy work by Evolution.

 

Every car in the game has been faithfully recreated not only aesthetically, with even the smaller screws taken into consideration, but also, and above all, the feeling on the road, where each car will have its own specific personality. Likewise, the audio was deemed extremely important, so much that every sample has been recorded live with dozens of microphones placed near the car.
Before saying goodbye, we had a small demonstration of the social features that will be implemented in the game, of the PSVita remote play and the ability to create challenges and share them with your friends through a specific app for tablets. Rodgers and colleagues have promised that this window on the social world won’t be exceedingly invasive, so that your Facebook’s wall won’t be literally exploding with notifications from DriveClub.

Let us now turn to the facts: it’s time to talk about our road test. We had the luxury of three trials each, for a total of eighteen laps, testing four cars: RUF, a Maserati, an Aston Martin and Mercedes AMG.
Two clubs, each comprised of four stations, vied for victory in a match lasting one hour where we had to collect points, mainly with excellent performance and record times. On the short circuit available we not only had to try and beat the best time, but in certain specific areas, it was necessary to fulfill some conditions and beat the score of a direct rival.

 

We tried three challenges and all of them seemed well integrated into the track; they didn’t attempt to distort the player’s driving by asking the pilot absurd maneuvers, rather suggesting the best way to overcome the particular sector. The challenges were following a trajectory curve and trying to stay as close as possible to a guideline appeared on the ground, drifting and keeping the average speed as high as possible. They were pretty fun and, thanks to the presence of the photos of our rivals on the ghost cars to beat, there was a real competitive spirit at play; imagine playing against your friends and seeing their photos in the ghost car ahead of you.

Once the race started, we immediately got a confirmation of Rodgers’ words when he said, with pride, that the driving system of  DriveClub is truly unique and made ​​from scratch without taking a cue from any particular game: this is quite true and the feelings have been very good indeed. Without having the claims of the rigid simulation and without being a pure and hard arcade, there is really so much fun to be had while driving cars in Drive Club, being careful not to overdo it because a slight inattention could mean an accident, fortunately without serious damage because, as the developers have indicated, the damage to the car will be purely aesthetic, in order not to excessively penalize players.

Admittedly, I had been preemptively skeptic, but while playing DriveClub I quickly felt at home with the controls, immediately immersed in the spirit of competition with the guys on the other side of the TV, with a succession of races and records that decreed our team as winners (I personally recorded the 6th fastest time). 
During the final assault at the best time, our Antonio even tested the capabilities of the Motion Control scheme(as you can see in the video), coming out victorious and with extremely positive feelings, as apparently the SixAxis system has been greatly improved to the point that the smallest movement of the controller was registered by the car. It remains to be seen if this alternate control method will actually be viable for competitive play, but it’s nice to have another option.

After a full day in company of DriveClub we can easily give a first, positive judgment: the game seems to be well-balanced and fun to play, thanks to a driving system which is very tight and responsive in all circumstances.

The numerous social functions are integrated seamlessly, and are pivotal to the creation of a healthy and competitive spirit amongst the various clubs. At this point, I can’t wait to test the final release (this one was still labeled as “alpha” build” and really begin the online competition.

Alessio: Let me begin by saying that I’m not exactly the biggest or most expert racing player. That is not to say that I don’t enjoy racing games, but I’m not particularly into them.

However, I had a lot of fun with Evolution’s Motorstorm: Pacific Rift. It was crazy and extremely addictive, both offline and online. That is why I was initially sad to see them working on another IP with a very different vibe, but after playing at Gamescom, I can safely say that DriveClub looks and plays great. They nailed the fine line between arcade and simulation; the visuals was already impressive in this alpha build, especially the lighting and the foliage stood out as true byproducts of the next generation hardware inside PlayStation 4, and despite the lack of 60 FPS the sensation of speed was already satisfying. The social features could prove to be the true winners, though, and I can see many heated tournaments between clubs after the game’s release.

 

It takes courage to launch so close to The Real Driving Simulator (Gran Turismo 6 is released in Europe just a week after Driveclub), but I believe that Evolution’s last effort can prove very popular among PS4’s early adopters, especially if developers will be able to bring the frame rate to the fabled 60 frame per second threshold.