Driveclub

The sense of speed offered by Driveclub reminded me of the brilliant first GRID and I was having a lot of fun until I realized that cars are indestructible. Whether you stroke a wooden fence or smash into another vehicle at 300 km/h your car drives exactly the same afterwards. [Dec 2014, p.66]

The singleplayer is certainly enjoyable, but the online races are the biggest treat. It's a shame this aspect of the game still isn't working as was originally intended.

For all its successes, the fact remains that even after significant delays, what's been delivered is far from finished. [Dec 2014, p.110]

DriveClub’s balanced physics and impressive presentation make for an all-around excellent racer, even if there’s still a lot of room for Evolution Studios to expand and improve upon. However, the overly aggressive AI and archaic progression system may deter non-racing fans, while the ongoing online issues remain infuriating.

Driveclub is incredibly well put together but slightly bland, and is hampered by a lack of distinct personality.

If you don’t have PS+, then definitely wait for it to hit $20 or so since this is going to be a love it or hate it kind of experience.

Driveclub is a fun racing game that takes a little getting used to but lacks some of the options I would have expected from a modern racing game.

DriveClub is an authentic racing game, with engaging social aspects and beautiful graphics. It, however, severely lacks personality and might become stale after a while.

Racing fans will undoubtedly have fun with it for at least a little while.

PS4's first exclusive racing game offers a fresh experience, but doesn't do anything new and has a limited amount of content.

DriveClub could have been just an average racer if it didn't offer all these excellent community features. The whole point of the game is here, and that's a good one.

Even understanding the length it took to create this many, 50 vehicles just doesn’t offer the same variety as competing racing titles do. Considering most people find a handful of particular vehicles they want to continually race with, this may not affect most players, but a wider variety would allow a larger share of players to find just their ideal ride.

After a slow start Driveclub really opens things up and the feeling of ”just one more time” is never far away. Evolution Studios has managed to make a game that is as fun as it is good looking. Unfortunately, the lack of content is a bit disturbing.

A great multiplayer racer, but quite dreary as a single-player game, DriveClub feels like it needed more time in development to polish out its dings and flaws.

It really feels as if DriveClub shot itself in the foot by even suggesting that it was on the same level as other simulation racers out there. It’s more of a hybrid arcade/sim style game that just doesn’t have the chops to compete highly on one side or another.

The dearth of content and poorly implemented online systems make Driveclub feel incomplete. Coupled with the fact that PlayStation Plus members get a reduced-content, but fully featured, version of the game with their subscriptions, there’s little reason to buy the full game.

Perhaps the only area where Evolution Studios has not deceived players is the graphics. Attention to automobile details is on the crazy level, and manifested thoroughness for design of salons needs a standing ovation too. At an average speed under 160 km/h and taking into account the sinuosity of local trails one can’t afford to feast of surrounding area beauty but even the catchable details are definitely nice. [Nov 2014, p.108]

While the racing is good, the game itself is sterile and lacks surprises. The high expectations weren't met. [Issue#246]

We gave it time, but it still isn't the game we'd hoped for. It may get there one day, just not right now.

DriveClub is not an awful game but feel free to skip this one as you’re not missing much.

Even though it has its qualities, ultimately, the just above-average DriveClub isn't worthy of the team that kick-started racing games on the PS3 so spectacularly.

DriveClub is very pretty but full of contradictions and some design flaws. If you focus on multiplayer, you should give it a chance but remember: a quite unpleasant single player mode is unavoidable. The AI drives perfectly and therefore kills all the fun - until this issue is fixed, DriveClub remains a game for the most patient car lovers.

It won’t blow your socks off mechanically, but people looking to just pick a car and drive in an exotic location without any complications will find fun here, it’s just a huge shame that Driveclub could have done with more work before being released in its the current state.

For now Driveclub is a distinctly mixed experience; skeletal in some aspects, but breathtakingly complete in others.

Right now what you’ve got with Driveclub is a grand single-player game with a set of demanding challenges on lovely tracks using distinct cars with uniquely appealing driving models. In other words, you’ve got the latest game from Evolution Studios, and a worthy successor to the games they’ve been making in the Motorstorm franchise, but one that has almost none of the online features that were intended to give it its indentity. What you don’t have is the game they intended to make or any meaningful ETA as to when that game will be ready.

Driveclub’s social features help elevate an otherwise unexceptional racer, but the dearth of content and some curious design choices keep it from rising too high.

Beautiful and very nicely presented, but at the same time very shallow and frustrating.

There's plenty to admire here, though, if you take Driveclub at face value and don't take things too seriously.

Driveclub is a well-made, sometimes irritating juxtaposition of the old and new.

What we're left with is a flimsy framework - a sort of clothes horse for content - rather than a truly great racing game.

Amazing audio, good looks, very average gameplay. [Issue#255, p.70]

Given the game outlay plus the cost to play online, what’s unavailable is shocking. The community will have moved on before it’s sorted. For that reason, and everything underlying it, what we have here is a potentially excellent game dragged down to the level of the mud you race in.

There are too many dings on the chassis, from the constant inability to activate promised features and occasionally glitchy effects of current and standard modes.

With Evolution's pedigree in mind this is not the racer every PS4-fan was hoping for. The challenge system provides a good amount of fun and motivation but in terms of general content, it leaves a lot to be desired.

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

Though nothing in Driveclub is inherently broken, its forced combination of clean racing and horrible AI have the potential to frustrate players more than any minor glitch could. Add this to the lack of any meaningful customization options and missing weather system, and you have the makings of a disappointment.