The Pixel Empire
  • Home
    • Back Issues >
      • (#51-) July 2018 -
      • (#1-50) May 2012 - June 2018
    • 2019 - July - September
    • 2019 - April - June
    • 2019 - January - March
  • Features Index
    • Pixel Q&A >
      • Pixel Q&A - Wayne Imlach, Lead Designer, Wip3out
      • Pixel Q&A - Jeff Ross, Lead Designer, Syphon Filter 3
    • Landmark Levels >
      • Landmark Levels: Gran Turismo - Grand Valley Speedway
      • Landmark Levels: Metal Gear Solid - Psycho Mantis Boss Battle
    • Pixel Hi-Score Duel >
      • Pixel Hi-Score Duel #6 - Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (PS)
      • Pixel Hi-Score Duel #5 - Super Castlevania IV (SNES)
    • Pixel Timeout >
      • All That Glitters: Ten Memorable PlayStation Trophies
      • Pixel Report: PLAY Expo Manchester (2015)
    • Pixel Memories >
      • Telltale Games: A Retrospective
      • Pixel Memories: Life Is Strange
    • Pixel Preview >
      • Pixel Preview: The Chaos Engine (PC)
      • Pixel Preview: Black Mesa (PC)
  • Sony
    • PS4 reviews >
      • Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (PS4) review
      • Team Sonic Racing (PS4) review
      • Past Cure (PS4) review
      • Gravel (PS4) review
    • PS3 reviews >
      • Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3) review
      • Ridge Racer Unbounded (PS3) review
      • Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) review
    • PS2 reviews >
      • SoulCalibur II (PS2) review
      • Zone Of The Enders (PS2) review
      • Killer7 (PS2) review
    • PS reviews >
      • Speed King (PS) review
      • Discworld Noir (PS) review
      • Discworld (PS) review
    • VITA reviews >
      • Claire: Extended Cut (VITA) review
      • Assassin's Creed Chronicles (VITA) review
      • Kick & Fennick (VITA) review
    • PSP reviews >
      • MotorStorm: Arctic Edge (PSP) review
      • LocoRoco (PSP) review
      • Resistance: Retribution (PSP) review
    • minis reviews >
      • minis Round-Up #1 - Age Of Zombies, Aero Racer, Echoes
      • Speedball 2: Evolution (minis) review
  • SEGA
    • Dreamcast reviews >
      • Iron Aces (DC) review
      • Super Runabout (DC) review
      • The Nomad Soul (DC) review
    • Mega Drive reviews >
      • Double Clutch (SMD) review
      • Alien 3 (SMD) review
      • Empire Of Steel (SMD) review
    • Master System reviews >
      • Castle Of Illusion (SMS) review
      • The Excellent Dizzy Collection (SMS) review (i) >
        • The Excellent Dizzy Collection (SMS) review (ii)
      • Prince Of Persia (SMS) review
    • Mega-CD reviews >
      • Final Fight CD (SCD) review
      • Hook (SCD) review
      • Snatcher (SCD) review
    • 32X reviews >
      • Blackthorne (32X) review
  • Nintendo
    • Wii U reviews >
      • Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (WIIU) review
      • Star Fox Zero (WIIU) review
      • Flight of Light (WIIU) review
      • Pokken Tournament (WIIU) review
    • Wii reviews >
      • Mario Kart Wii (WII) review
      • Thrillville: Off The Rails (WII) review
      • Just Dance 3 (WII) review
    • GameCube reviews >
      • Resident Evil (GC) review
      • Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GC) review
      • Luigi's Mansion (GC) review
    • SNES reviews >
      • Batman Returns (SNES) review
      • U.N. Squadron (SNES) review
      • Pushover (SNES) review
    • NES reviews >
      • Metal Gear (NES) review
      • Ski Or Die (NES) review
      • Fantastic Dizzy (NES) review
    • DS reviews >
      • Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (DS) review
      • Cate West: The Vanishing Files (DS) review
      • Frozen: Olaf's Quest (DS) review
    • GBA reviews >
      • Santa Claus Saves The Earth (GBA) review
      • Top Gear Rally (GBA) review
      • Klonoa: Empire Of Dreams (GBA) review
    • Game Boy reviews >
      • Metroid II: Return Of Samus (GB) review
      • Tetris (GB) review
      • Super Mario Land (GB) review
  • Microsoft
    • Xbox One reviews >
      • Ryse: Son Of Rome (XONE) review
      • Shadow Of The Tomb Raider (XONE) review
      • LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (XONE) review
      • Middle-earth: Shadow Of War (XONE) review
    • Xbox 360 reviews >
      • Cabela's Alaskan Adventures (X360) review
      • Deus Ex: Human Revolution (X360) review
      • Rogue Warrior (X360) review
    • Xbox reviews >
      • Dead Or Alive 3 (XBOX) review
      • Conker: Live & Reloaded (XBOX) review
  • PC
    • Football Tactics (PC) review
    • The Witcher (PC) review
    • Black Mesa (PC) review
    • Half-Life 2 (PC) review
  • Other (A-M)
    • Amstrad >
      • Amstrad GX4000 reviews >
        • Wild Streets (GX4K) review
        • Fire & Forget II (GX4K) review
      • Amstrad CPC reviews >
        • Cyber Chicken (CPC) review
        • Roland On The Ropes (CPC) review
    • Atari >
      • Atari 2600 reviews >
        • Defender (2600) review
    • Commodore >
      • Amiga reviews >
        • Badlands (AMI) review
        • Brutal Sports Football (AMI) review
      • Commodore 64 reviews >
        • Batman: The Caped Crusader (C64) review
  • Other (N-Z)
    • NEC PC Engine reviews >
      • Alien Crush (PCE) review
      • R-Type (PCE) review
    • Panasonic 3DO reviews >
      • Real Pinball (3DO) review
    • ZX Spectrum reviews >
      • Alien Destroyer (SPC) review
      • Batman (SPC) review
  • Pixel Vault
    • Review Archive
    • About
    • The Pixel Gallery
    • Contributors
    • Contact
    • Like Films?
search The Pixel Empire

Picture

DRIVECLUB (PS4)

Publisher: Sony.
Developer: Evolution Studios. 
Released: October 2014.
Genre: Racing.

Posted 2nd February 2016.
By Shane Battams © 2016

Arriving in an already tumultuous year of buggy, unpolished games, Driveclub seemed to get the most flak for its launch issues. Buggy servers almost crippled the social-racer, leaving a lot of people with a bitter taste in their mouth. But Evolution Studios, the driving force behind Motorstorm, have been excellent in their endeavours to fix these issues, and Driveclub has come a long way since its woeful 2014 launch. But, the burning question now is how does it play? Is it a racer – something sorely lacking on the eighth gen – that’s worth your time?

The main concept behind Driveclub is that it is a socially-connected racer. In this regard, it is quite cool. At the beginning of the game, you can either create or join a Club. Consisting of up to six members, it essentially allows you all to earn XP and unlockables that can be used by all members. Clubs allow for personalisation, such as a group Logo which can be applied as a Vinyl to your car, and it definitely is something worth investing time into, whether you make a Club with your friends or join random players. You also earn XP for yourself that unlocks more designs and cars, giving lone wolves something to work for.
Driveclub red mercedes
Yellow cars aren't especially covert... unless they come with green stripes!
Driveclub wet weather conditions
Mighty weather conditions and no dead bugs on the screen
Social elements also weave into races. Every event tracks not only the times of your friends but also players around the world. Aside from spying on leaderboards, social interaction also becomes a factor in races. As you race, challenges will pop up, varying between Speed, Drift and Cornering Face-offs. Often these will be scores set by other players around the world, and completing these will give you extra Reputation points. These, a bit like Project Gotham Racing, can also be earned by drifting, maintaining high speeds and overtaking other cars. These feed into both your solo and Club levels, making it a fairly addictive system. In fact, a lot of the social elements of Driveclub are engrossing and fun.

There wouldn’t be much of a social experience without competition, and Driveclub also encourages this. Along with typical PvP modes, healthy competition is encouraged through Challenges. Players can set both individuals and Club challenges through time trials, events and other competitive stipulations. Players can accept these challenges and attempt to outdo their rivals, and it’s great to challenge your friends and competitors around the world to see if they can beat you in the duel. It does mean that you may not get as much out of the game if you are offline, but you can still access Tour and Single Events.
​
Driveclub mainly falters with the actual racing. It’s far from a bad engine, running at a smooth clip and featuring detailed and mostly satisfying racing. Handling is pretty comfortable, and the game nicely straddles between sim-logic such as breaking, and arcade-style handling. But the A.I. and physics can both be wonky. Opponents, not unlike Motorstorm​'s, can be unflinchingly tough to beat, never seeming to falter and too often rubber-banding. They can also be rather aggressive, which leads to the faults with the physics. Cars feel almost too light, often being spun out by shunts from drivers. This aggression can also be frustrating because it docks you Rep points, even if they ram you. While the engine feels smooth enough, these issues can make some tour events frustrating enough to rip your hair out.
Driveclub nighttimes driving
Just enough light to see the palm tree as you hit it
Driveclub volkswagen white snow
If this was Motorstorm, they'd have left the snow on the road
It can also feel a little lacking on content. The main mode comes in the form of Tour, a series of races, drift events and time trials. Passing these events is often not too bad, but mastering them is a whole different ball game. Each event comes with Stars, which encourage you to finish a Lap in a certain time, pass through Sectors cleanly and reach pole positions in Races. These can be incredibly tough to earn, particularly some of the insanely difficult Time Trials. Mastering the Tour certainly takes time, but passing it can be done incredibly quickly. And those not keen on forcing themselves to master the game may lose interest quickly.

Driveclub benefits from a clean menu presentation and great visuals. All the social aspects could have become doubly cluttered, but they are laid out with care and clarity. Cars look excellent, benefitting from smooth shapes and lovely lighting. The tracks look mostly good, though some weird pop-in can occur too. And while the frame rate is only capped at 30fps, it still pushes the PS4. The audio is a touch sparse though, as while engine noises are good, there’s barely any music and audio outside of that. Races can feel a touch lifeless as a result.
​
In the end, Driveclub is a solid attempt to link racers together. Its social aspects deserve praise, as the constant challenges, linked leaderboards and Clubs system give it longevity way beyond its meagre Tour. But the racing itself can let the experience down, suffering from odd physics and overly aggressive A.I. It’s certainly worth your time if you enjoy your driving games, though it doesn’t stack up to older-gen driving games. But with constant updates and plentiful support, you won’t feel short-changed either.
Driveclub sunrise racing
Driveclub audi night driving
Driveclub car door

Similar to...
Need For Speed The Run Make Up Time
Need For Speed: The Run
Visual: 8/10
Audio: 6/10

Gameplay: 6/10
Longevity: 6/10

OVERALL:
6/10

BUY THE GAME HERE
Vid by PlayStation

search The Pixel Empire
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.