Clutch - upcoming narrative-led open-world driving game from ex Forza Horizon devs, launching spring 2027 on consoles & PC

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Forza Horizon and Need for Speed Meet in Maverick Games’ Debut Driving Project - IGN

Maverick Games has unveiled its new AAA open-world action-driving game, Clutch.
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Not sure about that title to be honest.
It makes me think of all the amusement gained when "Gravel" was announced.
What's the sequel going to be called - "Handbrake"?
WanganDream
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What impressed me: The worn-out interiors.

This isn't a coincidence, like "that's how the cars they scanned looked." Apparently, it's a deliberate technique they used to enhance the realism of the cars in the game.

This is a common practice in other game genres like FPS, and has even been done in some driving games like Snowrunner. However, no open-world racing game had yet employed this kind of intentional wear and tear. And I'd say their attempt was successful. All the cars look more realistic, and you can feel the bond that the player and the car have built within the game.
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If they're going for that authentic used car look, they need to add random sweet wrappers and, if the car is old enough, cigarette burns ;)


More seriously, this looks interesting and with NFS dead as a dodo there might be a niche for it to fill. But I'll wait to hear more when it gets closer to release date.
 
I suppose the game's name refers to both the mechanical device (which I have not used since I first learned to drive, and honestly I don't need or miss at all) and the adjective that, as defined by M-W, means "to be successful in a crucial situation".
 
Very interested, albeit a little cautious. I hope it's not going to be TDUSC all over again.. I gave that game multiple chances but it just sucks.
 
bduddy
Every attempt at making a racing game with an interesting story has been somewhere between mediocre and laughable. I'm not saying they can't do it, but I'm not holding my breath.
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I kind of liked the story in NFS Payback :lol:
 
Eunos_Cosmo
I kind of liked the story in NFS Payback :lol:
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Following up on my own post. I won't say that I actually loved the narrative arc of Payback (I didn't hate it either) but I appreciated how the characters were actually part of the world and would make comments about their memories of different parts of the map. It made the map in Payback and Heat feel more like a real place rather than a movie set. The FH player character is just a blank void by comparison.
 
Could be that they're pitching/looking for publisher through this trailer release/announcement etc. They might've had interested parties that are waiting to see the public reception of the announcement etc.
 
10th June for gameplay from the influencers event they said, does seem early but at least they're not making us wait long for that, just the game.
 
Interesting from the trailer description;

"Set in the French Riviera - follow the story (written by Skins co-creator, Jamie Brittain) of Theo (Tosin Cole) and Cass Martial (Little Simz) through a thrilling adventure that sees them compete in the prestigous Riviera 1000 (R1K) by day, and the underground street-racing scene of the Midnight Collective by night.

After Theo and Cass' troubled upbringing in the UK, they are adopted by former R1K superstar Ludo Martial (Gregory Montel) before earning their way to a pair of seats in the R1K.

Following a spate of tragedies befalling the sport, R1K head George McBride (Peter Serafinowicz) shocks the racing world by introducing disruptive technology to avoid any more such disasters.

However, this berths a divide in the integrity of the sport, calling Theo to the allure of the Midnight Collective. Trouble follows and after recruiting the services of fixer, Emery Whitman (Jane Perry), the underbelly of the city and R1K is blown wide open.

Amongst the professional racing of the R1K and the style of the Midnight Collective, there are thousands of miles of diverse roads and terrain to explore, from breathtaking coastal highways to vibrant city streets.

Blockbuster action, deep vehicle customisation, pursuits, getaways, innovative vehicle tech, and so much more - it's all in CLUTCH."


compared to what Google AI says about FH5 if it's correct?

"Forza Horizon 5 features 578 distinct roads, which total more than 500 miles (approx. 805 km) of driveable paths"
 
whannel
Following a spate of tragedies befalling the sport, R1K head George McBride (Peter Serafinowicz) shocks the racing world by introducing disruptive technology to avoid any more such disasters.
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A possible scenario based on this:

McBride's "innovative technology" is advanced AI-powered driving assistance. This eliminates danger from racing, completely removing the risk of death in exchange for the purity of motorsport.

However, even the tragedy that led to its introduction was a plan orchestrated by McBride and those behind it. Their goal was to exploit the AI-powered driving assistance, introduced for driver protection, to manipulate race results and transform the race into a gambling arena where McBride and its operators could never lose.

I think it's something like this.

And because the player learned this secret, they will find themselves at odds with the underworld and McBride, and will likely enlist the help of the purer "racers" of Midnight Collectibles, who don't rely on AI, to reveal the truth about the R1K to the world.

Since it's a script by a talented screenwriter, I hope it surpasses these commonplace predictions, but I think it's almost certain that AI will be portrayed as the villain. AI is a trend in modern storytelling, for better or for worse.
 
This game better not end up like Fast And Furious Crossroads. That would be a massive disappointment because there's a lot to like here. Hopefully the characters aren't all insufferable douchebags.
 
Until I see actual gameplay and know more, I shouldn't judge, but...

It reminds me of a bad F&F movie, which focuses its story on compiling NFS clichés and setting them in the FH2 map.
The game might be good, but I don't think it's for me.

The only racing games where I liked having some narrative scenes were the old Race Driver games, Rick Irving, what a great character.
 
Tosin Cole's acting seemed, to me, to be very wooden in Doctor Who. But I don't know how much of that was down to poor writing of his character, who seemed to have some awful dialogue.

I think we need to see the game itself before jumping to any conclusions about it. The story sounds somewhat "cheesy cliche" but I actually enjoyed the story in Grid Legends as it was intentionally funny, so it might be OK here too.
 
egl92
Until I see actual gameplay and know more, I shouldn't judge, but...

It reminds me of a bad F&F movie, which focuses its story on compiling NFS clichés and setting them in the FH2 map.
The game might be good, but I don't think it's for me.

The only racing games where I liked having some narrative scenes were the old Race Driver games, Rick Irving, what a great character.
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I think that after death of Need For Speed franchise and The Crew leaving behind its dark and gritty outlaws story there is a big hole in the market for that type of racing game. The Clutch fits here perfectly, amd I hope they will succeed
 
sirjim73
Tosin Cole's acting seemed, to me, to be very wooden in Doctor Who. But I don't know how much of that was down to poor writing of his character, who seemed to have some awful dialogue.
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If I had a nickel for every time a character from Doctor Who had a prominent role in a story-based arcade racing game, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it is weird that it happened twice! ;)

This refers to Ncuti Gatwa featuring in GRID Legends

Really cool seeing so many familiar faces in the cast. I mainly know Tosin from Supacell, Little Simz from her role in Top Boy, and Jane Perry’s got a huge list of credits, including the first two Forza Horizon titles and the 2010–2013 Need for Speed games.
 
Some interesting tidbits from the podcast.

This sounds good, like the race tracks integrated into FH6's open world.

"Obviously, there's lots of circuits that the R1K has as circuits that are are in the game that you can race around, but when you go to those locations when it's not a race day, you'll still see evidence of that being a real world racetrack at some point. Uh so all the rumble strips and the the bits of colored tarmac runoff, all those things sort of stay everpresent in the world and it's just this reminder that this is a world that is completely obsessed with racing and this this institution that is the RK."

Also street racing isn't illegal in this game world, so not as F&F as it initially appeared. Actually a bit PGR in some elements:

"Worth mentioning I guess on on the Midnight Collective because I don't think we said it um in the other video. Um but you get points for performance and style as well as a finishing position. So there is a an expression element to the way that you drive in that as well. So, it's not just been enough to express yourself through the the car, but you can also express yourself in the race and therefore get perform better out of it."

You play as both the characters shown in the trailer and switch between them at various points.

Monaco is the biggest city on their map. Sounds like there'll be some ability to deviate from the road network in places for jumps & chases.
 
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@carlosy "Um our Monaco actually slightly larger than real life Monaco. Um just to make our our lives even more difficult. Um but obviously famously very tight and dense city. So we've allowed the level designers a bit of freedom to add some space where it was needed."
 
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carlosy
I wonder if Monaco will be 1:1 or if it's going to be a condensed version.
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It's all "inspired by". Besides, there's bits of Monaco you can't even photograph without special permission; scanning it will be right out.
 
I just watched the trailer from Game Fest and if I didn't know any better I would think it is a movie and not a game. I hope the story and gameplay make a compelling game. TBH I want to see this game do well.
 

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