Driveclub First Impressions

  • Thread starter Blkout
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My copy from Amazon just arrived in the US about an hour ago and I've played it for an hour so far. I don't know what was in the day one update but it did download a patch immediately, must have been small though because it didn't take long. I can confirm that the AI will catch you really quickly if you make a mistake, usually the top 1-2 cars though, I don't know if its rubber banding but the AI is really competitive. You have to drive fairly decent to place first most of the time. I have seen an AI car pass me going down a straight even though they were in the same car as me, which I thought was strange but I just chalked it up to drafting and sling-shot around me, hard to say as I'm not far into it yet. The AI is going to give you a good race depending on difficulty. On novice, you can make quite a few mistakes and still win, on amateur, you can make 1-2 mistakes and probably still win, on semi-pro, mistakes will not be tolerated, and I haven't even tried the higher difficulties yet. Semi-pro is tough for me.

The car sounds are pretty decent on the higher end cars, but sound pretty bland initially on the early cars. The tire screeching on the pavement sounds pretty generic though and can get annoying. The game doesn't look bad though which is a plus but its certainly not blowing away FH2 by any means, if at all but that's my opinion.

As I have more time to play today, I'll come back and update again.
 
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I have not seen any weather yet.
The handling is most certainly on the arcade side of things. Doesn't mean its not fun but if you want good lap times, you better embrace drifting to some degree. Don't go into it expecting any kind of simulation type physics.
You don't absolutely have to drift but you will probably be quicker if you drift the tighter turns. Yea, its certainly leans towards arcade racer in my opinion. So far its not bad at all but doesn't hold up to FH2.

Love the game soundtrack though. I rarely race with music playing but I like the soundtrack so much that I turned it on in this game.
I can't help but draw some parallels to NFS Shift though earning stars for racing to move on to higher level races. It sure feels a lot like an updated NFS Shift, but not Shift 2 which wasn't good at all. Even the general car physics feel somewhat similar to NFS Shift.
 
Can anyone else comment ? Must admit I enjoy NFS Shift when it was released but driving games have come a long way since the so not the best of comparisons. I was looking to this as more of a fun game as Project Cars is gonna be the sim.
 
Can anyone else comment ? Must admit I enjoy NFS Shift when it was released but driving games have come a long way since the so not the best of comparisons. I was looking to this as more of a fun game as Project Cars is gonna be the sim.
I own a lot of racing games and sims, this one reminds me of Shift with clubs added although there doesnt seem to be any upgrades of any sort unlike Shift. Just the general gameplay, goals per race, and physics feel reminds me of Shift.
 
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Other thoughts so far...Scotland is awesome. Game plays rather well with a T500RS even though Im slower than using a controller. FFB settings have to be maxed out though to get any real feeling which is strange given how powerful a T500RS can be.
 
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For you, the graphics are 'next gen' game? (for comparison, FM5 to me, is not)
In my opinion its not any better looking than FM5 however DC has the advantage of night time driving and actual countryside scenery so for some it may look better in that regard but to me its not really any better looking than FH2 but thats my opinion. FH2 looks nice though in fairness.
 
In my opinion its not any better looking than FM5 however DC has the advantage of night time driving and actual countryside scenery so for some it may look better in that regard but to me its not really any better looking than FH2 but thats my opinion. FH2 looks nice though in fairness.
I'm very interested in the Canada scenery...I think that is a good game for a start...Ok Blkout, thanks.
 
The game is fun. It may not be for everyone but I'm enjoying it so far. Just hit level 12. The sense of speed in this game is great. I don't think anyone is going to be complaining that the game isn't challenging or too easy. It can be downright tough at times to hit the goals and still place in the top 3.
 
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About to hit the bed for the night, its 11pm here, and then I have to work tomorrow. I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone else thinks about the game tomorrow. I'll be checking this thread from work too.
 
In my opinion its not any better looking than FM5 however DC has the advantage of night time driving and actual countryside scenery so for some it may look better in that regard but to me its not really any better looking than FH2 but thats my opinion. FH2 looks nice though in fairness.
Um, I'm not an Xbone owner, but I've seen enough vids and gifs of FH2 to say that it looks underwhelming compared to DC. FH2 looks good on its own, though, just that DC surpasses it graphically.

But as you say, its all a matter of opinion and perspective.

And btw, Rushy has already confirmed on Twitter that there is no rubberbanding AI. Take that as you will, though.
 
Um, I'm not an Xbone owner, but I've seen enough vids and gifs of FH2 to say that it looks underwhelming compared to DC. FH2 looks good on its own, though, just that DC surpasses it graphically.
Horizon 2's graphics are less realistic than Driveclub's, but they look very good in their own way. The colours are oversaturated in the game to make it look more vibrant and 'fun', seeing as you're competing in a music/car festival in Southern Europe.
 
How do the slower cars in the game handle? Specifically the Mini Cooper if you have got your hands on it.
 
In my opinion its not any better looking than FM5 however DC has the advantage of night time driving and actual countryside scenery so for some it may look better in that regard but to me its not really any better looking than FH2 but thats my opinion. FH2 looks nice though in fairness.

Many people can't make out the differences I guess you are one of them. I think DC has a set a very good benchmark. Can't wait to see what GT7 on PS4 can do
 
How do the slower cars in the game handle? Specifically the Mini Cooper if you have got your hands on it.

Handles fine, its one of the first cars you get. You can certainly tell a difference in the smaller cars, they feel a bit more twitchy. I actually like the Mini Cooper a lot in the small cars group.
 
Many people can't make out the differences I guess you are one of them. I think DC has a set a very good benchmark. Can't wait to see what GT7 on PS4 can do

That was mildly insulting. Don't question what my eyes can or can't see. What looks good to you or I are going to be totally subjective. You can't quantifiably say one game look better than the other. I freely said that's my opinion and you may feel differently. DC does some things well, FH2 does some things well, but ultimately you're still comparing two different products.
 
DC does some things well, FH2 does some things well, but ultimately you're still comparing two different products.
Out of curiosity, are you finding that DC offers more realistic lighting than FM5/FH2?
The videos out there give the impression that FH2 has that usual Forza "sheen" and slightly oversaturated colours, whereas DC is appearing pretty accurate. Curious if that plays out on your TV....
 
Out of curiosity, are you finding that DC offers more realistic lighting than FM5/FH2?
The videos out there give the impression that FH2 has that usual Forza "sheen" and slightly oversaturated colours, whereas DC is appearing pretty accurate. Curious if that plays out on your TV....

Clearly subjective again but the lighting certainly does look good in DC. The shadows can appear blocky occasionally when cast on the windshield but I know smooth shadows normally takes a lot of GPU power on most PC racing sims. You won't see it all the time, but occasionally you'll see some ugly shadows. The sun setting on the horizon looks really good as well. I don't know why people feel the need to get insulted by MY opinion of the game graphically. I assume its just disappointment because they expected DC to knock the ball out of the park. I'm stating that DC looks good, but it certainly is NOT leaps and bounds better than FH2 in my opinion. I would agree that FH2 looks a bit more saturated, but at the opposite end of the spectrum I would say that you could argue DC looks a bit muted and sometimes dark and hazy making visibility a bit tough at times.

There will certainly be people that will see DC as a better looking game, but then again, there are people that think GT6 looks better than FM5. People will sometimes see what they want to see. I can live with that. I was simply trying to provide first impressions for those of you that don't have the game yet. I'm not one of those that get wrapped up in a graphics war. I like all types of racing games and appreciate what each one offers. I can tell you flat out that DC doesn't offer as much from a gameplay and content standpoint as FH2 in my opinion, but graphically, it certainly looks good.
 
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Yeah weather is in an upcoming update, have you played a bit of online yet? also share some screens :lol:
 
Yeah weather is in an upcoming update, have you played a bit of online yet? also share some screens :lol:

Unfortunately, I will not have time to share any screen caps. I don't have the proper equipment and I'm afraid a phone camera wouldn't do the game any justice. By today most of the world be playing it anyway. There's clearly quite a few people playing already since some of the clubs have really racked up some serious wins and achievements.
I have not had time to play the online portion, I've played all of the single player modes though, I'm still unlocking cars.
 
Unfortunately, I will not have time to share any screen caps. I don't have the proper equipment and I'm afraid a phone camera wouldn't do the game any justice. By today most of the world be playing it anyway. There's clearly quite a few people playing already since some of the clubs have really racked up some serious wins and achievements.
I have not had time to play the online portion, I've played all of the single player modes though, I'm still unlocking cars.

Using the PS4 share I mean, also some saying India looks underwhelming graphics wise.
 
Using the PS4 share I mean, also some saying India looks underwhelming graphics wise.

LOL, I never use the SHARE feature on my PS4. Maybe if I have time later today when I get home from work, I can fool around with it and see how it works.

I agree that India looks the most underwhelming so far. My personal preference so far is probably Scotland, Chile, Canada, Norway, then India.
 
My personal preference so far is probably Scotland, Chile, Canada, Norway, then India.
Makes the choice for India as PS+ location very perplexing.... I'd have expected one of the better locations to show off the game and hook people better.
 
Makes the choice for India as PS+ location very perplexing.... I'd have expected one of the better locations to show off the game and hook people better.

Ahh, I wasn't aware that India was in the free version. Again, this is subjective too, but I think if I really had to pick one locale that didn't impress as much as the others, it would probably be India, the others just look higher quality to me. Depending on whether or not you like snow, you may not care for Norway.

I would also like to add that the all of the roads are narrow and that doesn't matter which locale, so racing is going to be tight and passing is tough if you're trying to race clean, expect some bumping and pushing from the AI and you will likely have to race a bit dirty as well at the higher levels of difficulty to win.

Also depending on which driving view you prefer, the hood view although not as immersive just sounds better and looks better to me. I do race in the cockpit view most of the time regardless because I prefer the immersion however the glare on the windshield from the dash in the car can be distracting to your view depending on the car especially when things are moving very quickly and this game does sense of speed very well.
 
Um, I'm not an Xbone owner, but I've seen enough vids and gifs of FH2 to say that it looks underwhelming compared to DC. FH2 looks good on its own, though, just that DC surpasses it graphically.

But as you say, its all a matter of opinion and perspective.

And btw, Rushy has already confirmed on Twitter that there is no rubberbanding AI. Take that as you will, though.
DC better look much better graphically. It's a substantially smaller, corridor racer. DC is the best looking corridor racer, and FH2 is the best looking open world racer.
 
DC better look much better graphically. It's a substantially smaller, corridor racer. DC is the best looking corridor racer, and FH2 is the best looking open world racer.

Opinions vary of course especially when its not quantifiable. However I won't disagree that they're different racers in regards to narrow point to point racer vs. open world.
 
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