Driveclub

Driveclub
Developer(s)	Evolution Studios
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)	Paul Rustchynsky
Composer(s)	Hybrid
Platform(s)	PlayStation 4
Release date(s)	NA 7 October 2014[1] EU 8 October 2014[1] UK 10 October 2014[1] CHN 2015[2]
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player, online multiplayer
Distribution	Blu-ray Disc, download

Driveclub (stylised as DRIVECLUB) is a 2014 racing video game for the PlayStation 4, developed by Evolution Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Driveclub was announced during the PlayStation 4 press conference on 20 February 2013.^[3] The game was released in October 2014.^[4][5][6]

Gameplay

Driveclub focuses on road racing. Players are able to make clubs of up to six players and complete challenges together to earn fame (a basic form of currency in the game). Every team member's action contributes to the club's overall success. The game's tracks and environments are inspired by real places in diverse regions across the globe. Driveclub features dynamic weather such as rain and snow, and a day-night cycle. Each rain drop has realistic behaviour.

There are three main game modes in Driveclub; tour, single event and multiplayer. In tour, single-player events set in various locations can be played using the allocated cars. A set of objectives are present and can be tackled during the events. In the single event game mode, players choose what event they would like to play (drift, race or time-trial) and have the freedom to select the location, weather and other options. The multiplayer game mode revolves around competition and co-operation with real life players. Players can complete challenges with social leaderboards, create clubs and play online races. There are a total of 50 cars to use, along with some cars that can be downloaded from the PlayStation Store for free or with a charge. The categories include hot hatch, sports, performance, super and hyper. Each car can be customized with paintjobs, paint, stickers, etc.

Development

On 18 October 2013, Sony announced that Driveclub will be delayed until early 2014. In a statement posted on the PlayStation Blog, the company states that, "SCE Worldwide Studios and the team at Evolution Studios have made the difficult decision to delay the release of Driveclub and Driveclub PlayStation Plus Edition until early 2014," Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida explained. "Driveclub will be a truly innovative, socially connected racing game, but the team requires more time in order to deliver on their vision - and I'm fully confident the game will surpass your expectations."^[7]

On 10 March 2014, PlayStation Software Product Development Head Scott Rohde mentioned in an interview with IGN that the title has met further delays with the following statement: "What I will say is that it all comes back to that fundamental principle, and that’s that we want to build great games, and we really don't want to release a game before it's ready." Rohde or any other Sony representative could not at the time give a more specific release date but hinted that it might take a while referring to that the game has "gone back to the drawing board".^[8]

Although Evolution Studios did experiment with Sony's Project Morpheus, the final game will not support virtual reality.^[9]

On 30 April 2014, game director Paul Rustchynsky stated that the delay was caused by the game's "dynamic menu". This menu will allow you to quickly navigate from menu to menu, join clubs, race, and perform many other activities within the game.^[10]

In early September 2014, Evolution Studios announced a downloadable content (DLC) Season Pass. The pass will introduce 11 new courses, 23 new events, and a new car every month until June 2015. The DLC will be both paid, and free.^[1][11]

Before release, Evolution Studios had confirmed that Driveclub runs at resolution of 1080p and would be capped at 30 frames per second.^[12]

Driveclub launched in North America on 7 October 2014, Europe on 8 October 2014, and the United Kingdom on 10 October 2014. However, the game suffered from severe online issues at launch.^[13] Evolution Studios had released the first premium DLC, which was originally pay-to-download, for free to affected players in November.^[14] PlayStation UK executive Fergal Gara apologized following the marred launch of the game.^[15]

On 8 December 2014, Sony released a weather patch which added dynamic weather to the game. The feature was originally delayed till two months after launch to include all improvements to the weather that the developers wanted.^[16][17]

In January 2015, Evolution Studios released a new patch that brought several new features to the game with the most significant one being the introduction of Japan. A total of 5 tracks were added including Lake Shoji and Nakasendo.^[18]

On 1 April 2015, as a tribute to the MotorStorm racing game series, Evolution Studios released a free special DLC pack containing the Wombat Typhoon from the very game series.

Driveclub: PlayStation Plus Edition

Driveclub: PlayStation Plus Edition is an announced version of the game that would be free to PlayStation Plus subscribers. It will come with all the game modes and online capabilities of the paid version but has a limited number of cars and locations available to the player. The PlayStation Plus Edition was originally set to be released on the same date as the full version of Driveclub, but was delayed to ease the load and traffic to the servers.^[19][20] On 31 October 2014, Sony announced that the PlayStation Plus Edition would be postponed until further notice.^[21]

Soundtrack

Driveclub Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Hybrid
Released	7 October 2014
Genre	Electronica, trip hop, breakbeat, progressive trance, drum and bass, big beat, video game soundtrack
Length	2:03:14

The official soundtrack for the game was produced by Hybrid. The soundtrack was released on iTunes on 7 October 2014, and includes remixes by Noisia, Fred V & Grafix and DJ Shadow.^[22]

The in-game music is turned off by default. According to game director Paul Rustchynsky, this is done to emphasize on the game's sound design.^[23]

Driveclub Original Soundtrack
No.	Title	Remixer(s)	Length
1.	"Be Here Now"	-	4:57
2.	"All Torque"	-	4:48
3.	"Tunnel Vision"	-	4:48
4.	"Power Curve"	-	4:51
5.	"The Club Rules"	-	4:26
6.	"Be Here Now"	Hybrid	4:28
7.	"All Torque"	Hybrid	4:31
8.	"Tunnel Vision"	Hybrid	4:45
9.	"Power Curve"	Hybrid	4:35
10.	"The Club Rules"	Hybrid	4:23
11.	"Be Here Now"	Alex Banks	4:55
12.	"All Torque"	Black Sun Empire	4:33
13.	"Power Curve"	Clark	5:14
14.	"Power Curve"	DJ Shadow & Bleep Bloop	4:47
15.	"All Torque"	Elite Force	4:17
16.	"All Torque"	F Buttons	5:10
17.	"Be Here Now"	Fred V & Grafix	4:12
18.	"The Club Rules"	Kilon Tek (Remix 1)	3:52
19.	"The Club Rules"	Kilon Tek (Remix 2)	4:42
20.	"Power Curve"	Noisia (Driveclub™ Remix)	4:46
21.	"Tunnel Vision"	Photek	4:42
22.	"Be Here Now"	Qemists	4:06
23.	"All Torque"	Raffertie	4:05
24.	"All Torque"	Second Storey	5:32
25.	"Power Curve"	Segal	4:02
26.	"Tunnel Vision"	Xcalibr	4:26
27.	"Be Here Now (Radio Edit)"	-	3:21
Total length:			123:14

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 71%[24] Metacritic 71/100[25] Review scores Publication Score Computer and Video Games 8/10[26] Destructoid 7.5/10[27] Edge 7/10[28] Eurogamer 6/10[29] Game Informer 7.75/10[30] Game Revolution [31] GameSpot 5/10[32] GamesRadar [33] GameTrailers 8.6/10[34] Giant Bomb [35] IGN 7.9/10[36] Joystiq [37] Play 77%[38] Polygon 7.5/10[39] VideoGamer.com 8/10[40]

Driveclub received mixed to positive reviews. It received an aggregated score of 71% on GameRankings based on 54 reviews^[24] and 71/100 on Metacritic based on 84 reviews.^[25] Justin Towell from GamesRadar gave the game a 8/10, praising its challenge system, accessible handling and beginner-friendly gameplay, saying "it's a big deal for a modern racing game to have enough faith in its core handling to eschew driving assists." He criticized the weak damage and characterized crashes as unsatisfying. He also discouraged playing unconnected, adding "Never have I seen such a dull, lifeless and formulaic single-player mode transformed so spectacularly by online connectivity."^[33] Dale North from Destructoid gave the game a 7.5/10, praising its responsive, satisfying control and impressive sounds, as well as highly detailed environments, while criticizing the lack of replay value, constant AI car bashing and crashing in single-player and infrequent weird visual bugs in the in-car views, but still summarized the game as "has enough to offer over other new and upcoming racing alternatives out there."^[27]

Ludwig Kietzmann from Joystiq also praised the stunning environments and excellent sound design. However, he also criticized the abusive AI cars and considered them ruin the whole single-player experience because players often get bumped, smashed and shoved off the road repeatedly. He also criticized the lack of difficulty options.^[37] Luke Reilly from IGN gave the game a 7.9/10. He praised its great sense of speed and graphics, which is described as "the best-looking racing game ever seen on a console", but criticized the overly aggressive and frustrating AI grates and the difficult drifting when compared to the accessible handling, but still summarized the game as "a modest, conventional arcade racer rather than the sprawling, open-world types we commonly see today".^[36] John Robertson from Computer and Video Games gave the game a 8/10, also praising its graphics and the Clubs system, but criticizing the lack of variety in race types and challenges, as well as the arcade-handling, as he described it "sits at odds with the purity of available events".^[26]

However, Kevin VanOrd from GameSpot gave the game a 5/10. He praised the attractive cars and race tracks featured, but criticized the soundtrack and the overall presentation of the game. He also praised the graphics of the game, but stated that the environment and the surroundings are "as lifeless as postcards".^[32] Jeff Gerstmann from Giant Bomb gave the game a 2/5, praising its leaderboards, lighting and graphics, but criticizing the confusing menu, overly mechanical AI drivers, weirdly grippy car handling and lack of fun element. He summarized the game as "a weird throwback to the old, dark days of console driving games".^[35]

References

External links

• Driveclub on PlayStation.com
• Driveclub on Twitter

Evolution Studios WRC series World Rally Championship (2001) II Extreme (2002) 3 (2003). 4 (2004) Rally Evolved (2005) MotorStorm series MotorStorm (2006) Pacific Rift (2008) Apocalypse (2011) RC (2012) Other games Driveclub (2014) Key people Martin Kenwright Ian Hetherington Related Bigbig Studios Sony Computer Entertainment