When I first saw DriveClub, the game looked…ok. After all, it wasn’t the only racing game on the block, and the original release date of 2013 Q4 didn’t exactly grab me by the spanners. The game got delayed beyond that date however, and I found myself not exactly giving the racer any love. But since then, DriveClub has begun to look rather exciting. Visually, it’s a massive improvement, a potential Gran Turismo killer. And that extra wait was quite possibly worth it.
DriveClub was meant to launch in time for a retail Christmas last year, while also allowing Sony to properly test the waters with freemium content when the game arrives for gratis on PS Plus. Those plans shifted however, when Sony decided to give the game a lengthy hiatus that resulted in the title getting massively overhauled. “As a game creator, you’d always love to spend more time to polish things up,” director Paul Rustchynsky said to VG247.
I think it’s been fantastic that Sony gave us the time we needed to make a game that met our ambitious vision. We understood that we could have pushed out last November, but I think it would have done a disservice to ourselves, to the players and to Sony’s high mark of quality.
We think it was the best thing for the game. It’s allowed us to add more tracks, add more cars, polish the handling, polish the visuals and start work on new features which we hope we can introduce very quickly after launch.
According to art director Alex Perkins, the focus on lighting and reflection afforded by the longer development time, have allowed the game to look that much better. “We’ve added two new reflection systems that work in tandem and a whole new particle system,” Perkins said.
We’ve improved the lighting and the materials on everything, from the interiors and exteriors of cars to the tops of mountains and how the snow falls. We’ve done a full pass of everything. You know what we’re like. You give us more time and we’ll keep going until we snap our fingers.
There’s more than just graphics obviously. There’s a dynamic weather system in the works as well, that’ll be released a few months down the line when the game comes out at the end of the year. Right now, there’s no concrete date for that, but Rustchynsky explained that he wanted to see the game out before calendars shifted to 2015.
Last Updated: September 3, 2014
Skyblue
September 3, 2014 at 15:12
“a potential Gran Turismo killer” – surely Forza 5 is the current benchmark for graphics on new systems? At least until Project Cars gets released but PC racers haven’t exactly been great the last few years. GRID is not a racer.
Sith JJ
September 3, 2014 at 15:35
The first GRID, handling-wise, was a racer in the same sense as Forza is. Not sim, not arcade, somewhere in between.
Best the pc crowd has at the moment is iRacing and R-Factor in terms of sims. Semi-sim/arcady racers is pretty much only the new GRID Autosport, which no one wants to buy after GRID 2.
Skyblue
September 3, 2014 at 15:39
Gran Turismo has almost the exact same driving feel as Forza and both games are infinitely better to play than and GRID game. Sad actually when you think back to how awesome TOCA Touring Cars was.
No racer should do “real world driving experience” as it renders the game mostly unplayable imo. There is far too much input when driving a real car vs what we experience on a gaming device.
Very valid point about Grid Autosport, I also considered it but once bitten and all that.
Sith JJ
September 3, 2014 at 15:43
Dude. TOCA was just damn brilliant. Codemasters lost the plot when they started chasing NFS fans. I might get Autosport on sale for $5, but otherwise I’ll rather wait for something else.
I agree with the real world driving experience. iRacing is madness. You need a seat, three screens, a steering wheel, a helmet, a ton of money and a fairy godmother to play that game. So it immediately falls out of my spec for racing game fun (I want to relax a bit, after all).
I’m pretty much just holding for Project CARS now while I play Shift 2 (which is keeping me more entertained than I’ll admit to).
Skyblue
September 3, 2014 at 15:46
Lol @ iRacing, crazy shit. I’m still hitting Forza 4 on my X360 occasionally but have stopped playing GT5 some time ago. Skipped GT6 when it looked exactly the same as GT5 and those menu’s, sigh.
Sith JJ
September 3, 2014 at 15:47
I only have GT5 on my PS3 (one of my 3 PS3 games) but have considered getting an Xbox quite a few times just for Forza. Played it once. Loved it.
Skyblue
September 3, 2014 at 15:49
My pre-order for Xbone is in. Forza 5 and Fifa 15 included on day one and Forza made up my mind. Those 2 games would retail for almost 2k alone and I play both. Tried the new controller at Rage last year and just wow!
Sith JJ
September 3, 2014 at 15:50
I’m quite jealous. I get my fix from my Xbox 360 controller for windows, but that’s about it.
Skyblue
September 3, 2014 at 15:52
The new PS4 controller is actually better than the X360 controller but the Xbone controller is just sick. I always hated the PS controller design until the PS4. Racing games are going to be awesome on the new controllers so my steering wheel will be getting a bit dusty.
William6135
September 3, 2014 at 22:24
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Hammersteyn
September 3, 2014 at 15:16
Well it’s free on PS+, so I will check it out at least.
Aries
September 3, 2014 at 15:56
it is? i dont see it
Johan du Preez
September 3, 2014 at 16:13
“Right now, there’s no concrete date for that, but Rustchynsky explained that he wanted to see the game out before calendars shifted to 2015.”
Try and read the article ….
Sith JJ
September 3, 2014 at 15:36
The only way this can be a potential GT killer is if it offers the same amount of cars. That’s a large portion of GT’s appeal. As far as racing and just plain fun goes Forza is unmatched imo
Skyblue
September 3, 2014 at 15:41
Agreed on Forza, my personal favourite on console after I was lured away from GT. This games seems to be competing more with Forza Horizon I think which is probably a good thing.
FoxOneZA
September 3, 2014 at 18:40
What made PGR special was the kudo’s system. Very few games reward your driving skills at every corner and down every straight.