http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-06-18-driveclub-could-be-the-racing-game-to-beat-this-year
Sitting down to play the latest iteration of DriveClub at this year's E3, it's hard to hide from game director Paul Rustchynsky the shock and surprise upon discovering that not only is this an improvement on that somewhat scrappy earlier build, but that it is also very, very good; a driving game with the handsome strut you'd expect of a platform exclusive, and with enough going on under the bonnet to distinguish itself from the unlikely glut of racers due out towards the end of the year.
DriveClub can certainly lay claim to being the prettiest of the bunch, thanks in part to its decision to veer away from the open worlds that lie at the heart of The Crew and Forza Horizon 2, and also in no small part thanks to the work of Evolution Studios. There is beauty in the cars, naturally, but what makes DriveClub stand out is the beauty in the environments: thick clouds cast moody shadows over Scottish glens, while blood orange suns set over vast Chilean landscapes.
It's all being complemented now by a full weather system being prepared for release soon after launch, and being shown off for the first time at E3. On the Scottish glens of Loch Duich, turbulent weather rolls in, skies thickening before bursting onto the roads. Crowds at the side of the track reach for their macs and umbrellas, winds tug at the trackside scenery while puddles form in the divots and dips of the road surface, as well as across the grass of the glens and across the gravel - Evolution's very, very proud of its gravel, and rightly so.
Over in Norway, dawn breaks over powdered mountains, sending a dreamy purplish blue out across the environment. The heat from the sun dynamically melts the snow, with northern-facing surfaces reacting first. As that sun sets and a storm rolls in, road-signs are reflected in the slicked tarmac, while headlights catch individual rain droplets. The attention to detail is underlined when Evolution pauses the action and sweeps through the static action, ascending up through the clouds - DriveClub's game world is rendered all the way to the heavens, some two kilometres up.
It's as good a reminder as any of the somewhat redundant dichotomy between arcade and sim handling models - underneath DriveClub, as is the case in both Horizon 2 and most likely The Crew, there are handling models with real bite, gently muted in the name of accessibility but still capable of flashing their teeth from time to time. DriveClub doesn't quite have the pull of its competitors' truly open roads, but its wide, expansive landscapes provide the perfect illusion of automotive freedom.
Some 12 months on from an unconvincing debut, DriveClub has benefited from a remarkable makeover. Is it enough to shoulder the weight of being Sony's big first-party PlayStation 4 release for the tail-end of 2014? Perhaps not, but it's enough to ensure that, in a strangely busy time for the racing genre, DriveClub's in the best possible place it could be.
Sitting down to play the latest iteration of DriveClub at this year's E3, it's hard to hide from game director Paul Rustchynsky the shock and surprise upon discovering that not only is this an improvement on that somewhat scrappy earlier build, but that it is also very, very good; a driving game with the handsome strut you'd expect of a platform exclusive, and with enough going on under the bonnet to distinguish itself from the unlikely glut of racers due out towards the end of the year.
DriveClub can certainly lay claim to being the prettiest of the bunch, thanks in part to its decision to veer away from the open worlds that lie at the heart of The Crew and Forza Horizon 2, and also in no small part thanks to the work of Evolution Studios. There is beauty in the cars, naturally, but what makes DriveClub stand out is the beauty in the environments: thick clouds cast moody shadows over Scottish glens, while blood orange suns set over vast Chilean landscapes.
It's all being complemented now by a full weather system being prepared for release soon after launch, and being shown off for the first time at E3. On the Scottish glens of Loch Duich, turbulent weather rolls in, skies thickening before bursting onto the roads. Crowds at the side of the track reach for their macs and umbrellas, winds tug at the trackside scenery while puddles form in the divots and dips of the road surface, as well as across the grass of the glens and across the gravel - Evolution's very, very proud of its gravel, and rightly so.
Over in Norway, dawn breaks over powdered mountains, sending a dreamy purplish blue out across the environment. The heat from the sun dynamically melts the snow, with northern-facing surfaces reacting first. As that sun sets and a storm rolls in, road-signs are reflected in the slicked tarmac, while headlights catch individual rain droplets. The attention to detail is underlined when Evolution pauses the action and sweeps through the static action, ascending up through the clouds - DriveClub's game world is rendered all the way to the heavens, some two kilometres up.
It's as good a reminder as any of the somewhat redundant dichotomy between arcade and sim handling models - underneath DriveClub, as is the case in both Horizon 2 and most likely The Crew, there are handling models with real bite, gently muted in the name of accessibility but still capable of flashing their teeth from time to time. DriveClub doesn't quite have the pull of its competitors' truly open roads, but its wide, expansive landscapes provide the perfect illusion of automotive freedom.
Some 12 months on from an unconvincing debut, DriveClub has benefited from a remarkable makeover. Is it enough to shoulder the weight of being Sony's big first-party PlayStation 4 release for the tail-end of 2014? Perhaps not, but it's enough to ensure that, in a strangely busy time for the racing genre, DriveClub's in the best possible place it could be.
