Driving games are synonymous with console launches. Most console manufacturers use them to demonstrate the raw horsepower of their platform in a way that appeals to a wide audience. Gran Turismo would have been the obvious choice, though Gran Turismo 6 is set for a PlayStation 3 release later this year. Probably realizing that GT wasn’t going to work out in time for the launch of the PlayStation 4, Sony has greenlit Driveclub from the makers of Motorstorm.
I got to play a pre-release build at Fan Expo, which consisted of one time trial race. It was enough time to me to realize that this isn’t for me, and that it may not be the next gen racing game to beat at launch.
As always, the trailers for these driving games look incredible. However, the actual real-time visuals don’t look nearly as impressive. At best, they look like a slightly higher-res version of a current gen game. It’s not bad by no means, but clearly not as close to the fidelity in the trailers or screenshots. If I had to compare this with Forza V on which is prettier, I think Forza takes. Having said that, neither game did anything to knock my socks off.
In this demo, I got to play one time trial race. Using the PlayStation camera, it took a screengrab of my face before getting comfortable behind the wheel, as the avatar would show up a lot later on. The goal of the time trial was to score the fastest race time, though it frequently peppered in mini challenges throughout. For instance, there would be speed challenges where I had to beat the fastest speed going through a checkpoint which was set by someone who played before me. There were also some other neat ones that gave you points for following a specific driving line around a corner. It’s a neat way to give players something to work for as the race progresses.
From a driving ‘feel’ perspective, this reminded me a lot of Project Gotham Racing. It’s not quite simulation to the point where I couldn’t even drive straight without peeling out, but it’s far from handling like Burnout. As someone who stinks at realistic driving games, I crashed and peeled out many times. At the end though, I was quite surprised that the guy running the demo said I scored one of the better times that weekend.
I knew that Driveclub wasn’t going to be for me. Though it did disappoint me a bit in how it looked, I think that the in-race challenges could make things more interesting. Expect for Driveclub to hit stores alongside of the PlayStation 4 launch.
In Third Person 
Could you place the actual graphics with what we see in the trailers in a ratio?
If the actual game is 1 would you say the online trailers and screenshots would be about 2?
It’s hard to quantify with a number because there’s a subjective aspect to graphics. The best analogy I can give you is to look at a current gen racing sim (Forza/Gran Turismo) and imagine it with slightly higher resolution graphics.
I get you.