Wednesday 8th October 2014

PH joins Driveclub

Social media meets virtual racing in a new PS4 driving game called Driveclub - PH takes a test drive

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Non-gamers like to stereotype videogames as a solo pursuit isolating folk in their bedrooms or living rooms and breeding a generation incapable of interaction with the wider world. That may have been true a few years back but now of course the online age has opened up a whole new gaming universe. And the ability to shout violent abuse at strangers all over the world via your TV and a headset. Ain't technology wonderful!

Dan, interacting sociably with ... oh, hang on

Driveclub for the PlayStation4 is hoping for a rather more collaborative and cooperative interaction between gamers though, this new driving platform from UK develop Evolution Studios looking to combine traditional racing game action with a sense of team spirit. One fully integrated into a virtual petrolhead world influenced by - and integrated with - Facebook, Twitter and all the rest.

PH went along to Mercedes-Benz World at Brooklands to get a flavour of the game, which launches officially on Friday (October 10). With the wider world of Driveclub yet to go live and no community with which to interact as yet we instead got stuck in with the basic driving aspect, from which the social side will then - it's hoped - flourish.

At heart Driveclub is an arcade racer with an almost old-school vibe albeit beautifully realised with new-school graphical pizzazz. The tracks have been created based on real locations from across the world including Canada, India, Norway and Scotland for a diverse mix of landscape and atmosphere. It also gives an opportunity to show off the developers' ability to recreate a huge variety of conditions in which to drive, meaning if you want to race a Pagani Huayra across a digital representation of the Scottish Highlands in the middle of the night and a raging blizzard you can do just that. This would appear to be one example of where virtual is most definitely going to be more appealing than reality...

Team strip/stripes for your private Driveclub

The tracks are all idealised/fictionalised representations of the aforementioned locations, meaning no 'real' city streets or inch-perfect recreations of famous racing tracks here. A Gran Turismo or Forza rival this is not.

The cars are real though and include everything from Golf GTIs to aforementioned Paganis via Rufs, BMW M3s, various AMGs and even the BAC Mono. The compulsory real-world sound recording and physics modelling of the real cars has all taken place in the development phase, a gig PH would be most delighted to assist with if any game developers out there are looking to do the same... All are beautifully rendered inside and out and capable of 'customisation' into team colours that'd have even the most extrovert Chelsea hypercar owner blushing. If you're going to foster a team spirit to take your racing online against other Driveclub teams you'll want a distinctive livery though.

And though this wasn't the bit of Driveclub we were able to test it really is the game's USP. You'll be able to form teams of up to six players and take part in solo, team or online challenges and races that count towards the collective status of the club. Rewards are measured as 'accolades' earned not only by winning races but also the way in which you do it - drifting and drafting earn you more while crashes dent both your (virtual) bodywork and scoring ability. As you'd expect, racking up accolades then unlocks further cars, tracks and events with the idea being that every time you log in you'll have fresh updates, cars and challenges to take part in, much as you would if you were checking in on Facebook.

Classic arcade racing with a new age social edge

If you really can't tear yourself away an iPhone and Android app will let you keep in touch with leaderboards, fellow players and other aspects of the game while you're away from your PS4. As such it comes as little surprise to hear the development team has spent as much time studying the theory of social media and interaction on Facebook and other platforms as it has recording supercar exhaust notes. This, incidentally, is how they settled on teams of six. It was initially going to be double this but it was concluded that the smaller the team the greater the sense of duty and responsibility players have to their fellow club members.

You can get the official line on Driveclub via the PlayStation website and in the meantime official PH game geek Nathan will be taking the game online and getting stuck in. Want to be in his club? We'll keep you posted on how to join him when he's set up and ready to go.

[AndrewEH1]

The 'official' thread is here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I'm sure a PH Driveclub will be set up as the game is released. Although teams of six might be an issue!

[eybic]

It is strange that the "clubs" are limited to 6.

I really wanted to love this game but it just feels a bit NFS like which if you like those games is fine but if you're after a realistic racing sim, buy Project CARS

Don't get me wrong, it's very playable but is lacking for me.

[E36GUY]

So essentially, Playstation have made their own Forza Horizon?

[QuattroDave]

eybic said:

It is strange that the "clubs" are limited to 6.

I really wanted to love this game but it just feels a bit NFS like which if you like those games is fine but if you're after a realistic racing sim, buy Project CARS

Don't get me wrong, it's very playable but is lacking for me.

I am really excited at the prospect of project cars. I literally took the plunge and bought the drive club edition PS4 bundle yesterday and I'm expecting delivery tomorrow (a day early - gotta love online retailers!).

Drive club will keep me going until project cars is released. Got so sick of GT6's annoyances (no qualifying, completely predictable and easy AI, unskippable starting sequence on most races, terrible music, poor sound, clunky interface etc etc etc), BUT it does have some great tracks and a half decent selection of cars!

[PJDubyaM]

"The compulsory real-world sound recording and physics modelling of the real cars has all taken place in the development phase, a gig PH would be most delighted to assist with if any game developers out there are looking to do the same..."

I'm sure we could get PH involved with Project CARS, if you fancy it. I'm Lead Producer here at Slightly Mad Studios. Fancy a peek here at our London-based HQ?

And thanks eybic and QuattroDave for your support!

Edited by PJDubyaM on Wednesday 8th October 16:24

[QuattroDave]

PJDubyaM said:

"The compulsory real-world sound recording and physics modelling of the real cars has all taken place in the development phase, a gig PH would be most delighted to assist with if any game developers out there are looking to do the same..."

I'm sure we could get PH involved with Project CARS, if you fancy it. I'm Lead Producer here at Slightly Mad Studios. Fancy a peek here at our London-based HQ?

And thanks eybic and QuattroDave for your support!

Edited by PJDubyaM on Wednesday 8th October 16:24

No worries PJdubyaM - nice lurking before your first post btw!

If you need to model and add a UR Quattro to your list of cars I'm happy to lend you mine!

[Ryvita]

QuattroDave said:

If you need to model and add a UR Quattro to your list of cars I'm happy to lend you mine!

Project Cars: Pistonheads edition Made up of the contents of a year's worth of Sunday Service attendees...

Ditto happy to contribute a Forester STI Litchfield if needed.

[QuattroDave]

Now isn't that a great idea! Listen to this man Dubya!

Ryvita said:

QuattroDave said:

If you need to model and add a UR Quattro to your list of cars I'm happy to lend you mine!

Project Cars: Pistonheads edition Made up of the contents of a year's worth of Sunday Service attendees...

Ditto happy to contribute a Forester STI Litchfield if needed.

[iloveboost]

This game seems like a modern Need for Speed meets facebook! Lots of focus on clubs and team driving. It seems to take the best bits from playing Forza online then sticks them into an easier to drive arcade racer with epic graphics. I think Forza Horizon would be more my sort of thing, but Drive Club does look and sound good.