It’s Online… No!,Connection Lost – DriveClub
People associate me too much with being a rabid Playstation fanboy and i can relate to that since i carry too much bias towards SCE and Psygnosis of the past and yes that might be true to one point where my roots (Amiga) started and eventually ended but no matter being a beta tester nor a developer nor a huge office desk in some SCE daughter company certainly does not count like it once used to do… as in, it never did.
I bought the PlayStation because of Road Rash (yes i kid you not…), WipeOut and RRR and i kept it because of many things but games like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Silent Hill and so on certainly did not put me away from it… end of discussion, i am a Playstation fan because of Sony’s strong games catalog and not because i am a blind fanboy or biased or whatever.
DriveClub is yet another of those SCE type of things, they put money into projects that no one else would do as it can be very risky but luckily there have been a few hits because of these risks that they have taken in the past.
DriveClub was supposed to have been released last year on the release day of the Playstation4 itself actually and best of all…as a free PlayStation Plus game but it took them nearly a year of delays and by the looks of things it might take them a little longer too due to the fact that the online servers are being hammered and not working at all most of the time.
The PlayStation Plus version is still not available but the none free version is and while that does indeed sound dubious it is still fair that the guys who bought the game can actually play it like they should… but wait!… you can’t!, online is just as broken there as in the nation released free version.. what a disaster.
The internet is glowing, fans have gone into mass hysteria and people are really giving the game some bad feedback and just a quick look at metacritic.com it’s quite clear that there is a not a lot of people who seem to understand the game or what it is.. oh and best of all, that they forgot to play it before they reviewed it….
Most “professionals” opinions are like, great graphics but feels empty, it is not open world, features missing (steering wheel some mentioned too…) and even more, people seem to just think it is plain boring.
Some valid points alright, steering wheel support is not there … OH WAIT!.. first thing i found in the menu was “steering wheel options”. ok, there goes my last credibility to that website’s reviewer!. another major website claimed it was empty, yes there are no animals on the road, there’s no guns and no violence… last time i checked it was a driving game…
I am starting to see the whole picture here, reviews and single persons opinions from release day reports etc seem to reflect some sort of boredom because the servers are down syndrome…
And this! is something i can relate to, this game was designed to be an online CLUB game so when you remove that feature the game is just….. just… well it feels “old, cheap” or whatever but at the same time it ain’t… it is like buying a game today with no trophy/achievement support..
There is no doubt that this game kicks ass when it is working, i say that because i know that! and it seems many others have noticed this too now as they seem to consider the idea of writing a second review of it when the servers are up etc.. (whenever that will be…. !)
I am really upset that SCE/EVLS managed to screw the release up, we did report that beta tests were too small and badly focused and i for one know that driving games sell quite good on the Playstation and especially so if there is no Gran Turismo game out on the console.
Is it true that SCE underestimated the traffic*/sales? i doubt it as if this is true then they must have the naffest number givers on the planet as an idea… The Console, 12 million units sold in 1 year, 1 car game available!, the game is free to all PS+ owners and it is the most hyped SCE title in a long time. Seriously? , you can’t underestimate it then and this is without all the gamers who want the PS+ version… just admit it SCE, your servers fucked up and so did the guys in the server rooms and by the looks of things so did the guys in the Evolution online support too.
These things do happen alright, it happened to Diablo 3 on PC, it happened to Little Big Planet on the PS3 and it also happened to Battlefield 4 (all formats) but this doesn’t make it right! this is incompetence and ignorance and sadly this is one of the things a game or a name can’t shake off itself… it’s been 5 years now and people still remember how cool LBP was but they also remember why they stopped playing it… unable to connect to the server to play with friends… message. a message that was only there in the launch window (or so…)…
Ok so over to the game then…
No idea what to write actually but this game is a carbon cutout from 2 very good game series from the past. MSR on the Dreamcast and Project Gotham Racing on the Xbox’s,
Games known for it’s “kudos” system, a reputation system that not only looks at the rank at the end of the race but also on how you did it all and with that it means, drifting, average speed, driving line and so on.
DriveClub is not open, it is just like those old Need For Speed and Burnout Games and so on and while it does have an identity crisis at times I’d say it is still an arcade racer but also a semi-sim at the same time…
One of the first things you will notice in this game is how hard it is, it is HARD but it is meant to be hard too but it won’t take you too long to realize that it is just that you’re an awful driver…. it will take you weeks if not more to even fix a percentage of it but it will fix your driving skills for sure….
DriveClub must be the best-looking driving game i have ever seen, i have never been so impressed by a driving game since Destruction Derby back in 1995 i think, graphics and such have been taken to a whole new level but at the same time not overdone it and while the physics engine might not be up there with GT6 … i don’t know but they’re in a different boat and i am sure the competition on the “other” console has an opinion of their own too (i bet it is… Floaty as a boaty so we can make another Hydra game soon (OK OK, I KID!)).
Loading times in DC is amazing.. there’s next to none and that is a very welcome feature for a game where you need a second shield around the TV just in case you go into road rage and throw the controller!!!!…..
The game is not 60fps sadly but it is locked 30fps and i have yet to see a single frame dip (around 26 hours with the final release build now).
Steering wheel support is in the game yes, supports the wheel that is available for the PS4… a shitty one but it supports it.
The A.I in the game is a pain in the arse, it is not rubberbanding per se but more of the same albeit in this game they go smashing into you and try to ram you off the road…and by that i mean… all the bloody time… and sometimes i think it is just to warm us up with it before we go online which is (believe me) a ramming party… for now.
I am a Sony fanboy, i like most their games and i am blind at times and sometimes they’re on my paycheck but if a game is good then i play it and this one is one i will play for a long time.
Video Uploaded now, enjoy… Twitch stream so there’s some usual chatter in there.
Have fun guys, let me know if you want a club to join.
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