![]() In the game, each car has around 90 different samples, and with the aid of a little granular synthesis, it allows the devs to present probably the best aural simulation on the market. As such, developer Evolution has had hands-on time with each and every car in the game, capturing the sounds they make with more than 18 different microphones, with the goal being to replicate the exact driving experience with utmost precision. The drive for realism is also the reason the game's audio has been handled with a sort of autistic focus. In order to remain faithful to their goal of creating an immersive experience, the team decided to forgo the push for 60 frames per second and opted to have the game run flawlessly at 30 frames per second, at a 1080p resolution, so they could focus on more realistic visuals. ![]() Opportunities to earn Fame, especially at the higher Driver and Club levels, are ever harder to come across, which turns even some of the more novel races into experience grinds.Driveclub developer Evolution Studios is intent on delivering a realistic driving simulation experience to the PlayStation 4, and nowhere is that more evident than in the game's sound production. As is, the majority of on- and offline races result in 10-car pileups, while the few fortunate racers to pull ahead of the pack pretty much stay there. If the courses were slightly wider or featured fewer bottlenecks, this might present a welcome challenge for those transitioning from a simulator like Gran Turismo 6 over to a looser racer like Need for Speed. ![]() Taking an off-road shortcut is frowned upon, as is any contact with rival vehicles, regardless of whether it’s the AI ramming you in the middle of an attempted drift, or an accidental tap while attempting to draft behind your opponents. There are also some odd gameplay decisions, mainly to do with the Fame system, which rewards (and punishes) players for “correct” driving. You can’t even modify them, unless you count slapping on a superficial paint job a notable feature, which means that (due to the exacting technical challenges of each race) if you want to earn enough stars to progress on the Tour, you’ll be forced to use the cars with the highest stats within each performance class rather than your favorites. Cars like the Aston Martin V12 Zagato and BMW M5 2011 also suffer the ignominious fate of feeling identical, which saps the satisfaction of unlocking them with each new Racer Level earned. Memorable moments are few and far between, though playing around with the game’s time compression so that a five-minute race contains both sunrise and sunset shows that there are beautiful effects, like the breaking dawn over a set of stony ruins in Scotland-if only you could slow down long enough to observe. Sure, Norway has gigantic floes and icy borders, and Chile’s filled with dusty, dry rock canyons, but then, India’s also got its share of tight dirt roads through burgeoning towns, and Canada’s littered with snowy mountain backdrops and shimmering water. Despite the five major continental settings for the various courses (roughly 55, if you include reversed tracks), there’s little to set them apart, especially if you’re playing in the game’s default view, which limns all that pretty scenery within the cockpit’s frame. The design flaws aren’t relegated to spotty online play either. Despite featuring a variety of single-player Tour competitions, from drifting and breakneck time-trial challenges to multi-race championships, Driveclub feels as if it’s still stuck in gear. It says a lot that there are more cars scheduled for release than can currently be earned for your garage. ![]() Originally intended for launch-day release on the PlayStation 4, the game is now officially “out,” but good luck using any of the online features designed to set it apart from similar titles, or taking advantage of all the horsepower in its graphical engine, as dynamic weather effects (like rain and snow) are still limited to the drabness of a mere overcast sky. Driveclub has some fantastic-sounding features for an arcade racer, but they’re marred by what can only be considered a rush job. Driving games should be all about speed, but the development of such games should not.
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