“Driveclub” was quite strongly hyped before its release, and it was claimed to be the “Forza killer”, supposed to take over the market by storm and show us how a true racing game should look and play like, while adding various interesting social features. However, the actual launch of the game was far less exciting than the pre-release marketing would have someone believe, and fans were actually quite disappointed from what they saw.
Still, the game has an obvious potential – its single player mode really is quite good, but the online functionality is where the game falls short and far beneath the original expectations that fans had for it. Its developers released various patches that addressed issues with the game and brought it up to a solid state all around, and in the end, the game was brought up to the state that many fans were expecting it to be in from the very first day of its launch.
However, as we know very well, first impressions matter a lot for gamers – so much that they’re often unwilling to take a second look at a game that came out to a poor launch, even if the developers have subsequently addressed its issues. Even though “Driveclub” is quite good right now, everyone remembers how it launched, and this is the primary association that people have with the game.
What can the developers do to revive interest in the title at this point? One of the common complaints about the original title was the poor selection of cars. This was apparently done intentionally and was part of the design, but that claim didn’t do much to calm fans down and help them see the game in a better light. Quite on the contrary, many were asking why such a design decision was made in the first place, and requesting a change.
On that note, customizing the cars we do have would also be nice, at least if we could get more options to tweak, unlike the current state of the game’s vehicle customization. This is something that should have actually been in the original launch and it’s not a feature that should be dropped down in priority in the developers’s todo list.
In a similar vein, the track variety in the game could use some improvement, as even though the locations in “Driveclub” look nice and are very well detailed, there aren’t that many of them to choose from in the first place.
It wasn’t just about the variety of the gameplay though – the game has some actual technical issues that should be resolved if a sequel is made. 30 frames per second might work for some genres, but racing games are right next to shooters in terms of how much precision they require to play properly, and how much a low framerate can affect the input. “Driveclub” absolutely needs 60 FPS support in order to be a “proper” racing game, there can’t be any compromise with that.
We don’t know if the 30 FPS lock was actually a design decision or if it’s a limitation of how much the game can handle with its current engine, but it’s definitely something that should be addressed in the future. Of course, if this is done at the expense of graphical quality, that’s a different story and also something that won’t fly well with fans. In the end, the developers might need to get some extra engineers on board if they can’t resolve those issues on their own, because this matters a lot to their fans.
Driveclub is severely underrated! Evolution Studios have done a stellar job supporting the game post release. Adding new cars every month along with new tour events has given the title tremendous value. The core racing is really fun which requires player skill in order to win consistently. Also the sense of speed is unmatched by any game in the genre, period. I just purchased the season pass and couldn’t be happier with my decision. So much bang for your buck. Clueless gamers did not sway me. Tried it and now I’m hooked. Best next-generation racer out there hands down.
Gamers need to forget about the Driveclub release and try it now, it’s come on leaps and bounds and Evolution have indeed done an amazing job when it comes to support and keeping the fans up to date on social media.
I personally don’t think they need to do anything to revive interest, multiplayer is clearly bustling with online players and you only have to look at the amount of results on the leaderboard to see that this game is going strong.
Please stop hating on this game. This is the best racer ever made and it is in my opinion the only game with next gen graphics. this racer is perfect and it is the new benchmark. Please evolution studios please please please bring this to PC with DirectX 12.
I think Driveclub is very underrated. The release version is nowhere near the current state. There are several new cars and tours. The game looks beautiful and plays very smoothly. Online racing is also great!
Now I do agree there is room for improvement. Bringing it to 60FPS would be a great start.
Also, having more customization options would give the players more sense of uniqueness.
The only thing I find poorly done is the online multiplayer menus. It should be like the general game menu where it’s fluid and simple.