DriveClub’s launch has been far from vintage. Evolution Studios spent a year priming the release for podium position following the PlayStation 4 exclusive racer’s delay last year, but server issues have thrown a literal spanner in the works. Fortunately, things are slowly but steadily improving, with behind-the-scenes fixes allowing more and more petrol heads to actually play the game as it was intended. And while there’s no word on the hotly anticipated PlayStation Plus version at the time of typing, we thought that we’d tap out some tips to prepare you for the complimentary copy’s eventual arrival.
Learner driver
While many racers can easily be separated into two distinct brackets – arcade or simulation – DriveClub belongs in neither category. This title perhaps best resembles Project Gotham Racing, the vaunted Xbox exclusive by Bizarre Creations, which attempted to fuse both of the above handling models into something brand new. As such, you’ll find that all of the vehicles here have similar characteristics to their real-life counterparts, but are much more accessible than they would be in a game such as, say, Gran Turismo.
The trick to setting the best laps is to, first and foremost, learn your car. Each vehicle in the game is tuned slightly differently, and these tweaks vary more heavily as you work your way through the campaign and unlock faster vehicles. Getting a feel for your chosen automobile’s top speed and traction is imperative, but should come naturally the more time that you spend in a particular cockpit. If you’re struggling to take corners, remember that it’s important to brake just as you reach the apex, and then accelerate out in order to ensure that you don’t lose too much speed.
Fame game
Much like Kudos in Project Gotham Racing – or Metropolis Street Racer for those of you a little older – Fame is one of the key components in DriveClub. You’ll earn this for practically everything that you do in the game, such as completing races, earning stars in the Tour mode, and triumphing in Face Off challenges that dynamically appear around the track. However, you can also accrue a decent amount of the virtual currency by simply driving well in each race. Overtakes, for example, will net you a points boost, as will clean sectors.
And it’s this latter point that is especially important. Unlike other non-simulation racers, Evolution Studios still wants you to abide by the rules of real racing, so you’ll be penalised for playing bumper cars. Indeed, intentionally ramming an opponent, or even straying from the boundaries of the track, will occasionally see your points docked, while cutting corners will cap your top speed for a few seconds, giving competitors a chance to overtake. The real key to success is to drive competitively, without ever being reckless; wait for overtaking opportunities if you have to, and pick your moments.
Day drifter
As with any racing game worth its salt, drifting in DriveClub is incredibly important. This is not only a great way to rack up Fame, but it will also ensure that you hit corners at a decent speed, allowing you to maintain acceleration as you exit the corner, resulting in faster times. The trick here is to tap your handbrake just as you turn into a corner, and you’ll feel the wheels start to give way. If the corner’s particularly tight, you may want to use your traditional brake to help push you around, but this is going to depend on the bend.
Once you’ve beaten the bulk of the corner, try counter-steering a little to straighten back out, and hit the gas hard to push you out of the drift. In events designed around this technique, you’ll need to corner with as much speed as possible, as not only will you earn points for the drift itself, but also your agility on the straight that follows. As with any racing game, you’ll definitely need to practice this to get the skill down, but once you’ve get a feel for the technique, you’ll be slipping around hairpins like Lewis Hamilton on an ice rink.
Club sandwich
DriveClub isn’t a particularly complex game, as it follows a tried-and-tested progression blueprint that almost all of you will be familiar with by now. However, it does have a few tricks up its sleeve. The game’s headline feature is its titular Club format, which allows you to team up with friends in order to achieve group goals. Once you’re a member of a high-octane faction – you can browse the available options from the main menu, or simply create your own and invite your PlayStation Network pals – all of your Fame will contribute directly to that group, unlocking extra cars for you to use in the game.
It’s also important to pay attention to your Accolades, which basically track everything that you do in the title. Whether it’s sticking with a certain manufacturer, or drifting for a set distance, completing these will give you massive Fame injections, as well as some nifty stickers to slap on your car. Speaking of which, don’t forget that you can create your own custom liveries by heading into the Garage section of the main menu, and you can even change the look of your driver in the My Profile area as well.
Explore the options
The game may be relatively straight forward, but Evolution Studios has not skimped on ways for you to tailor the experience to your tastes. It’s important to spend a little bit of time in the Options area at some point, so that you can personalise the heads-up display exactly as you want it. Also, if you’re a little bummed out by the lack of music during races, you can turn up the Race Music Volume to ensure that you have some pumping tunes to accompany your time on the track.
Do you have any other DriveClub tips to share? Have you mastered the title’s Tour yet, or have you been honing your drifting techniques in individual events? Burn some rubber in the comments section below.
Comments 26
I am beginning to think that the PSN version is just vaporware. Was really hoping to be able to check out this game but I guess I will just wait for it to hit the bargain bin.
@Tasuki I don't think it is, the retail version is still broken. It's such a shame, because it is a good game, but they've really made a major blunder somewhere. I don't think I've ever seen a botched up launch as bad as this one to be honest.
The only way they cancel the PS Plus one is if they never fix the servers, which I guess does seem plausible, but unlikely...
@Tasuki I reckon it'll turn up. Just not a for a few more weeks so Sony can squeeze as many retail sales as possible...
@get2sammyb Yeah I think this may even be worse than the SimCity launch eh?!
@get2sammyb: I still have high hopes for this game being a PGR fan. I have never been a big GT fan just too much to worry about I just want a game that I can race in.
I guess this was one of the moment that you are damned if you do and damned if you don't for the publishers. If they would have delayed the release again they would have people complaining about that so instead they released a broken game.
@Tasuki Man PGR2 is still my favourite racer of all!
Maybe Sony could buy the license off MS and re-assemble the old Bizarre Creations team to make us a new one eh?! You reading this Sony?!
They really did mess everything up rather spectacularly considering the near extra year.
"This title perhaps best resembles Project Gotham Racing"
And with that one sentence, my hopes of it being a good handling model have all but disappeared. That game was garbage. Mind you, hopefully there are no damn cones in DriveClub.
I will definitely try out the PS+ version, but that has definitely deflated my expectations.
@Dodoo: I only played PGR and PGR 4. I didn't own an Xbox but my friend did and almost every time I went over to his place we would play PGR. I just recently picked up PGR 4 about six months ago for the 360 and its one of my favorite racing games. That's why I had high hopes for this game I need a racing game like PGR on my PS4.
@get2sammyb You really think they won't fix the servers?
I think they will but it's going to be another week or two.
60 and 70 euros are too much for a game in my opinion. Sony should try again a huge plus discount for a new retail title. 40 euros is a very reasonable price in my opinion.
Got the game and will start playing the following week. Tried it a bit and liked the somewhat simplicity of it compared to Gran Turismo. Since a discussion about racing games started I think that they became a lot of complicated. I just want to race. I don't really care about changing the machine or the brakes etc.
Can anyone recommend a game similar to Outrun?
@Paranoimia Just to be clear, I'm just comparing the fusion of arcade and simulation, not the handling models directly. I haven't played Project Gotham for a good eight or so years, so I can't tell you whether they have the same "feel". I do think DriveClub's really enjoyable if it helps, though. But then, I also liked Project Gotham at the time...
@BloodyBill I'm sure they will, it's just clear that this is a bigger issue than traffic load at this point. There was clearly a big error/bug in their code.
@belmont I don't think there's anything like Outrun these days, sadly. There's a game coming to Wii U called That 90s Racer or something like that - that seems like an old Daytona game.
Sick of waiting for the PS+ edition, which looks like it could be a month away. So, considering getting the retail version, which I always planned to do eventually anyway. Just struggling with buying a game I know is broken (hoping it will be fixed).
Is it worth buying in it current state?
@Ginkgo I'm enjoying it, but it's massively frustrating, as you're conscious of the fact that you're only getting half of the experience. I'd say wait, to be honest - especially if you're already on the fence.
there is no reason they couldn't give us the ps+ edition with online disabled.
the whole thing stinks, i've no interest in this game now, they have totally
alienated any new potential customers.
shot themselves in the foot.
Yaaaayyyy, Driveclub, Driveclub, Driveclub!!! Where is it... ?
@fozzie-mpd yes, what you said. They should just turn off the servers until fixed. Pretty disgusting.
I love how you constantly see all these comments stating that they should just "switch off the servers for the ps+ version". Seriously? They won't have separate servers for the two versions, and they need to keep the servers running so they can tell if the fixes they are applying are working!
And as for disabling online in the game itself, the online features are literally coded into the game, they would have to re-code the game to release the ps+ version without any online features at all. Let's think now, what should be their priority, actually fixing the online, or messing about ripping the online out of the free version? Just sit tight and wait for it to be fixed, it's not like there's nothing else to be playing in the interim...
i have been enjoying this game, even without the online stuff..
I dont even blame Evolution for not releasing the ps+ version yet.
Some of us sre just waiting to play so we can hate it.
So why shoot themselves in the foot*even more*?
Release it when its done.
Im going to go in with a new mind.
These past weeks have been enough to let my rsge out.
They need to make sure the DriveClub release everywhere and is fixed and very soon. Project Cars is fast approaching and if that turns out to be a really good racing game DriveClub will fail for sure.
And for all you idiots comparing DriveClub to Forza H2 are complete idiots. Forza H2 is more like The Crew than DriveClub.
I barley care about the online portion as long as the driving is solid.
@get2sammyb I'm not very good at waiting. Bought the PS+ version last night. Offline is good so far, but online is broken as expected. Interested to have a multiplayer race. Even when I can connect to the server, it never makes it through matchmaking. Oh well .Waiting for updates. At least I knew what I was getting.
@get2sammyb I took the risk and bought DriveClub today and im so glad I did! I haven't tried the MP yet but im having a tonne of fun on the single player. Once they've fixed the online server issues and maybe tweaked the SP AI I think the game will be great.
I also think that once its fully fixed and updated it should be given another review.
@get2sammyb has everyone and their mom forgot about Battlefield 4?
@SteveoKenobi AMEN. all these cry babies can keep on making rivers because the game is still legit - they just REALLY needed an open beta - I hope every developer is learning this lesson together....GTA V vs Destiny - why did Destiny work so well on launch day again? Hmmmm.... I wonder if its from all the OPEN BETA TESTERS.
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