Metacritic page: http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/driveclub/critic-reviews
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Playstation Universe: 9.5
Gaming Age: A-
Gaming Trend: 90
Gametrailers: 8.6
Videogamer: 8
CVG: 8
TheSixthAxis: 8
ZTGD: 8
Venture Beat: 80
Gamesradar: 4\5
Digital Spy: 4\5
IGN: 7.9
Gameinformer: 7.75
Polygon: 7.5
Destructoid: 7.5
PlayStation LifeStyle: 7.5
Gameractor UK: 7
Shacknews: 7
USgamer: 3.5\5
Eurogamer: 6
Joystiq: 3\5
Game Revolution: 3\5
Crave Online: 5.5
Gamespot: 5
Metro: 5
Hardcore Gamer: 2.5\5
Giant Bomb: 2\5
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Playstation Universe: 9.5
Despite these shortcomings, DRIVECLUB exhibits greatness. Photorealistic visuals and complex simulation elicit the white-knuckle thrill of rocketing alongside other racers in the worlds most beautiful, powerful cars. Player-created challenges like record times and mid-race face-offs foster a competitive spirit that keeps DRIVECLUB constantly interesting and fresh, especially for those less interested in live competition. A thoughtful interface connects you with other players and gets you into the game with ease while communicating much about your standing, progression, and accomplishments. Its not merely that DRIVECLUB pushes social gaming to new frontiers. These persistent features make racing itself more interesting; no small feat, given that DRIVECLUB is perhaps the most successful hybrid of demanding realism and forgiving fun yet seen. DRIVECLUB changes the game. It is a truly next-gen racer. PlayStation 4 has another killer app.
Gaming Age: A-
Even beyond the upcoming DLC and season pass, Sony and Evolution Studios are treating the game as a work in progress and they have already committed to releasing new features and enhancements in future game updates. As it is today, Driveclub is a still a pretty darn compelling package for racing game fans, and an enjoyable and addictive racing experience for PS4 owners. It's worth taking for a test drive at the very least.
Gaming Trend: 90
All in all, DRIVECLUB is a wonderful racing game, well worth the wait and hype. Not only does it display some of the most impressively authentic graphics to create a convincingly virtual racing experience, but it also allows you to share every moment of it with the world. While it may be lacking in extra options and game modes, it more than makes up for it with it ever-expanding social challenges and online functions.
Gametrailers: 8.6
However, while its not as broad in scope as some of its contemporaries, we arent finding ourselves getting bored of Driveclub. On the contrary, the more time we invest, the more we just want to keep playing. Driveclub is a focused, thrilling racer for players looking to push themselves and compete in all new territory, working up a sweat as its captivating sights and sounds fill your senses.
Videogamer: 8
But even with its shortfalls there are few racers that manage to marry up the joy of driving with the thrill of competing against friends and strangers as successfully as this, which makes popping a score on the end of this review one of DriveClub's toughest challenges yet. I stayed up until the early hours of the morning one night frantically trying to beat a challenge set by another games site. They won. I lost. But the desperate desire to win and the urge to silently brag about the victory made the race deeply exciting.
And it's intense rivalries like this that lie at the heart of DriveClub. It's a game whose appeal lives and dies in its online time trials and sensational visuals, and whose sense of one-upmanship and competition is leaps above the rest of the pack.
CVG: 8
In a way, the fact that DriveClub chooses to focus so squarely on pure racing is to its detriment. The social framework within which everything is packed lends itself to all kinds of potentially outlandish and interesting ways to compete, but it's only through best times and drift scores that you're meaningfully judged.
It makes for an enigma of a game. The handling is fun and accessible and the challenges give your actions greater meaning, but it's impossible not to think that it would benefit from taking itself a little less seriously.
For a game that is so modern in its approach, its forms of competition are staunchly tradition. How much you enjoy this combination comes down to your appetite for best lap times.
TheSixthAxis: 8
As you finish the Tour and start to take on more and more challenges, Driveclub starts to show its true colours. It may be difficult for some to adapt to in an age where racers sprawl across open worlds featuring hundreds of cars and tons of tracks, but this is a game with a very singular focus. The overarching goals soon start to peel away, and youre left with the purity of competing against the times and records of friends and rivals, the stunning scenery and the joy of driving cars absolutely on the limit.
ZTGD: 8
Driveclub has the looks and the style of a great racing game. It even plays like a great racing game. The challenges and club mechanics can offer up a ton of content, and the extensive tour mode will keep players busy well into the 20 hour mark. It really is a great game; it just feels a bit unfinished in the car selection and customization fields. Racing fans should really check it out. I just hope you like European cars.
Venture Beat: 80
The PlayStation platform has always hosted tremendous driving games, and Driveclub tries hard to live up to that legacy. The parts that are exceedingly well-polished (gorgeous cars, skill-based driving) make those that trip up (ugly A.I.) all the more disappointing. It sets a high bar for the inevitable competitors to follow, but like an inexperienced driver on a hot lap in a solo challenge, its sloppy in the turns.
Gamesradar: 4\5
In fact, despite the concessions to accessibility, the number of times I was reminded of real cars while playing Driveclub is remarkable. I was constantly reminded of car journeys at Christmas, or the smell of a plush interior as you climb in, thanks to the detail with which Evolution has recreated every last component of the driving experience. The scenery, the motion, the different audio filters depending on which view you're using all it needs is a packet of Werther's Originals to come with each copy and I think we're there. It's a strong racer. Just one with an identity crisis and a dependence on its net connection when it comes to delivering true fun.
Digital Spy: 4\5
Driveclub isn't necessarily the innovative or revolutionary game that we were expecting, but that doesn't make it a bad racer. Far from it.
It is a visually impressive game with a clean, straightforward progression system, interesting courses and enough user-friendly social features to keep clubs entertained for the foreseeable future.
IGN: 7.9
Driveclub is the best-looking racing game Ive ever seen on a console, but down deep its a more modest, conventional arcade racer than the sprawling, open-world types we commonly see today. While it successfully creates fast and fun races with a great sense of speed, the overly aggressive AI grates, the difficult drifting seems at odds with the accessible handling, and the single-player loses zest once the solo content runs dry. Im also surprised at how partisan the day-one car list is. That said, the tentacles of Driveclub can grip tight if you get invested in the games asynchronous challenges, and its very much geared around encouraging us to hop online and compete by making it so easy.
Gameinformer: 7.75
DriveClub works as advertised, and despite the seamlessness of its single-player and online features, the game's not wildly more captivating than most other racers out there. It captures the spur of competitive racing, but this is due more to the fact that its racing fundamentals (which are more sim than arcade) give it a good foundation rather than some groundbreaking feature set. Drive it fast and drive it hard, but don't expect a miracle.
Polygon: 7.5
DriveClub doesn't have any one element that makes it an incredible game or a huge leap forward for the racing genre, but it makes some smart choices underneath top-of-the-line presentation. And in embracing a social media-influenced setup to build enjoyable asynchronous multiplayer, it teaches a few important lessons other developers should learn from.
Destructoid: 7.5
Driveclub is fast and easy to get into, nice to look at, and it has a lot going on in the background to keep you connected and competitive with your club members and other individuals. But that doesn't change the issues in the foreground. Its approachable and enjoyable racing is marred by AI cars that love to unfairly bash and crash on the single-player side. And bugs with the interface and the networking kept me from fully enjoying the multiplayer side. Beyond all of this, it feels like Driveclub needs more race and event types. What it offers has kept me going for a couple of weeks, but how much longer will it continue to do so?
PlayStation LifeStyle: 7.5
Ultimately, DriveClub has been able to hold my attention for a lengthy period of time and will continue to do so as long as it is supported with new content and given that this PlayStation-exclusive is already lined up to come out with new cars, events and customization rewards, as well as free track updates, I should be good for some time to come. So racing fans who are not looking for a sim racer, but are wanting a robust driving game to compete with friends against, should give this one a spin.
Gameractor UK: 7
But despite great looks and control, and while Driveclub is well designed and filled to the brim with social features, it cannot avoid comparisons with the competition. A competition that offers both a much larger selection of cars and the option of customising them.
Fortunately that's not all that matters and the Clubs give Driveclub an energy and dynamic that the genre definitely needs, and its by far the strongest aspect of the game. Whereas Forza offers a better overall experience, Driveclub has a better online design that may well see us on its tracks for a lot longer.
Shacknews: 7
Evolutions philosophy of immersion and community as key aspects of car culture has realized with moderate success in DriveClub. The game completely immerses the player in each of the 50 vehicles thats available, the games tracks and the environment to a point where I was in awe the majority of the time by its aesthetics more than the driving experience itself. The community aspects, on the other hand, work well enough for their limited scope, but fail to fulfill the promise. This is probably is one of my favorite racing experiences yet, but it could certainly use some retooling for the second lap.
USgamer: 3.5\5
Basically, it's a smorgasbord of racing as much as anyone could possibly consume. It works well, and the constant dynamic insertion of challenges into whatever race you're in helps make everything exciting and stimulating. Despite the occasional wobby handling, some rough edges, and tracks that aren't as exciting as they should be, DriveClub is still fun to drive. It's just a shame that it lacks any kind of feeling of reward or progression.
Eurogamer: 6
The problem with DriveClub is that it's just competent. You'll drive some fast cars in some arresting environments. You might even have fun, in between getting clobbered with penalties. But there's no romance to it. No passion. What there is, however, is the lingering sense that the gaps were supposed to be filled by the much-touted social features - the fires were to be stoked by human rivalry. Sadly, beyond those bite-sized Face Off challenges, which are essentially side missions, there's nothing particularly engaging or new here.
What we're left with is a flimsy framework - a sort of clothes horse for content - rather than a truly great racing game. DriveClub is patently intended to attract a global, interconnected audience of fiercely competitive racers but, to quote the increasingly obscure 1989 Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams: if you build it, they will come. And, unfortunately, Evolution hasn't quite built it.
Joystiq: 3\5
Driveclub is a well-made, sometimes irritating juxtaposition of the old and new. The career mode is old-fashioned and its AI is hopelessly ignorant, but the graphics and competitive jabs online feel perfectly fit for 2014. Embracing your fellow human is key to overcoming Driveclub's faults, which ultimately make it a better staging ground for car-loving friends than an expression of automotive admiration itself.
Game Revolution: 3\5
Despite numerous reasons to support Driveclub purely on concept alone, it takes a turn for the worse when scrutinized under the spotlight. It's unfortunate luck that the game had to release just a few weeks after Forza Horizon 2 which does nearly everything Driveclub does that much better. It may be an unfair comparison considering that this is its inaugural entry, but Driveclub was delayed multiple times and the standard for the hybrid racing genre is high with Burnout, DiRT, and Need for Speed. There's plenty to admire here, though, if you take Driveclub at face value and don't take things too seriously.
Crave Online: 5.5
So who is Driveclub for? Thats a good question, and there probably isnt a good answer. Its clearly a game that was so distracted by trying to look good for its audience that it forgot to be personable and fun. It certainly isnt for car enthusiasts, and its too hard and non-adaptive to be recommendable for casuals.
Driveclub does deliver some of the most incredible detail in racing history (you can read about some of it here). In that sense, its the framework of a game that could be ground-breaking. That game would need a lot of work before it would become anything more than unharnessed potential, though.
Gamespot: 5
In fact, it's hard to find any true celebration here. Driveclub is ordinary menus and ordinary races, standard time trials, and a few drift events. Driveclub is bland social competition. Driveclub is the fear of risks and the embrace of the ordinary. It's basic racing in basic packaging, beautiful and inert and full of attractive cars. It is not, however, an argument for a new generation of driving, given how it fails to exceed the standards of the old one.
Metro: 5
In Short: A game that should probably have been cancelled rather than delayed, with its complete absence of personality or new ideas.
Pros: The graphics are excellent and the driving model is a good balance between accessibility and realism. Plenty of cars, all of which look great.
Cons: Utterly soulless on every level, with a bland single-player experience and online options that seem oblivious to the fact that Autolog already exists
Hardcore Gamer: 2.5\5
Driveclub makes a strong case against the popular argument that delays make for better video games. While the Club system is vaguely interesting on the surface, no amount of social connectivity can mask the anger-inducing gameplay problems that frequently arise. Though nothing in Driveclub is inherently broken, its forced combination of clean racing and horrible AI have the potential to frustrate players more than any minor glitch could. Add this to the lack of any meaningful customization options and missing weather system, and you have the makings of a disappointment. If youre considering buying Driveclub without giving the free PlayStation Plus Version a try, youre likely making a big mistake.
Giant Bomb: 2\5
And, ultimately, that's the real problem with Driveclub. It's a shame that there aren't more options to choose from and the challenge system has potential. But it just isn't much fun to play. The core act of driving a car feels off in a way that completely put me off of playing the game. Without that in place, the rest of it just falls apart. The PlayStation 4 has been without a serious racing option since launch, and Driveclub doesn't fill that gap.
