Driveclub
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Project Cars
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We took a look at a couple of racing games at EGX, mainly to do a specific comparison. There were quite a few games of this ilk at the show, including The Crew, and Forza Horizon 2, but we wanted to compare track racers, rather than the open world elements of the others. We played Driveclub on the PS4 and Project Cars on the Xbox One.
Project Cars has more in common with Gran Turismo, and is definitely from the more discerning simulation racer. It's hard to comment on the car tuning capabilities, as the short demo only allowed us a 5 lap race of Silverstone, so we can merely give you a feel for the driving. Visually, the lighting was the most realistic we've ever seen in a game. The race tracks and environments were approaching photorealistic and were pretty stunning. This did mean some pretty mean sun bloom effects, especially at sunset, where a veil of orange sunlight dropped over the track obscuring everything in front of you.
As for the cars, they were very shiny, but to be honest, it's the feel and handling that will really determine the success of a game. As a more realistic racer the driving was the more challenging of the two games. The cars seemed to lack a certain oomph in acceleration, but on the other hand were very hard to control in the tight corners. The driver AI was pretty impressive, especially in terms of other cars shunting you, but the accident rate of other cars was higher too. This was impacted by the fact that minor bumps on the track, whether it was the ridge of the track or debris caused cars to flip violently and get in your way. We were also concerned about the final lap. Despite a terrible performance by the Backwards Compatible drivers we finished in the top 4 and we suspect there was a certain amount of rubber-banding going on in the demo to please the crowd. It remains to be seen if this appears in the final game.
Project Cars has more in common with Gran Turismo, and is definitely from the more discerning simulation racer. It's hard to comment on the car tuning capabilities, as the short demo only allowed us a 5 lap race of Silverstone, so we can merely give you a feel for the driving. Visually, the lighting was the most realistic we've ever seen in a game. The race tracks and environments were approaching photorealistic and were pretty stunning. This did mean some pretty mean sun bloom effects, especially at sunset, where a veil of orange sunlight dropped over the track obscuring everything in front of you.
As for the cars, they were very shiny, but to be honest, it's the feel and handling that will really determine the success of a game. As a more realistic racer the driving was the more challenging of the two games. The cars seemed to lack a certain oomph in acceleration, but on the other hand were very hard to control in the tight corners. The driver AI was pretty impressive, especially in terms of other cars shunting you, but the accident rate of other cars was higher too. This was impacted by the fact that minor bumps on the track, whether it was the ridge of the track or debris caused cars to flip violently and get in your way. We were also concerned about the final lap. Despite a terrible performance by the Backwards Compatible drivers we finished in the top 4 and we suspect there was a certain amount of rubber-banding going on in the demo to please the crowd. It remains to be seen if this appears in the final game.
So onto Driveclub. This was a much more arcadey affair, with more vibrant colours, particle effects and twirly smokey stuff flying across the road. It's almost as if the developers had a meeting and decided, 'Lets use ALL the graphics'. Noticeable too was the slightly dirtier aliasing of the vehicles and a slightly jarring frame rate at 30 FPS. The fact that we noticed this means it's visibly discernable. Nevertheless, it's much more fun to play, if you prefer to not worry about adjustable suspension and power-to-weight ratios.
The demo was the same Nilgiri Hills route from the Beta, although a snowy Norwegian mountain circuit was also playable. Lighting was less realistic, however the landscape around the track was much more interesting and pretty to look at. This bodes well for the other locations when we get to see them. It will be interesting if any of the environments have a real impact on gameplay. The Norwegian route had patches of Ice on the track which affected handling, so we look forward to rally routes or alpine races.
Scoring was not just based on position, but also overtakes and beating drifts and high speeds in certain sections of the routes of other players online. Knocking into drivers and the sides of the track deducted you points too. Handling was much more forgiving, with a drift mechanic that felt very similar to the NFS franchise. The whole experience seemed much faster paced, exciting, and accessible.
The demo was the same Nilgiri Hills route from the Beta, although a snowy Norwegian mountain circuit was also playable. Lighting was less realistic, however the landscape around the track was much more interesting and pretty to look at. This bodes well for the other locations when we get to see them. It will be interesting if any of the environments have a real impact on gameplay. The Norwegian route had patches of Ice on the track which affected handling, so we look forward to rally routes or alpine races.
Scoring was not just based on position, but also overtakes and beating drifts and high speeds in certain sections of the routes of other players online. Knocking into drivers and the sides of the track deducted you points too. Handling was much more forgiving, with a drift mechanic that felt very similar to the NFS franchise. The whole experience seemed much faster paced, exciting, and accessible.
Overall, two quite different games. Whether ultra-real simulator racing is your bag, or if you prefer to jump in and slide round Northern India, there's something for everyone here. It's good to see an element of diversity in a fairly oversaturated market. The question is, will any of these steal the Need For Speed bottle of bubbly?
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