YMMV / Driveclub

• Awesome Music: Driveclub is possibly the only other PlayStation exclusive to match WipEout in terms of awesome music, with a full soundtrack entirely composed by Welsh electronic trio Hybrid. Five original songs and boatloads of remixes by high-profile artists like Noisia, Machinedrum, Clark, Fred V & Grafix, DJ Shadow and Photek make the music truly worthwhile despite being turned off by default in the game. The full soundtrack is available here, and is also available for purchase on iTunes. "How fast do you wanna go?", indeed.
• Best Level Ever: While all of the six venues have their fair share of fans, the most well-liked one is probably Japan, more specifically Nakasendo - which is at places like something straight out of Initial D, Lake Shoji - an incredibly fast and Scenery Porn-happy lakeside racetrack, and Takahagi Hills - the longest closed circuit in the game.^note To compare, one lap in that track takes as much as Rainbow Road in Mario Kart 64.
• Broken Base:
  • The Driveclub fandom can be split into two. One is the appreciation of the inclusion of Western cars (American and European cars, generally), and the other side is the serious lack of Japanese cars. Those who want more American cars (especially the classic ones) or Japanese cars will hope for the inclusion of them. However, since the game centers around high-powered cars and Japanese cars have relatively weak power, it was justified on the half that the Japanese cars were less likely to be included in the roster. This was later mitigated when the Nissan GT-R (R35) and 370Z were made available as a DLC, followed by the Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) and the latest generation of Honda Civic Type-R, although some players still demand more.
  • The lack of tuning options, which is largely associated with Japanese cars, was also an epitome of this.
  • Bikes also have fandom split into two. Some players like the idea of including the bikes while others say it's a nuisance. This sparked when the Suzuki pack was released with bikes instead of Pikes Peak racing cars (like Nobuhiro Tajima's Escudo and SX4).
• Character Tiers: Classified from slowest to fastest, with some examples:
  • Hot Hatches: Volkswagen Golf GTI, MINI Cooper S, Renault Sport Clio RS, Audi A1 quattro.
  • Sports: Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG, Lotus Evora, Renault DeZir, Nissan 370Z.
  • Performance: BMW M5, Mercedes-AMG GT, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7.
  • Super: Audi R8, BAC Mono, Ferrari 458 Speciale, Savage Rivale GTR-S, Lamborghini Huracán.
  • Hyper: Koenigsegg Agera R, Pagani Huayra, McLaren P1, Hennessey Venom GT, W Motors Lykan Hypersport.
  • Superbike: Kawasaki Ninja H2, Ducati Desmosedici RR, Yamaha YZF-R1, BMW S1000RR, KTM RC8 R.
• Complacent Gaming Syndrome: The weather is used a lot just for the Visual Effects of Awesome.
• Critical Dissonance: While it has a 71 on Metacritic, it has gained a respectable and devoted fanbase that loves the accurate gameplay, the retro influences, the gorgeous graphics, the competitive value, and excellent post-launch developer support. It further helps the fact that this game is Evolution's swansong.
• Fandom Rivalry:
  • For a while, it was unwise to mention Driveclub and Forza Horizon 2 in the same sentence in any gaming forum if you didn't want a bloodbath. However, since Driveclub lost relevance and the Forza Horizon series has since gone on to become one of the most beloved and critically-acclaimed racing game series of all time, this has become one-sided.
  • Also with a few Need for Speed games, except There Are NO Police. This rivalry however is much more toned down than the Driveclub vs. Horizon 2 one. (Granted, NFS did not have a new game release in 2014.)
• Fan Nickname: The Bikes Expansion Pack has already been affectionately called Rideclub by some fans.
• Friendly Fandoms: With Gran Turismo, unsurprisingly.
• Game-Breaker: By class:
  • Hot Hatch: The Mini Cooper S, Volkswagen Golf GTI, Renault Mégane RS 275 Trophy, and Honda Civic Type-R.
  • Sport: The Audi RS5 and Lotus Evora.
  • Performance: The Nissan MY15 GT-R, RUF RGT-8, and Mercedes-AMG GT S.
  • Super: The BAC Mono, Caterham SP/300.R, Mazzanti Evantra, Ferrari 488 GTB, Nissan GT-R NISMO, and Renault R.S. 01.
  • Superbikes: The BMW S1000RR, Bimota BB3, and Kawasaki Ninja H2.
  • Hyper class, being the fastest and most difficult class, deserves extra mention:
    • From the Downforce pack, the Koenigsegg One:1 is regarded by many to be bar none the most broken vehicle in the entire game. It is so fast not even the longest stretch of straight road in the game lets it reach its top speed, and also has a very low learning curve thanks to its monstrous handling and its apocalyptic braking (that is further helped by active aero).
    • The Horsepower pack brings in the Ferrari FXX K and the McLaren P1 GTR, the track-bred variants of the LaFerrari and the P1 (which are both quite broken cars on their own). Both of these are regarded as the only two vehicles available to actually give the One:1 a run for its money. Yes, they're both as fast as you might think, and although they're both slower than the One:1, they both have ungodly handling, making them almost unbeatable in the harder/tighter racetracks. The P1 GTR also has KERS and DRS, giving a small yet noticeable advantage for those who know what to make of them.
    • Finally, the Finish Line pack brings in the Koenigsegg Regera, which can be best summed up as a One:1 with less drifty handling and even more explosive acceleration. In the more open tracks such as Sognefjord Raceway, Oliver's Landing, and Lake Shoji, it'll be a common sight to see Regeras at the top of the leaderboards.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The latest car DLC is called Finish Line, and was released the same day Evolution Studios was shut down. Let that sink in for a while.
• Obvious Beta: The base game. While it was functional, it was missing features such as Photo mode, weather (although Evo stated it would be released as a patch) and Replay mode. These got into the game as free updates.
• Spiritual Adaptation:
  • Some would say this game is essentially the closest we'll ever get to a (next-gen) Ridge Racer with licensed vehicles or a PGR5. Or perhaps Battle Gear 5.
  • More specifically, Driveclub, being a PlayStation 4 game, is a Spiritual Successor to the PlayStation 2 port of Battle Gear 3.
  • Take any Ferrari in this game and you will get a OutRun homage.
  • The Bikes expansion has been positively compared by many to the bike-based Gran Turismo spinoff Tourist Trophy - which is a Cult Classic not different from Driveclub, as well as the Moto Racer and the Hang-On series.
• So Okay, It's Average: The game's ultimate legacy; while its graphics and sound design were incredible and it was certainly a competently made racing game, it ultimately had nothing to stand out from the competition. Issues with the online features, AI, and a lack of gameplay variety, along with delays of the PlayStation Plus Edition's short-lived release, didn't help. Despite the healthy post-release support it got, it ultimately lost attention to the Xbox brand's Forza series, in particular the Forza Horizon series, which firmly established what a multiplayer-focused racing game with licensed vehicles should be.
• Tear Jerker: The Finish Line tour has extremely heart-kneading imagery, especially considering it was Evolution Studios's last hurrah before their shutdown.
• That One Level: Venom Hot Lap. Combining a tight time to beat and a tail-happy hypercar with an insane acceleration makes it probably the hardest event to 3-star in the original tour. The only thing that makes things even slightly easier for you is that the Venom is Difficult, but Awesome (see the entry in the main page).
  • The sequel on the Elements tour pack counts too. However, now it's raining, and it's dark!
  • In the original tour, there is also "Punching Above Your Weight", which is pretty much the tour's Difficulty Spike. You have to race 4 laps of the small and technical Salar de Surire (in Chile), while driving the Bentley Continental GT Speed. Oh, and the other racers have cars that are much more agile than yours. Yeah... No.
  • Midnight presents you Dusk 'til Dawn: before it, the most laps you could find on an event were 5, and on relatively short tracks. This one has 13, each one with a face-off imposed by Evolution, and you have to beat at least 9 of them. As the name of the tour suggests, it's going to be quite dark (and rainy), and you can only drive the RUF CTR3, a "low-tier" Hyper, against other (and better) Hypers. Have fun!
  • The Unite In Speed Trophy, the championship that ends the already very difficult eponymous tour, pits you with a Ferrari 458 Italia against much superior Ferraris, more egregiously the FXX K. That is all.
  • Rule of thumb: you can typically bet if a Drift or a Time Trial event is That One Level if the world record surpasses the 3-star time/score only by a few seconds/some thousand points.
  • As a whole, night plus heavy weather. Good luck if you can see anything beyond 25 meters! Sure, the lightning strikes may give you a hand, but it doesn't make this task any easier.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: This game could rival the Gran Turismo series for the title of prettiest PlayStation-exclusive racing game, especially when the weather effects come on.

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