DriveClub's unceremonious delay may have been a huge blow to prospective PS4 owners, but we're confident that the extra development time will be worth the wait. After all, it would be a travesty for a title with such promise to be rushed for release to coincide with the PS4's in an unoptimised state that falls short of its potential.
Indeed, when I played the alpha build it was evident that there was still a lot of work required if it was to ever make its planned November release. It handled well, but the visuals lacked some of the promised next generation polish, and the frame rate often falled short of 30fps, let alone 60fps.
Almost as if to prove that delaying DriveClub was the right decision, Evolution has released an all-too-brief gameplay clip showcasing the current build of DriveClub in action captured directly from PS4 using its share facility. Set on a mountainous Norway track, it's safe to say that the difference is night and day, showing significant development progress since the Alpha build. In a word, it looks stunning.
//www.youtube.com/embed/OnPyHfCYWwQ
First and foremost, this is the first time we've ever seen a gameplay glimpse of DriveClub featuring multiple cars on-screen, with previous videos treating us to time trials and ghost cars. We also get a glimpse of the improved damaged modelling, as a rival racer sideswipes the player's car, shattering the side window in the interior view. Motion blur and shadows have also been improved, but Evolution have hinted that they will soon be upgrading the lighting and atmospheric optics, which will bring improved sun, clouds and ambient lighting inside the car.
Once this has been applied, Evolution stated that they will release a video of a full race running on the latest build, which we will of course share on the TeamVVV website as soon as we have it.