Driveclub PS Plus Edition First Impressions – How Good Is This “Free” PS4 Racing Game?

Hey guys, Alex here to give you my quick impressions on the Driveclub PS Plus Edition racing game for the Playstation 4. The game launched late last year with a lot of problems, and even after those were addressed, the game wasn’t particularly great, getting averagely mixed reviews. At the same time, there was a promised PS Plus free version, but it was delayed until late June 2015. So now, around 9 months later, we’re finally taking a look!

The PS Plus edition is an interesting “free” game. After playing a few hours into the single player, half of the cars I unlocked weren’t available to free users – plus a lot of the tracks are locked out. However, you can play all of the modes and even get trophies, which is nice. Longer progression into the single player career mode is also limited to just the first starting championship for free users.

I’m not sure what was added or changed since the original Driveclub launch, but what’s currently on offer for PS plus members is a decent, if very difficult racing game. There doesn’t seem to be any difficulty settings, and most of the races involve very fast cars and very slippery roads. I do like the amazing graphics, weather simulation, (that changes visibility & road conditions including puddles forming and growing) and traction – as you will fight for every bit of tire grip in this game.

However, the same complaints from before seem to arise – bumpy car gameplay with very punishing AI. Also visibility is an issue with all driving views getting dirt or water drops on your screen with only the cockpit view giving you a way to wiper them off. Admittedly, its really cool when the drops of water slide around when you make turns.

Overall I think Driveclub PS plus edition is a nice free game to dip into when you feel like showing it to friends or just messing around, but I’m not compelled to put any heavy amount of time into it – or buy the full version – since I don’t feel much progress without car upgrades or not being able to buy cars and trick it out like regular simulation racers do. If you’re a PS Plus subscriber, you might want to give it a try, but you won’t be missing much if you skip out on the huge 20+GB download.