DriveClub

DriveClub is gunning full throttle for its new October 7 release date, and our recent time with the title has revealed some new details.

First of all, the game looks great. It's fast and the couple of cars I drove felt good – somewhere in between being casual and being sim. The lighting effects make the world pop out, and you can even change the time elapse of day into night. On the track, the A.I. cars exhibited some different lines. I didn't win the two races I participated in, which I take as a good sign!

Regardless, we came away with a bunch of new details about the game.

CHALLENGES

• You can create and send challenges from races you've already raced in the past.
• Face-offs are areas of tracks that dynamically generate challenges specific to that part of the track. These are color coded and can be used to generate challenges to other players. Blue is for best line, orange is drifting, and yellow is average speed. On average there should be three of these per track, and they can be turned off.
• Any challenge you've been sent can then be sent on to others.

CLUBS

• There is no gifting of cars within a club (although clubs members will all win cars together as the club levels up) or inter/intra-club wagering system.
• Clubs are comprised of six members, but Paul Rustchynsky, game director at developer Evolution Studios (click for more from Rustchynsky about the game), says this is flexible. "We've done huge amount inside the office, user-testing, etc., and we've kind of found that six is the sweet spot. It's a nice balance between the amount of fame players earn, how quickly people level up... But we're definitely open to increasing that if it's something we see that people want." You can also create a club consisting of only yourself.
• Whomever started the club is its commissioner. The commish has the right to kick out anybody in the club. Should the commissioner remain inactive for a period of time, then commissioner duties would be transferred to the next longest-tenured member.
• If the club is disbanded or you leave, all your club rewards are lost.

Assists – There are no assists you can turn on/off in the game. Instead, each of the 50 cars is tuned to feel different from each other. 

Car Customization – There are options to customize your car, including creating a club livery and insignia.

Tracks – The game's 55 tracks are populated across five countries: Chile, Canada, Scotland, India, and Norway. These include point-to-point races, hill climbs, traditional race tracks, road circuits, 24-hour races, and more.

Damage – The damage in the game is only visual, but in multiplayer matches your throttle will be temporarily restricted if you drive too aggressively.

Session Manager – DriveClub uses an always active party system that keeps your party intact across the game modes and which lets you pre-register for online sessions. Thus, if an online session you want to join is currently mid-race, you can pre-register with your party, go play another area of the game, and you'll get a notification when the session is ready.

Microtransactions – The game doesn't feature an in-game economy, but you can spend real money for cars in the game.

My DriveClub App (iOS/Android) – Here you can see your stats, challenges received, manage your club, and see your friends' streams if they are broadcasting.