Driveclub

Driveclub was one of the first big racing titles for PlayStation 4 and was made by British studio Evolution Studios, previously known for the MotorStorm series. The game sits on the border between arcade and simulation; the cars feel notably heavy, braking points must be respected, and the handling model rewards a clean racing line, yet it never plays like a driving-school program or overwhelms the player with suspension settings. The car roster is made up mostly of road-going sports and supercar models, and the tracks run through real landscapes of Scotland, Norway, Chile, India and other countries.

The backbone of the game is the clubs, groups of players who accumulate experience together and complete club objectives. During every race, the game continuously issues small challenges, such as taking a corner faster than someone else or holding a longer continuous drift, and the points from these add up to overall progress. The challenge system, which lets you send challenges to specific players, was one of the most interesting ideas of its time and kept an ongoing indirect competition running among players. The game immediately penalizes dirty moves and track-cutting with a time penalty, so an aggressive style doesn't pay off.

The game's launch was very troubled, since the online services didn't work for weeks and part of the planned content was delayed. That's exactly what marred its reviews at the time. But once things settled down and a weather system with dynamic rain and snow was added, Driveclub proved to be a technically stunning piece of work, especially in terms of lighting, reflections on the bodywork, and the cockpit view. The music and engine sounds underline the sense of speed. Today the game is remembered as an underappreciated title that got ahead of its time visually, and driving in the rain at dusk remains one of the most impressive things PlayStation 4 offered in the genre. Studio Evolution Studios was later shut down, so no sequel ever followed, leaving the game as its final major work. For players looking for racing somewhere between arcade and simulation, it's still a very good choice.