Disclaimer: I'm reviewing this game from the perspective of a single-player gamer. So please keep that in mind. I'm also reviewing this from the perspective of someone who has an extensive experience with racing games, from PC sims to Classic arcade. Keep that in mind as well.
With most racing game developers focusing their attention on making hardcore sim games, it was great to see a developer aiming for something more moderate. Driveclub is a game I would place alongside series such as Project Gotham Racing, Grid, Forza Horizon, Test Drive Unlimited, and Shift. They are what racing gamers would call 'arcade-sim hyrbids' or 'sim-cades'. Thus I think Driveclub has a clear identity of what it wants to be, and where its inspiration comes from. At least when it comes to the driving.
The standout feature of Driveclub are the locations, or tracks. I wish more developers would design their own fantasy tracks instead of having the same real-life tracks as every other racing game being released these days. Thankfully we are starting to see more of that again, with games like Ride 2, Gravel, and Onrush. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate super-detailed scans of Monza as much as every other motorsport enthusiast, but when I start seeing it in every game I come across I start to yearn for something more original and creative. Driveclub therefore, offers a much-needed break from your typical tracks.
The tracks in Driveclub are rich in colour and immersion. From Norway and Chile, to Japan and India. You are exposed to every season and climate nature throws at you: snow, rain, storm, sun, and so on. The tracks are quite lengthy and well-designed, I especially like how the game uses elevation in different ways. As mentioned, the game seemingly takes full advantage of the PS4's hardware; there's a wonderful depth of color and detail in the environments. Visually the game feels highly luxurious. It's certainly one of the best-looking racing games around today, not just in terms of photorealism but also in terms of style and design.
The other standout feature is the sheer immersion of the game. The visual detail of the environments, weather effects, and the interior of the car contribute the most to this, but the sound design and the behaviour of the AI also add a great deal to this experience. The AI are not as aggressive as in the Shift games, but are aggressive enough to feel realistic, to what you see in motorsports on TV. I would compare it to Project Gotham Racing 5 or Grid Autosport. The sound design is fantastic, whether it's 100% accurate or not is a different matter, as most developers will "beef up" the engine-sounds in order to make the cars sound "cooler". Heck, car manufacturers do that in real-life too. In any case, the sound is great, and is comparable to Forza in my opinion.
The driving physics is on the same level as Forza Horizon and Grid Autosport. It does not feel as realistic as in PC games like rFactor 2, Automobilista and RaceRoomRacingExperience. However Driveclub was never intended to be like these latter games, it was not inteneded to be a hardcore sim. Instead it was aiming at that mid-level category, where you find games like Forza Horizon, F1, and Grid Autosport, not to mention classics like Project Gotham 5, Test Drive Unlimited 2 and Shift. Every car feels different to handle, and a rear-wheel drive feels markedly different from a front-wheel drive, and so on. The game has assists that are on by default, which I recommend leaving 'on' if you are using a controller and not a wheel. Related to this, if you find an event too difficult you can very easily lower the difficulty of the game.
As a single-player gamer I was highly pleased with the amount of content available to me, especially since they added a large amount of free content after abandoning the project. You have a substantial and lengthy Campaign mode, that's similar in structure to that in Forza and Gran Turismo, where you have a large selection of "event boxes" to choose from. You also have a Time Trial mode, where I also spent a great deal of time. The special thing is that you always earn points for something, regardless of what mode you are in. There are other modes too of-course, but these are the ones that interested me as a single-player gamer.
Another feature I especially liked was how the game handled the braking assist: instead of having ugly lines on the ground the game uses colour-coded flags alongside the road to show you how severe the next curve is. This is a feature that has probably inspired Gran Turismo Sports' use of cones for the same purpose, instead of flags.
Any complaints? well, the developers/publishers handled the DLC/expansion releases in a rather bad way. Similar to Forza 5-6, it was DLC and DLC after DLC. They oversaturated the game with these, in my opinion. This is not much of an issue anymore, with frequent sales and a discounted core game. Keep in mind that the current Season Pass does not include content that was released after the Season Pass. So be aware of this.
The 'Club' part of the game was a wasted effort unfortunately. Multiplayer racing games are still in the experimental phase, even today in 2018. The exception being iRacing, but that game focuses on one thing only and does that exceptionally well. The 'Club' aspect of Driveclub required more commitment and effort than people wanted to contribute with, as most console gamers want a casual jump-in/jump-out online experience, not unlike Call of Duty or Battlefield. At the time of release the game felt somewhat confusing; 'was it a single-player game or a multiplayer game?'.The 'Club' aspect was overambitious and too complex for the market. Had Evolution Studios focused solely on the single-player aspect, I'm convinced the game would have been more successful with the media and the mainstream. The story of Driveclub strengthens my opinion that games should either be 80% single-player, or 100% multiplayer. Thankfully, Driveclub had enough single-player content to make it robust, so this part of the game is still very good.
In summary, while the 'Club' aspect is best left forgotten, the core of Driveclub is great for what it is: a highly immersive 'sim-cade' with a fantastic set of loactions. For a single-player gamer it offers a high amount of content. I consider this is one of the best racing games available on the PS4, if not 'the' best. It is also one of the most unique racing games around, regardless of gaming platform, as I haven't heard of another racing game that will place you in colourful India or snowy Norway. If you are a fan of immersive racing games this is worth picking up at some point.