REVIEW: Drive!Drive!Drive!


Title	Drive!Drive!Drive!
Developer	Different Cloth
Publisher	Choice Provisions
Release Date	Dec 13, 2016
Genre	Arcade Racing
Platform	PC, PS4
Age Rating	E for Everyone
Official Website

Drive!Drive!Drive! is a unique racing game where you control up to three cars at the same time and try to accumulate as many points as you possibly can. As with any arcade mode, that’s about the only objective besides actually finishing the race. That all makes the game sound like just a normal arcade racing game, right? Well you would be sorely mistaken.

In Drive!Drive!Drive! you don’t just control one car, you control multiple at the same time. As with any racing game, you’re given a bunch of different cars to choose from, but sadly you can only choose one of them. I wish that you could’ve been able to choose more than one of the cars, but that’s just a small complaint. While you control one car, the AI takes over the other ones that you aren’t currently controlling. Now would normally be the time to talk about the AI, but it’s purposefully stupid. The computer controlled cars use the Intelligent Stupidity™ engine to point out the flaws in the driving. This is a fantastic concept that actually helps you get better at the game once you start to notice it.

That would be cool enough, but those aren’t the only two mechanics that are in this game. Many of the tracks are set across multiple different galaxies, all with varying levels of gravity. What this means is that what may just be a simple bump in one level, can send you flying across the map in another. The setting of being in space works really well for the game, because it means that so many different possibilities are available. It’s just a shame that there aren’t really that many which are explored. This, however, does not take away from the mechanics that the game does explore. All of this games mechanics shine through brilliantly, even if the AI can be frustrating at times.

There are many modes in the game that you can play. Other than normal races, you can also play the campaign. The campaign could’ve thrown in a half-hearted story, but they chose not to. Instead what the campaign does is slowly introduce game mechanics to you, and lets you learn at a leisurely pace. For a game like this, I actually prefer this style of campaign.

Apart from racing in many different ways, you can also create your own tracks. I’m not the most creative person, but the creation suite is really nice and in depth. You have complete control over the creation of the track itself, as well as the setting that you use. You can place every variation of track in any position you want, you can even rotate it so that it looks exactly like you want it. For someone like me who isn’t creative enough to make one of my own, there’s always the community creations. Some of these people have really cool designs and they are really fun to play. They look like they actually belong in-game, and when a creation suite is that in-depth I have no choice but to applaud the creators of the game.

Seeing as how it came from Zombi, of course this soundtrack is phenomenal. It really puts you in the mindset of putting money into an old arcade machine and racing against a few friends. It feels like a blast from the past, and even now I can’t stop listening to it. The pop/synth feel of it is really catchy, and fits the art style really well.

Speaking of the art style, upon first glance the game may seem lacking, but on closer inspection you see just what this game was trying to do. The game is set in a sort of trippy/futuristic space. Everything from the setting to the font is really pleasing to the eye.

Overall this game isn’t perfect, but it’s really fun and addictive. I’ve played this game for more than 10 hours and I’m still having just as much fun as when I started. With the community creations, this game has near infinite replayability. For the $20 price point I would say that this game is well worth it for fans of Arcade Racing games. It’s the perfect mix of track management, and pure racing fun. It’s a lovely game that really sucks you in and throws your nostalgia switch into overdrive, no pun intended.