E3 2013: ‘Drive Club’ Versus ‘Forza Motorsport 5’ – Fight!

With two new platforms come two realistic racers to elevate the artform and show what countless polygons and infinite textures can produce, but much like the platforms that sustain them, Forza Motorsport 5 and Drive Club do quite a bit to distinguish themselves beyond their obvious passion for cars. With my hands on both this past week for an entire lap, I decided to break down the comparison between the two from the small sample Sony and Microsoft decided to give me. With that, let’s investigate!

Controller

Kelly’s written about how the PlayStation 4 controller fares to the Xbox One’s, but it seems like a dead even comparison here. The Dual Shock 4 is an amazing controller partially on its own merits, but also partially on how improved it is over the Dual Shock 3. Both sets of sticks actually feel almost identical now with a dimpled core to rest the ball of your thumb in, but Microsoft’s features an interesting, almost harsh texture beyond it for grip. It’s a little weird, actually. Whether you dig the Xbox One’s sloping glossy triggers or the Dual Shock 4’s big mushy platypus bill triggers, neither have a lot of throw, but the One’s has a distinct advantage: in-trigger vibration. It’s weird to describe, actually- it’s like having a dentist’s drill being applied against the inside of your index finger when using breaks or impacts. It’s nothing phenomenal, but it is an extra haptic layer that the Dual Shock 4 doesn’t have.

Winner: TIE

Next, the graphics…