Driveclub has an amazingly dynamic weather system that almost has no right being in a video game. The bright blue sky slowly darkens as clouds form in the sky. The lighting changes drastically as the sunlight refracts through the clouds, and then a gentle rain starts. Before too long the clouds have darkened and rain is pouring down upon the racers. Puddles start forming on the sides of the roads, the road get appropriately wet and reflects everything exactly how it should be reflected while wheels kick up spray in a realistic manner.
With another quick change in the debug menu we see the environment change to night. You know when you’re driving in a dark area with your headlights on full, and the rain (lit by your lights) are streaking towards your windscreen in something akin to hitting light speed aboard the Millennium Falcon? It has that, and it looks fantastic. With a quick switch to the behind the car view we see nothing but the rear lights of the car and the rain being lit by the headlights. It’s not until a car catches up and goes to pass that we see the shape and colour of the vehicle being driven.
The weather and lighting system they have is just ridiculous. Wind varies in strength, and when it does clouds and the ocean are affected, if clouds are affected so is the light passing around and through them, the sun is positioned correctly for wherever in the world the course you’re racing is in, and snow and rain can be gentle or a true challenge. It’s VERY hard to criticise the graphics of Driveclub when you see what it can do, and they seem to be aware of anything that needs to be changed.