Gravel: New Off-Road Racer Coming to PS4, XB1 & PC Early 2018
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It is up in the US. Sometimes demos are hard to find in the store.
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1981-CUSA11406_00-GRAVELDEMO000000
MagpieRacer
Premium
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- Seagull_Racer
Completed the game this afternoon. 180/180 stars with wins in all events and all cars and tracks unlocked. 27/30 achievements. Fun game but a bit easy and a bit short. Not really a lot there to keep coming back to.
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- PrecisionXCIV
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I played the demo on the Xbox one and thought it was quite good and will probably get it. My only complaint is that there are too many tarmac/rally cross tracks which you can get on other games. Also stadium racing - going round in circles - isn't very interesting. So, two of the four disciplines aren't really off-road.
Silver Arrows
(Banned)
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- Brandon, MB
- Silver-Arrows21
Decided to buy this game and give it a fair shake after I've given Milestone a lot of guff over how they have made their games, specifically SLRE and the Ride games. Unfortunately, with Gravel, I'm starting to see the same problems that I noticed in all three of those games, and it's getting quite obvious to me that they are baked into Milestone's development, seemingly.
In terms of good things, Gravel definitely has a good car list. Really nice mix of RX, Raid, Trophy trucks, and rally cars, modern and old. Also really helps that Gravel probably has the best list of off-road Porsches out the box since Shox all those years ago - that's like what, close to two decades old by now? Also like the variety of environments, and by extension, weather conditions. Though the raid courses do feel a bit too...wide, for my tastes. Would have preferred something close to DiRT 2 levels of wide, with a few more forks in the road for you to choose.
There's a lot of things that I'm not too pleased with either. The handling physics for one, feel way too loose and springy for my tastes. The cars don't seem to have any sort of heaviness, they just feel like little Matchbox cars ripping about. Something about it doesn't feel right. What definitely isn't right, and it actually getting quite tiring with regards to Milestone games, is how ugly the game looks. I'm not a stickler for graphics, but a lot of Milestone games have been at best mediocre in the looks department, with SLRE being quite ugly. Now, again, I'm not looking for 4K graphics, but Milestone hasn't really proven that they can make anything that looks anything more then an upscaled PS3 game over the four or five games they've made this generation. Even with the jump to UE4, it feels like they are putting a minimum amount of effort into making the graphics somewhat passable. I've enjoyed games that straight up don't look good, like Mafia III, or were average in terms of graphics because of circumstance, like Persona 5. But...Gravel just continues the trend of Milestone games looking like ass - and moving to a new engine seems to not have helped. But what really is a killer for me is the fact that the framerate, at least on a bone stock Xbox One, feels quite unstable. I'm also not a stickler for 60 FPS in racing games - though it certainly helps - but unlike Driveclub, which is the only racing game from the past few years or so that keeps at a 30 FPS pace, in Gravel it feels incredibly unstable. There was a spot in one of the early Stadium races, at LA Memorial Colosseum, where the game would quite consistently dip into the low teens for framerate. Also had a point in a Raid race where the game locked up seemingly, having froze all the action, then shot me forward after having broken from the freezing. In a fast paced racing game like Gravel, unstable framerate is a killer.
There's also little things that have already been brought up earlier in the thread - extremely poor and anemic sound, especially from the engines, the hilariously confusing and very English announcer, and, at least getting a kick from me, the Hummer H3 Raid truck being called that 'Chevrolet Hummer H3 Custom' in game. Which is...you're close, Milestone, but you're also so, so far.
I want to like this game, like how I want to like a lot of Milestone's other racing games, because they fill niches that have been ignored by other developers for years. At the same time, it is problems that crop up in every other Milestone game - stuff like poor audio, graphics being not up to snuff compared to other comparable racing games, and the general feeling of being a budget release. I mean - it's certainly priced right in Canada like a lot of other Milestone games, but I still feel so cold to Gravel, which is sad because again, I want to like the game. But it's got a lot of problems, some of them tracing themselves back to other Milestone games.
In terms of good things, Gravel definitely has a good car list. Really nice mix of RX, Raid, Trophy trucks, and rally cars, modern and old. Also really helps that Gravel probably has the best list of off-road Porsches out the box since Shox all those years ago - that's like what, close to two decades old by now? Also like the variety of environments, and by extension, weather conditions. Though the raid courses do feel a bit too...wide, for my tastes. Would have preferred something close to DiRT 2 levels of wide, with a few more forks in the road for you to choose.
There's a lot of things that I'm not too pleased with either. The handling physics for one, feel way too loose and springy for my tastes. The cars don't seem to have any sort of heaviness, they just feel like little Matchbox cars ripping about. Something about it doesn't feel right. What definitely isn't right, and it actually getting quite tiring with regards to Milestone games, is how ugly the game looks. I'm not a stickler for graphics, but a lot of Milestone games have been at best mediocre in the looks department, with SLRE being quite ugly. Now, again, I'm not looking for 4K graphics, but Milestone hasn't really proven that they can make anything that looks anything more then an upscaled PS3 game over the four or five games they've made this generation. Even with the jump to UE4, it feels like they are putting a minimum amount of effort into making the graphics somewhat passable. I've enjoyed games that straight up don't look good, like Mafia III, or were average in terms of graphics because of circumstance, like Persona 5. But...Gravel just continues the trend of Milestone games looking like ass - and moving to a new engine seems to not have helped. But what really is a killer for me is the fact that the framerate, at least on a bone stock Xbox One, feels quite unstable. I'm also not a stickler for 60 FPS in racing games - though it certainly helps - but unlike Driveclub, which is the only racing game from the past few years or so that keeps at a 30 FPS pace, in Gravel it feels incredibly unstable. There was a spot in one of the early Stadium races, at LA Memorial Colosseum, where the game would quite consistently dip into the low teens for framerate. Also had a point in a Raid race where the game locked up seemingly, having froze all the action, then shot me forward after having broken from the freezing. In a fast paced racing game like Gravel, unstable framerate is a killer.
There's also little things that have already been brought up earlier in the thread - extremely poor and anemic sound, especially from the engines, the hilariously confusing and very English announcer, and, at least getting a kick from me, the Hummer H3 Raid truck being called that 'Chevrolet Hummer H3 Custom' in game. Which is...you're close, Milestone, but you're also so, so far.
I want to like this game, like how I want to like a lot of Milestone's other racing games, because they fill niches that have been ignored by other developers for years. At the same time, it is problems that crop up in every other Milestone game - stuff like poor audio, graphics being not up to snuff compared to other comparable racing games, and the general feeling of being a budget release. I mean - it's certainly priced right in Canada like a lot of other Milestone games, but I still feel so cold to Gravel, which is sad because again, I want to like the game. But it's got a lot of problems, some of them tracing themselves back to other Milestone games.
Just had a chance to give the PS4 demo a spin. I think I'd be on board if this had the sim handling of SLRE, but I dunno about this. It's pretty fun when you're keeping things pretty tame or into a steady wide drift, but the more you explore the limits or interact with rough surface geometry, it comes apart in a haphazard way that reminds me of the first The Crew (and makes me wonder about the viability of Unreal Engine 4 after all). And once I thought of that, I wondered what place this game has next to The Crew 2, which I'm already anticipating.
Nevertheless, the novelty of the outstanding car list is hard to ignore. I'm thinking I'll wait to get it for a reduced price, but now I sure wish it was SLRE2 with a similar lineup of cars instead.
Nevertheless, the novelty of the outstanding car list is hard to ignore. I'm thinking I'll wait to get it for a reduced price, but now I sure wish it was SLRE2 with a similar lineup of cars instead.
- 3,082
- Sweden
Agreed. Perhaps I got the wrong impressions from videos or my expactations were wrong from the get go but I was expecting something similiar to DiRT2 & 3.
I thought that the jump from MXGP/MXGP2 to MXGP3 was rather good though. Their latest Supercross game seems to have improved further. I hope they can make a similiar jump from SLRE.
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Scaff
Moderator
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- He/Him
- ScaffUK
Unreal Engine is principally a visual and audio tool-set, rather than a physics one (as for example Kudos will be using it to allow weather and day/night transitions for ACC). If its using the supported it will list PhysX as one of the development tools. Can't recall off the top of my head if Gravel does.
The physics I don't mind, as it was pitched as an arcade title from day one, that said I personally would have preferred SLRE2.
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- 2,442
- freedomland of freedomness
- ELmarctuff
- mightymufffin95
I'm getting a glitch in time attack where it'll say I placed 1st but it'll come up as I place 6th
- 317
- Finland
Same here.
I also saw the ghostcar bug several times last night. It's annoying as hell..
In the stadium races sometimes the cars get tangled in just stupid ways. My car would drag a cpu car and switching view it seemed like the corner of the cpu car was superglued to me. Silly..
Something positive:
-Namibia tracks are awesome with the faster cars. Maybe not for racing purists but a lot of fun. Yes the tracks are wide but some variations do present a challenge
-In the rain the game looks beautiful (not on every track though)
btw. Couldn't connect to the online races at all last night.. Anyone else have the same problem?
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MagpieRacer
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- Seagull_Racer
Definitely a glitch? I thought the same and then realised I just wasn’t beating the fastest time. Check the ai times on the right before you hit race.
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- Moglet85
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- SPhilli
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I'm having a hard time beating one event, I believe it's the first event you have to hit the green arrows in Alaska. No matter how well I do (even after turning it to easy!) I can't place first. I did a perfect run, in an Evo X, and placed 6th and the next attempt I nailed a red X and placed 3rd still. Wonder what's going on there, doesn't seem consistent. 
But otherwise, still having a blast with the game. Once they improve the sounds (if they ever do) then I can't complain.
But otherwise, still having a blast with the game. Once they improve the sounds (if they ever do) then I can't complain.
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I'm having a hard time beating one event, I believe it's the first event you have to hit the green arrows in Alaska. No matter how well I do (even after turning it to easy!) I can't place first. I did a perfect run, in an Evo X, and placed 6th and the next attempt I nailed a red X and placed 3rd still. Wonder what's going on there, doesn't seem consistent.
But otherwise, still having a blast with the game. Once they improve the sounds (if they ever do) then I can't complain.
In those smash challenges it seems that the AI times are based on a clean time trial run without the boards. You could just bump the difficulty down a level to compensate.
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Ruiz is RIP. (fun begins at 0:18)
Yep, Very Easy. Times are far more manageable there!
I figured as much. I did bump it down to easy from normal and still had trouble on that particular race, so maybe it's just down to my own skill. Is there anything easier than easy difficulty?
Yep, Very Easy. Times are far more manageable there!
Silver Arrows
(Banned)
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So I am downloading a 5 GB update on Xbox One. Nothing about it on Milestone's social media accounts. Anybody know what's in it?
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Just noticed now too. Seems usually big for a bug fix update, perhaps it was supposed to be a day one patch but Microsoft's patch validation process took longer than expected?
Silver Arrows
(Banned)
- 4,715
- Brandon, MB
- Silver-Arrows21
Silver Arrows
(Banned)
- 4,715
- Brandon, MB
- Silver-Arrows21
Daniel Bloodworth of Easy Allies is about to get started on a stream of the game.
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