The behavior of the Hover Vessel is like a car. I hope that does not stay that way, because it really does not drive like a hovercraft. Feels like you drive on invisible wheels and your hover even flip over, if you bump with this "wheels" hard on something.
I see the HV as an advanced computer assisted system. The autobrake does make it drive like a car, one that can strafe sideways. I'm getting a friend into the game and the HV is a great way to get a Noob into operating a vehicle.
How is it more like car and less like a "hover craft" with the brake on? I don't get. OP stated that Feels like you drive on invisible wheels and your hover even flip over, if you bump with this "wheels" hard on something I disagree. Asuming the vehicle is hovering at 3m and passes over an obstruction that is less than 3 m tall, i.e., not enough to actually bump into the vehicle itself, the obstruction is nonetheless going to "bump into" the high pressure field under the vessel which allows it to hover. The facts of the visual turbulence the thing blows up when it is hovering close to the ground indicate that the fictional technology intended is indeed a high pressure field of some sort, which (even though it may not work by virtue of blowing out high pressure air the way real HVs do) results in displacement of air under the vehicle. This means that obstructions under the thing CAN 'bump into" this pressure field and produce "bumps" in the road so to speak. It doesn't turn like a car. The braking is only remotely similar to a car, and it can climb nearly vertical cliffs and jump hundreds of meters spans and land from heights of scores or hundreds of meters all safely protected from harm by its pressure field--all highly "non-car like" behavior IMHO! I just don't get the criticism that is "seems like car." It seems like a 'pretty good, but not extraordinary' computer game representation of a fictional "hover craft" that fairly closely resembles a real world hover craft, but with some car like features and some completely fantastical and unbelievable features.
"Have you tried turning the breaks off?" Yes. Not what I mean. Jump over a hill and see how hard this vehicle lands. And it does not matter if you have a air pressure under it, or some energy field. You can test it with two Magnets who repel each other. The force grows the closer you come, but it is always a soft way of stopping. This "Hover" feels like wheels. Sure, there are always people who will like it. It's just not a hover, it's a fake hover.
I kept trying to touch my window and just couldn't get the background to change! It was driving me nuts! Then my wife told me that was the real world out that window and hands me her ipad