Driver San Francisco Review
Developer Ubisoft
Publisher Ubisoft
Platform PS3, Xbox360
Release Date Out Now.
Driver is back and better than ever, brimming with action, stylish cars and more drifting than you can shake a stick at. Set in the open world of the real life realisation of San Francisco boasting a huge 208 sq miles of road network to shred up.
On the run up to launch I was intrigued about how they would implement the car hopping or shifting as its known, it looked interesting but I could figure out how it would work within the story but to be honest the explanation is quite out-there but the mechanic really does work and doesn’t take you away from the game at all.
The game starts some six months after Driver 3, Jerico (who was locked up in D3) is breaking out of prison and Tannor is trying to stop him. In this sequence you are in a massive car crash leaving you unconscious. As the paramedics work on your lifeless body Tannor has an out of body experience where he must relive certain sequences. Whilst in this out of body experience you can jump from body to body and as such car to car.
The cars are superbly recreated, it’s not quite GT but you still have a huge range to choose from, everything from standard cars and taxi’s to ambulances and super cars. The tutorial introduces you to the Ford GT and gives you a chance to take it for a “test drive” this is your first real taste of what Driver has in store.
The car chases are brilliant, whipping between lanes of traffic, sliding around corners are break neck speed, hitting jumps and taking off and of course San Francisco is the perfect setting for any car chase with its tight steep hills and many ramping opportunities.
There are some brilliant touches within the game for example when you find the Delorean and hit 88 miles an hour you get the chance to go back in time and play the very first Driver mission which I thought was a spark of genius.
The graphics are really top notch and not only in the cars or city but the character visualisation are stunning at times looking incredibly life like.
Driver is a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, it has plenty of nods and winks toward the film industry as well, from the music to over the top graphics and camera’s. The story is quite enjoyable and although the premise is a bit farfetched it actually works to give you one of the most enjoyable racing experiences this year.
A quite decent online side with 19 different game modes means this is a game that will kee you playing for quite a while.
Overall : Great fun, it looks good, it plays brilliantly, and while it may not always be set in reality it is all-round a very solid game.
SCORE 8/10
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