You know what we hate? When a good franchise goes bad. At one point, Driver was the go-to series for exciting stunt racing fun, parallel with the kind of vibe that the old-school movie Bullitt made. But then Reflections, the game’s developer, tinkered too much with formula, and next thing you know, we were stuck with the disastrously horrid Driver 3, which stunk up the joint worse than an unwashed Prius. The team’s been trying to get back on track ever since, but the stench of that failure continued to haunt them. Many gamers wondered if they’d ever get back on track. Thankfully, that day has come. Driver: San Francisco not only washes away the memories of that asinine wreck, but it creates some of the best open-world driving we’ve seen in a game since the days of Burnout Paradise. While the jump-in/jump-out mechanic may take away some believability, there’s no question that it also creates a whole lot of replayability, whether you feel like joy-riding in a truck or getting into chases with cops just for kicks. There is a story here, though not much of one. Tanner, the undercover cop who specializes in car chases, makes a return, and he’s one again in pursuit of Jericho, a criminal mastermind who’s managed to escape the custody of the police following a routine transfer.
After a high-speed pursuit that opens the game, Tanner finds himself in a coma, but under weird paranormal circumstances. See, he’s still involved in the case, but not physically. Using ghostly-like powers, he can shift out of any vehicle making its way around San Francisco. This introduces a fun new style of play to the game, where you can take control of either a main police vehicle (Tanner’s cruiser of choice) or other cars, packed with drivers that need to get stuff done. He tries to make things right for some people, while at the same time trying to nail down Jericho and his gang. Swapping out of cars may sound stupid for a game like this, but Driver: San Francisco makes it work, thanks to the large variety of missions available and the neat set-ups you can put to good use. For instance, when you’re first introduced to switch-outs, you actually set someone up on a police chase, then find yourself having to rescue them and escape in a fixed-up vehicle. So you can really play around with the mechanic, though obviously doing good gets you the furthest ahead, earning you Will Power points and unlocking additional XP for extra rewards, such as new multiplayer modes (more on that in a second) and, more importantly, expanded car selection.
The cars featured in Driver: San Francisco are great. Not only are they licensed, but Reflections has managed to give them their own proper handling. So a typical street car won’t perform as up to speed as, say, a sporty Mustang, nor will it corner as well. Regardless, no matter which car you choose, you’ll have a good time with the missions, which vary from typical story missions to cool side tasks, such as performing stunts for a film team, pushing a driving instructor to his very limits (he’s asking for it anyway) and busting a criminal with a well-deserved shunt. Overall, the gameplay is on target. The handling of each of these vehicles is dead on, and though drifting and cornering take time to master, the effort is well worth it, especially when you perform those key stunts or lose the police in the classiest way possible. Just be warned though – the AI is quite tricky. Not only does side traffic know how to get in your way at times, but the cops can be incredibly tough to lose. These guys are aggressive, and don’t have their heads buried in donut boxes.
This feature review continues on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read our final thoughts on Driver: San Francisco.
