Driver: San Francisco is looking to refuel the erratic Driver series with this boisterous trip to the West coast, writes Tom Hoggins.
Formats: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Developer: Ubisoft Reflections
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: 2 September 2011
It's been half a decade since we've seen a brand new Driver game. The release of the decent if unspectacular Parallel Lines in 2006 saw the series claw back some respectability after the calamitous and controversial Driv3r. And now, developer Reflections are looking to further refuel the series with the first Driver game to appear on the current generation of consoles. How? By getting a little bit silly.
Hereââ¬â¢s the premise. Hero John Tanner (a cocksure, Nathan Drake-alike in this version of Driver) is escorting criminal mastermind Jericho to the big house, but with a little help from the inside and a rocket launcher attack from a hovering TV chopper, the bad guy escapes. Following a high speed chase, Tanner and partner Tobias Jones are involved in a horrific collision, throwing our hero into a coma. Comatose, but not entirely unconscious. Tanner, you see, can now venture into the city, seperate from his body lying battered and bruised on a hospital bed, and inhabit the bodies of other drivers on the road.
This 'Shift' mechanic may sound like a daft gimmick, but Reflections has built its game around the concept, and the result is surprisingly flexible, exhilarating and, most importantly, a lot of fun. Tapping the shift button at any time catapults you high above the city in a first person view, allowing you to scour the city for a new car, a mission or a driving 'dare'. It makes navigation of the open-world tangle of San Francisco punchy and accessible, but the real fun comes in using it while on the sprawling, intricate roadways. The car you're in falling to bits? Shift to a shinier, faster alternative. Your target getting away in a high speed chase? Take control of that oncoming tanker and block their escape. There are certain rules, of course, you can't shift into your chase targets or race opponents and have them bomb off a bridge for instance, but largely you are free to cause whatever havoc you wish. In fact, Reflections positively encourages recklessness, freeing you from the worry of bashing your car up or cartwheeling off the freeway -- just find a new car and rejoin the chase. There is a worry that this flexibility can make things too easy, which does pan out in the early missions, so it will be interesting to see how the game's learning curve unfolds.
Read rest of review: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8665315/Driver-San-Francisco-hands-on-preview.html
Question: Are you planning on getting this game?
Formats: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Developer: Ubisoft Reflections
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: 2 September 2011
It's been half a decade since we've seen a brand new Driver game. The release of the decent if unspectacular Parallel Lines in 2006 saw the series claw back some respectability after the calamitous and controversial Driv3r. And now, developer Reflections are looking to further refuel the series with the first Driver game to appear on the current generation of consoles. How? By getting a little bit silly.
Hereââ¬â¢s the premise. Hero John Tanner (a cocksure, Nathan Drake-alike in this version of Driver) is escorting criminal mastermind Jericho to the big house, but with a little help from the inside and a rocket launcher attack from a hovering TV chopper, the bad guy escapes. Following a high speed chase, Tanner and partner Tobias Jones are involved in a horrific collision, throwing our hero into a coma. Comatose, but not entirely unconscious. Tanner, you see, can now venture into the city, seperate from his body lying battered and bruised on a hospital bed, and inhabit the bodies of other drivers on the road.
This 'Shift' mechanic may sound like a daft gimmick, but Reflections has built its game around the concept, and the result is surprisingly flexible, exhilarating and, most importantly, a lot of fun. Tapping the shift button at any time catapults you high above the city in a first person view, allowing you to scour the city for a new car, a mission or a driving 'dare'. It makes navigation of the open-world tangle of San Francisco punchy and accessible, but the real fun comes in using it while on the sprawling, intricate roadways. The car you're in falling to bits? Shift to a shinier, faster alternative. Your target getting away in a high speed chase? Take control of that oncoming tanker and block their escape. There are certain rules, of course, you can't shift into your chase targets or race opponents and have them bomb off a bridge for instance, but largely you are free to cause whatever havoc you wish. In fact, Reflections positively encourages recklessness, freeing you from the worry of bashing your car up or cartwheeling off the freeway -- just find a new car and rejoin the chase. There is a worry that this flexibility can make things too easy, which does pan out in the early missions, so it will be interesting to see how the game's learning curve unfolds.
Read rest of review: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8665315/Driver-San-Francisco-hands-on-preview.html
Question: Are you planning on getting this game?
