Hands on E3: Driver: Driver San Francisco

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Parent Category: Gadgets

Category: Video Games

Published on Monday, 13 June 2011 10:00

Written by Christopher Lai

Driver: San Francisco is the newest installment in the exciting racing series Driver. Originally announced by Ubisoft at E3 2010, the game is set for launch in early September and was playable at this year’s E3 event. The game takes place in San Francisco following detective John Tanner hunting down crime lord and mob boss Charles Jericho after escaping from jail. John Tanner, the only man to have ever captured Charles, is just recovering from a devastating car crash putting John into coma. Not realizing he’s still in a coma, John goes through a never before seen journey revealing Jericho’s real plan for the city.

The open world design of Driver allows the player to explore the world at their leisure taking on different challenges that unlock faster cars while still progressing in the story. Using an overhead map of the city, the player can choose various cars to drive and take charge of whatever vehicles they want which were initially controlled by the computer. The player can easily zip through different parts of the city taking on multiple challenges at once.

The new feature of Driver, called Switch, takes center stage in the team races where the player controls two racers at the same time. With Switch, you can change between two different cars mid-race. The overall goal is to finish both cars in the top two spots. With the press of a button, you are automatically switched to the other car while the computer controls your partner. The Switch capability forces the player to think completely differently about a race. Your concentration is split between the car you are drive, the computer’s car, your opponents, and the overall track all at the same time creating new challenge in itself.

Despite the new Switch feature, the car handling was not on par as other similar games in the genre like Grand Turismo. The cars handled like they were on ice, easily slipping out of corners and sliding uncontrollably. This is balanced by the fact that the computer’s aggressiveness in controlling the other cars is lacking and therefore making the race easier to win. Switch is an interesting component in the game, but during the demo it felt more like a sales gimmick rather than a key strategy.

Driver: San Francisco is a decent racer with new features that have the ability to occupy any racing fan for a few hours, but its poor implementation doesn’t add to a high replay value. Hopefully through more user testing and iterations, Driver can overcome its poor game mechanics and gimmicky twist on a classic genre. So I eagerly wait to see the final product.

Driver: San Francisco published by Ubisoft will be available for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 1, 2011.

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