Crime drama abounds in the latest “Driver” game, which takes the open-world driving series to the streets of San Francisco. A few months after the events of 2004’s “Driv3er,” Detective John Tanner is back behind the wheel and on the hunt for the evil Jericho, who has escaped from prison.
A horrific crash early on puts Tanner in a coma. There he gains the ability to shift — moving his mind into the bodies of other drivers. This mechanic throws an interesting wrench into a number of the challenges, as you can take over other cars to help you complete tasks, such as forcing an oncoming truck to run into a car trying to make a getaway. Shifting also makes navigating the City by the Bay much easier. At any time, you can leave a car, zoom out to a map view, then pick another car to shift into anywhere else in town.
Despite the plot being downright strange (a majority of the game takes place in a dreamworld) and there being a number of plot holes (how does Tanner drive his own car when he shifts into another vehicle?), “Driver” does a fairly good job of attempting to ground the adventure in reality. Cars and trucks can only be smashed so much before they stop running, there are plenty of real-world vehicles to choose from, and many of the San Fran’s major locales are included.
| ‘Driver: San Francisco’ |
| » Systems: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii |
| » Price: $59.99, $49.99 |
| » Rating: 3 out of 5 stars |
There aren’t a ton of missions associated with the main plot, but there are a plethora of side mission to undertake, including street races and stunt driving. These are actually the more addicting part of the gameplay. Many gamers will find themselves repeatedly thinking, “Oh, just one more mission before for calling it quits tonight.”
It’s hard to get over the cheesy plot, but solid gameplay is a great way to patch up flaws.
