Driver: San Francisco Review by: zanderlex - 9.3/10
DRIVEEverybody loves cars and guns, especially when they are in video games because they give you the option to do certain things that you would normally never to in real life. This is why game franchises such as Grand Theft Auto have been so popular. They are this popular because they let you escape into another world where it is okay to steal cars and drive around recklessly, while also shooting people and blowing things up. People can't do this in real life, so when an opportunity comes in the form of a video game, people gladly accept.
This is why game franchises continue to rake in big bucks many years after they are first released. However, Grand Theft Auto does this job so well that everybody turns their attention to it and they overlook other games that can be considered to be just as good. This game is known as Driver: San Francisco, and in my opinion, the series of Driver games might not have started out as good as Grand Theft Auto, but they soon grew to become just as great. The first Driver game had been released in1998, just 2 years after Grand Theft Auto and has since grown into a franchise of 7 titles.
The game series was developed by the famous Ubisoft company and has been published by Ubisoft, as well as GT Interactive Studios which became Atari Games.
First, let’s go over the graphics of the game. The graphics are top notch and aside from Grand Theft Auto V, there are probably only a handful of games that have better graphics. The map is nice and detailed, the buildings actually look like real buildings, and the people are clearly defined. I am going to give the graphics portion a 10 out of 10.
Next we will do the Addictivness section. For this part, I will right away give a 10 out of 10 because the game is really fun. I played the first game in the series all the way back when I was 10 and I really liked it, and the games only became better since. My favorite aspect of the game is that even though you can’t really leave your car, to get into another one, you can “Shift” from one car to another. I feel this is a very innovative new addition and I love it. There are over 100 cars to choose from, tons of missions, and over 200 miles of road to cross!
The music selection for the game is great. There are over 70 songs in the soundtrack, which was mixed at the same studio that made the music for the James Bond movies. Some of the songs are really energetic and blend in nicely with what’s going on in the game. I give the sound portion a 9 out of 10.
Next we have the story, which takes place after the events of Driv3r. The main character of the Driver series, John Tanner is put into a coma and nearly the entire game takes place in his dreams, hence the ability to shift in and out of cars. This is a pretty nice plot twist for a game and because of this, I give a 9 out of 10 for the story.
Next we will go over the depth of the game. Like I said earlier, the map is huge with over 200 miles of road to drive along. There is the ability to shift in and out of cars and there are just so many things to do across the city. Because of this, I give the depth a grade of 8 out of 10.
For the difficulty, I give a 6 because the game is not that challenging if you know what you are doing. You might have to accustom yourself to shifting and you will also need to get used to the combat controls, but it’s easy to learn and you would soon get the hang of it.
Overall, this is the best game in this very popular series and deserves a good grade. As for the overall grade, I give it a 9.3 because the game is very entertaining and it is the kind of game that you will want to play over and over.
Graphics
10 Sound
9 Addictive
10 Depth
8 Story
9 Difficulty
6