Driver: San Francisco is an exciting entertainment crafted in the spirit of arcade-style Need For Speed. But don't think that this game is just another clone of the popular series from Electronic Arts. There are plenty of differences, and most importantly, the captivating storyline of Driver is not something you'll find in the formulaic Need For Speed games of recent times.
Coma is not a hindrance
John Tanner, the constant main character of the Driver series (except for Parallel Lines), is back, and this time, after a minor car accident, he is in a coma. However, this doesn't stop him from continuing his hunt for criminals, especially the main antagonist known as Jericho. According to the original concept by the writers, John gained the ability to shift his consciousness into different people while he is in a coma. This, along with the ability to receive all information about the situation in the city directly into his brain, forms the basis of the game.
The story of Driver: San Francisco is unobtrusive and interesting. If you play long enough, it can really draw you in. You won't find plot twists and psychological dramas here: everything is presented quite simply — drive here, drive there, listen to dialogues while driving. And since finding the main villain is not an easy task, the investigation will take a lot of time, during which the player roams the city, completing side quests.
To make the wait more enjoyable (and to gain driving experience), the developers have added a variety of competitions, some of which will add a new element to the mosaic hiding Jericho's plan, while others will involve helping ordinary people or the police.
Shut up and drive!
If you forget about the story and side quests and focus on the racing, everything is quite standard: the controls are arcade-like but without "excesses," and each car is easy to handle even with a keyboard. There are a lot of cars in the game, and vintage enthusiasts will see about a dozen rare models realized in races for the first time. Younger players will recognize familiar sports cars and muscle cars.
Fans of road mischief will be delighted with a whole arsenal of tricks tied to the "comatose" state of the main character. How about this: you can shift into another driver and steer their car into an opponent, then return to your current one and speed past the "accidental" crash. You can also become a "torpedo" yourself and knock the driver ahead off the track. And that's not the end of the tricks you can perform on the road. This idea is new to video games and significantly expands the standard racing gameplay.
Since this feature is new, the developers conveniently provide a few practice runs to get used to it, after which all of Tanner's "talents" are executed automatically or even arranged in a sequence of actions.
Graphics?!
The game's engine doesn't aim for the stars, so the graphics are average. The design of the game world is generally standard for racing games, though using a more advanced engine would have taken the game to a new level of visualization. However, the developers have excelled in the detailing of the cars—they are licensed from the manufacturer, ensuring complete accuracy to the image, and the game creators have put in a lot of effort to make the cars look good on the engine. The in-game cutscenes built on the engine are also well done and convey the characters' emotions.
In San Francisco for a few weeks
Driver: San Francisco is perfect for entertainment: on one hand, it offers an interesting storyline and numerous side quests, and on the other, a wealth of gameplay features. The open world and a vast number of cars (Driver competes with Test Drive Unlimited 2 in terms of car count). In short, if you have some free time and want to drive a car, and you're tired of the usual Need For Speed, buy a "ticket to San Francisco."
