Driver: San Francisco

Release Date: 8/30/2011
Platforms :ps3, xb360
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Gamesite: Click here
Genres: Racing
ESRB: T (Drug Reference; Language; Sexual Themes; Violence)


Those last few Driver games weren’t so hot—I think this is something we can all agree on. Still, you have to appreciate a studio that sticks to their guns, and Ubisoft Reflections (formerly Reflections Interactive) is doing just that. Their upcoming game, Driver: San Francisco, is the sixth game in the series, and it’s been in development for over five years.
A protracted development, a seemingly tired series, and little press coverage all seem to indicate disaster, but I’m not so sure about that. Driver: San Francisco not only looks fun, but it’s got some fresh and crazy ideas to boot. I’m excited for it, and here are a few reasons why you should be excited too.








The Original Driver was Really Cool
Before Grand Theft Auto III rewrote the game design rulebook, the original Driver had some really exciting things going for it. The open world was still a novelty back then, and Driver’s city was quite immersive, even if you couldn’t walk around in it. More than anything, though, Driver had amazing car handling for the time.
Driver carried a reverence for old chase films, with chunky, intentionally sluggish handling of iconic American muscle cars. This resulted in cinematic chase sequences with wide power slides and neck-destroying collisions. You could even record them and edit them into short chase films.


The Story is Insane
So I guess in Driv3r (affectionately known as Drive-Three-Er), our hero, Tanner, is caught in a rivalry with a man named Jericho. Apparently, Jericho is pissed because Tanner stole his Legos in Driver 2, or something like that. Anyways, Driver: San Francisco picks up from there, with the rivalry turning sour for Tanner, who ends up hospitalized and in a coma.

Here’s where things get crazy—the rest of the game takes place within Tanner’s comatose mind, where he has the ability to possess other drivers on the road at will. Other than that little quirk, everything else about the world in his mind is business is usual. So you’ll be driving real cars in a realistic San Francisco, except you’ll also have ghost powers.

The Story Makes the Gameplay Unique
If you’re interested in Driver: San Francisco, chances are you’ve played a fair share of open-world driving games. If you’re like me, you’ve probably had your fill of the same textbook list of missions that most of these games feature. That’s why being a crazy ghost driver might end up being really fun.
What your powers of possession allow you to do is jump from car to car, manipulating the progression of a mission on the fly. Tired of being hounded by those maniacal cops? Possess a nearby 18-wheeler and send it careening towards them, and then jump back into your own car and take off.
The whole thing is presented in a sort of Google Maps interface that lets you quickly zip from car to car, even leaping into a vehicle on the other side of the city. One mission type requires you to get two cars to your destination, forcing you to leap between them, or protect them with other possessed vehicles.

Driver: San Francisco is an upcoming sandbox-style action driving video game developed by Ubisoft Reflections, and it will be published by Ubisoft. The game formally was unveiled at E3 2010 and is scheduled for release in North America on September 6, 2011^[4] and in Europe on September 2, 2011^[5] on Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS^[3] and the OnLive^[7] system.^[7][8] A separate Wii version is also in the works.^[1]