DRIV3R

Back before Grand Theft Auto III revolutionized the action genre with its free-roaming world, Driver 2 was an astonishing and innovative game that featured the main character getting out of his car to take control of another that just happened to be parked in the massive streets.  Its mixture of driving and “borrowing” cars was an interesting idea and it made the game all the more entertaining.  Now, with this third outing, DRIV3R brings back Tanner for a game that means to change the way we see cinematic car chases in a game.  Get behind the wheel because the wheelman is back.

DRIV3R plays just like a car chase crime caper movie complete with guns, explosions and vehicular mayhem.  You play Tanner--a cop who oversteps the boundaries of proper police procedure every chance he gets--who suddenly finds himself going up against a gang of Miami car thieves determined to ship forty of the finest and most expensive cars from Miami and Nice, France.  Tanner soon finds himself working for the gang and their plan to sell the vehicles in Istanbul.  The job isn’t going to be easy so Tanner puts his skills as a driver and marksman to an ultimate test.

After an amazing cinematic opening for the game‘s main mode of playing, Undercover, the game starts in Tanner’s Miami home.  The city of Miami is massive and it’s beautifully and accurately represented (Vice City this isn’t).  From the very beginning we get to move around on foot and get behind the wheel of vehicles, although Tanner has his own set of wheels in his garage.  Like the GTA games, there’s a map and an indicator of where to go to move the story along.  You can spend your time exploring the city and you will definitely not be rushed to continue on the story path.  Yes, you are given complete freedom while not on a mission and exploration is a must.

This is also where you see the game’s growing list of flaws.  While wonderfully massive, the world feels as alone and lifeless as the city found in Mafia.  There are civilians walking around but the biggest reactions you’ll get out of them is a “hey” or watching them decorate your hood (and survive, no less).  There are no cool jumps or vigilante missions to occupy your time before going back to the main missions.  You can, though, stop in the middle of the street and carjack any of the dozens of vehicles each of the three cities have to offer. 

The vehicles are nicely assorted and you can drive anything from muscle cars to big Silverado four-by-fours.  There are even motorcycles and speedboats.  While they don’t easily blow up, the damage they take realistic enough that they can become useless and have to be abandoned.  When they do blow up--as a result of a few bullets into the engine--they explode into pieces of twisted metal.  The car physics are both neatly done and downright strange at the same time, though.  While they realistically handle well on any surface be it paved street of grass, something as small as a parking meter can step the car dead in its tracks or even flip it over completely.

On foot, Tanner is a bit awkward to control.  He can duck for cover and even perform a roll, but this is all done jerkily.  This, though, isn’t the bad part.  My biggest gripe comes from the fact that Tanner doesn’t turn around as easily and this results in him getting shot in the back a lot.  The majority of the time he gets killed in this manner, but thankfully he can at least carjack a vehicle with ease and make his getaway.  But if Tanner does decide to make a stand out in the street gamers will find that the enemy AI isn’t the smartest.  Many of them move out into your line of sight and thus making them easy targets.  And its far too easy to confuse the enemy, especially if Tanner decides to jump into the water (unlike a certain nameless crook and Tommy Vercetti, Tanner can actually swim).

The missions nicely blend both driving and on-foot shooting action.  Each city, be it Miami, Nice or Istanbul still have the same mission structure that puts Tanner as the wheelman for the band of thieves.  He does get to make a few busts, such as the first mission where Tanner chases down a deranged psycho that busts through a police blockage.  Much like True Crime: Streets of LA, Tanner must tail bad guys and make sure not to lose them (DRIV3R is unmerciful in that even if slip up just once you fail the mission).  For the most part the missions offer plenty of challenges with most of them have different paths to take.  There are even a small handful of missions that are satisfyingly entertaining but these missions aren’t found too often.  Thankfully you have some mini-games available in the Driving Games mode.  And Film Director mode has you editing and spicing up replays of your mission and it’s all done perfectly.

The game, though, feels incomplete.  There are several glitches that pop up and, unlike GTA where its flaws add to the fun; these bugs are more of a hindrance.  At one point, after I had made a perfect getaway (or so I thought), a police car suddenly dropped from the sky and fell right in front of me.  Another time I was forced to boot up the game again after having been trapped in a corner by two cars.

As far as the graphics are concerned, DRIV3R is an average looking game with spectacular cinematic cut scenes and beautifully detailed vehicles.  The car physics, for the most part, are handled well and it is fun watching them fall apart to the point of being unusable.  Slam a car on its side and the wheel comes flying out and when they do blow up, the pieces literally scatter all over the street.  The character models, particularly the main characters, are nicely done during the action.  And the cut scenes are the best I’ve seen in a really long time.  One visual feature that stands out for its greatness is the Thrill Cam button that slows the action down to show you just how well detailed this game really is.  Still, this is all marred by horrendous clipping issues (I’ve had Tanner poke his head out of a wall in one place).

The game, however, has great sound effects, music and voice acting during cut scenes.  It’s great hearing an all-star cast much in the same way it was great hearing the great lineup of actors in Grand Theft Auto or even True Crime: Streets of LA.  Here the acting does a great job of telling he story, although it would have been great to have heard more of Michael Madsen (who voices Tanner) during the game’s action.  I would have also loved to hear more from the pedestrians besides “Hey!”  Still, the score is pretty diverse and the sound effects of crashes and gunfights hit the spot nicely.

DRIV3R is the action car chase game it was set out to be but its various imperfections keep this from being the perfect summer title to own.  The game lacks life and interaction with a beautifully recreated world that would have been a dream to play around with when not on a mission.  Will gamers have fun playing this?  Well there are certainly missions that are indications of how amazing this game was going to be and missing out on them would be a shame.  Plus there’s an open cinematic sequence that’s just jaw dropping.  Rent this one for that reasons alone because if you’re looking for a Grand Theft Auto experience this is not it. 

Gameplay: 4.5
DRIV3R just doesn’t cut it in a world where the recent Grand Theft Auto clones bring us plenty of those side missions and a fully interactive world that is engrossing enough to keep gamers busy enough to ignore main missions.  The out-of-the-car character movements are awkward and the driving controls are not any better, leaving you with awkward gameplay.  This is too bad since the cities are massive.

Graphics: 7.2
On the Xbox, the game really does shine where it counts the most . . . the vehicles and the main characters.  The vehicles are quite a sight to behold when they’re falling apart and the sunlight hits them just right enough to reflect realistically.  The main characters look pretty good in and out of vehicles and even more so during the cinematic cut scenes.  Yet this is all ruined by major clipping issues and blockish civilians that seem good at getting themselves stuck in corners.  Still, Thrill Cam is an outstanding feature.

Sound: 8.0
The sound, however, does do a good job of telling DRIV3R’s story.  The voice acting is outstanding, although much of what they say really doesn’t come close to being as witty as a Tarantino script.  This is not to say that Michael Madsen, Michelle Rodriguez or Ving Rhames aren’t appreciated, its just that it lacks polish worthy of their talents.  The music is actually quite good too.

Difficulty: Medium
For some reason, the police force in Miami, Nice and Istanbul seem determined to get themselves killed by stepping out of a perfect cover to the open where you can unload a clip on them.  The AI controlled bad guys (and good guys) are not smart enough to take cover or be something of a real threat to Tanner.  It’s like shooting ducks in a shooting gallery, really.  The biggest challenge comes from the driving missions, many of which will have you replaying them over and over.

Concept: 7.0
There are three massive cities that look exquisitely gorgeous and alive, but nothing can be further from the truth.  Tanner has little interaction with his surrounding and even pedestrians seem to want to walk right through him.  There is also very little you can do in this world except for collecting Grand Theft Auto-inspired “hidden packages” that come in the form of ten Timmy Vermicellis (defeat them in Take a Ride mode to earn extras for the game’s main mode). The game is also Xbox Live Aware so you can share Replays with other gamers online.  And the Driving Games mode is a nice addition.

Overall: 5.7
DRIV3R is a series of impressive ideas that just aren’t implemented well enough to make this game really shine through its too numerous to count imperfections.  The game feels incomplete and, due to its many bugs, gamers will be frustrated by its poor design that gets in the way of the action.  Give this one a rental for its amazing cinematic cut scenes and the very few thrilling missions found in each city.