HBM Reviews: Driver: San Francisco

"Hatchback Man wants a FIAT 500 Abarth" (doyouknowthe500man)
03/30/2016 at 09:59 • Filed to: HBM REVIEWS, HBM, REVIEWS, DRIVER, SAN FRANCISCO, FRISCO, DRIVER SAN FRANCISCO, DRIVER: SAN FRANCISCO

Welcome to HBM Reviews, a series where I talk about a new games and do an in-depth review.

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Today, we have a great game: Driver: San Francisco. Here on HBM Reviews, I do 6 parts: graphics, performance, story, entertainment, features, and verdict.

Graphics

Driver: San Francisco doesn’t have the best graphics, but it won’t kill your computer. Put the graphics on full and it may be eye-pleasing. But remember, the greatest games aren’t the best looking. Like Need For Speed Underground 2. Painful to look at, very fun and memorable to play.

Graphics Rating: 6/10

Performance

Driver: San Francisco is one of the best-running games I have had in a long time. It almost never lags, and it takes up minimal computer space. I would love it if every game ran like this one.

Performance Rating: 10/10

Story

Driver: San Francisco has the best story I have ever experienced.

Very in-depth, very complicated, but not confusing. You don’t even have to do the story missions if you don’t want to, you can just drive around, hitting cars and getting in pursuits. The story is also remarkably run and easy.

Story Rating: 9/10

Entertainment

Most fun I have had for a while. Switching between cars right before the moment of impact never gets old. And Ubisoft even boosted up some vehicles to make them faster and more fun: like an officially licenced bus. You heard me right. An officially licenced bus.

Entertainment Rating: 5/5

Features

So many good points. For example, traffic in-game isn’t just some bland minimally-textured sedan. Every single car you can see can be switched into, except for pursuits and story missions. And some other parts. That means every car is modeled inside and out. How cool is that! And every car is officially licenced, meaning that there is a DeLorean, some RUFs, and a Dykemann!

Oh, and pedestrians jump out of the way. No death, no gore, just pure PG fun.

Features Rating: 20/20

The Verdict

Driver: San Francisco is very very fun. I recommend buying it while it is on sale, if a Steam sale is coming up soon.

Bonus Points: 11/20

Bonus points are rewarded for parts of the game not mentioned above.

Total: 61/75

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DISCUSSION (10)

Mercedes Streeter > Hatchback Man wants a FIAT 500 Abarth
03/30/2016 at 10:06

One huge correction on this review: Not all vehicles in Driver SF are officially licensed. In fact, most commercial vehicles are generic models, not the real deal. For example: The “Dykemann” you quote doesn’t actually exist IRL. The closest to a Dykemann in real life is a Peterbilt. :)

This game does grab my heart for having the MP4-12C AND a GMC C5550 in the same game...but gosh did I hate the story. Driv3r had you going across the world (with arguably the best damage modeling I’ve seen in any game)...this game is literally about being inside the head of a cop in a coma.

Slant6 > Hatchback Man wants a FIAT 500 Abarth
03/30/2016 at 10:14

I have this game for ps3. Good fun.

Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa > Hatchback Man wants a FIAT 500 Abarth
03/30/2016 at 10:56

Whaaat? The story of this game is non-existent. It is a barely coherent strings of this and that, but it is kind of hard to write a decent story with the limitation of cars only and a surreal world.

On the other hand it had a really fun semi-realistic driving, the cars felt heavy, the SF is beautifully made and had a very decent soundtrack. Also cockpit view was very nice.

The car selection was really eclectic and made the world seem real even, if a tad unrealistic with Alfas in the USA.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Hatchback Man wants a FIAT 500 Abarth
03/30/2016 at 13:16

I bought this game used, played and finished it in a couple days. I was not too thrilled and returned it.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > Hatchback Man wants a FIAT 500 Abarth
03/30/2016 at 20:18

I love this game. I do have three complaints with it though.

1. The story is all kinds of WTF. I haven’t played any other Driver games, but the premise of the story is so bizarre.

2. The visuals have a strange orange tint through the whole story, which took some getting used to. I understand it’s due to the whole “coma dream” story, but it wasn’t the most pleasing effect.

3. It has a nice, fairly large selection of cars. However, the whole selection isn’t on the road at the same time, instead it’s parceled out by chapter of the story (at least in my experience) I know they are all available through the garage, but it would be nice to have some variety once you beat the story.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Hatchback Man wants a FIAT 500 Abarth
03/31/2016 at 10:41

I bought this game in the $4.99 bargain bin a few years back and LOVED it. The game is not very long it only took me 3-4 days to finish it but man it was a fun game. The car selection is so diverse. I can go from a Aston Signet to a Ram 3500 dually to a Olds Vista cruiser. FANTASTIC!

10/10 would buy again for $4.99

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Mercedes Streeter
03/31/2016 at 10:43

I Driv3r any good? I’ve never played it. I assume that would probably be a PS2 game right? or is it available on XB360?

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Hatchback Man wants a FIAT 500 Abarth
03/31/2016 at 10:45

But remember, the greatest games aren’t the best looking. Like Need For Speed Underground 2. Painful to look at, very fun and memorable to play.

100% AGREE!!!

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/going-back-and…

Mercedes Streeter > Luc - The Acadian Oppo
03/31/2016 at 11:34

I have fond memories of every Driver game I’ve played Driv3r (or Driver 3, for that matter) was a PS2/Xbox game (not backwards compatible with the 360).

I think SF had great potential, but they wasted it on an absolutely shit story and an equally shitty gameplay mechanic. I liked being able to actually steal/own cars, be on foot, etc...not like have weird comatose superpowers that limit me to only driving and nothing else. I still play it from time to time because I REALLY REALLY love being able to drive a Dodge Caravan, a McLaren F1, MP4-12C, an Abarth 500, and a GMC C5550 in the same game...but otherwise it was a waste of money to me.

Driv3r has not only absolutely epic crash physics, but secret locations on pretty large maps, a wide array of vehicles to play with (all based on real life vehicles, better than GTA was doing them at the time) and dare I say it? Really freaking satisfying police chases. Plus the story was more than engaging enough even for today’s gamers.

That said, Driv3r wasn’t liked by everyone. But I loved it. It felt like a more serious, less parody, GTA.

Dammit, I’m going to download a PC version now.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Mercedes Streeter
03/31/2016 at 11:50

I saw it for PS2 at a local game store the other day I will have to pick up up and give it a try. Might be a good game to keep in the car too.