Opinions on Driver:San Francisco so far?

[RyanRohypnol]

I'm curious of what people feel towards this game. Well the demo so far.

I played it last night and all I can say is, I did not like it one bit. Personally it feels a million miles away from Parallel Lines which was my favourite in the series. I can't see myself buying this game. The driving mechanics feel a bit sticky, the whole "shift" thing, just doesn't work, a sense of paranormal, psychological control in a cop game, why?
Also is there a free roam on foot element within this one? I didn't divulge that far into the demo the first segment put me off it.

So, what do you guys think?

 

[twistedheat15]

Tried the demo, shittiest driving mech I've played this gen. Felt like my car was riding on a ice road with coconuts for wheels. Can't see how they turned a simple get away game into super body jump adventure!

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

One of the few things I liked about Driv3r (God I despise having to type that) was that it had three pretty large cities each with it's own unique aesthetic and set of vehicles, which might not seem like anything special now but for 2004 on the PS2 it was pretty darn impressive. So it boggles my mind why (when they could have given us even more, larger, more detailed environments on the current platforms) they only give us one city to play with this time around.

 

[Paul]

Having played the single player and multiplayer demos on the Xbox 360, I actually really enjoyed the game. It doesn't take itself too seriously and the handling engine is over the top. It's not a good handling engine if you enjoy Forza, Gran Turismo, and the like. I enjoy it as well, but I also enjoy games with arcade handling.

The handling in Driver is good for the game, I think. You can easily go into over-the-top powerslides simply by tapping the brake, and stuff. Reflections did say they were aiming for a game inspired by the car chase films of the 1970s and after. I would say they did a pretty good job.

 

[Hyperactiveman]

I am interested as it continues on from Driver3 which throughout the reign of the original Xbox and PS1 it consumed most of my playtime mainly because of the lack of games around. Plus I found it to be rather enjoyable combining driving and shooting sequences well with a gritty yet simple storyline.

I am optimistic that Driver: San Fran Cisco can deliver on that.

 

[AwkwardTurtle]

One point I have to make. Does anyone else think that the main character's friend looks exactly like Sazh from Final Fantasy XIII? Like seriously they look pretty much identical. Am I the only one that thinks this? Am I going crazy?

Played both single player and multiplayer demo.

Let's tackle the single player first. The story seemed a bit ridiculous, but I honestly wasn't expecting much for a game that lets you take over the bodies of other drivers. I can't say it wasn't fun. At first I didn't really understand the shift thing, but soon I realized that while fleeing from the cops I could move ahead and take over a car and ram it into the cops. It was at this point the game became pretty damn entertaining. The same for the race against two people. I don't know if they meant for me to play the game this way, but instead of actually racing the two cars using boost or whatever I just rammed other cars into the opposing team. I did this until their cars were unable to race and that's how I won. Pretty fun for a one time thing. I can't imagine how it will last as an entire game if I can do that every time to win a 'race'.

Now onto multiplayer. I liked it a little bit at first. I didn't play for very long since I didn't see the point in devoting time to a game I probably wouldn't buy. The tag mode seemed a bit off. Maybe I was just playing with people who were terrible at the game, but in the first match I played after I got the tag no one could touch me. As long as I drove in a straight line, my car was often going to fast for anyone to hit me. The second match showed me the other point of view. I initially got the tag, but once someone got it from me it was damn near impossible to get it back. I don't know but something about the cars seemingly sliding on ice make it extremely difficult to precisely hit a car moving at high speeds. The other mode (I forget the name) was a mode involving following a car's trail as best as a person could. I think this mode was a bit odd too. The first approach I took was to simply get behind the car as quickly as possible and keep following. Once again I felt the driving was terrible. It seems like they knew you couldn't possible accurately keep on the trail of the npc car once it makes a turn and you get to use the shift button to compensate for your car's complete inability to make a turn without drifting so much you travel an entire block before your car starts moving the direction its facing. This mode was funner than tag since a lot of people could actually shift to a car near the npc car and keep up, jostling each other trying to absorb the mystical lines of power.

Overall I feel that the weird difficulty of Driver San Fransisco should be tweaked in order for it to be completely successful. I probably won't buy the game, but it was an interesting experience if nothing else.

 

[Project_Xii]

Demo not a good representation of the game by the sounds of it.

I've been having an absolute blast with it. So much fun. The shift ability works perfectly, once you master it, and there's nothing cooler then jumping ahead of street race, jacking a semi-trailer and driving it across the road to wipe out all the racers at once. The story is pretty meh, but really it's just an excuse to introduce new and creative challenges.

Driving mechanics are heavily dependant on the cars. Early cars skid out and spin and do all sorts of annoying shit, but as you buy better cars some of them are a dream to drive. The game does a good job at mixing things up though, forcing you to complete some challenges in different camera modes (first person, cinematic), or in certain cars or at certain speeds. I'm only at the half way point, and wondering if they'll be able to keep up the consistently new content, or if it'll start repeating soon.

Also split screen is a riot.

So basically, it's a highly fun and entertaining game that I probably wouldn't reccommend picking up on day one, but definitely worth a look at later on for those who just want some arcadey driving with a twist.

 

[andreas3K]

Does anyone else think that the main character's friend looks exactly like Sazh from Final Fantasy XIII? Like seriously they look pretty much identical.

I noticed that too and I think it's cool.

I played the demo and I had fun. The handling felt really bad at first and cornering was tricky due to the lack of grip, but once I got used to it, it was alright. The story seems interesting, or at least it's presented in a fun way. Shfting into other people's cars seems weird, but fun and might open up some interesting possibilities.

Seems like a cool game, I'll probably buy it.