Driv3r

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Game Information
Name: Driv3r
Genre: Action, Shooter
Release Date: June 21, 2004
Developers: Ubisoft Reflections
Publishers: Atari
Age rating: 16+
Modes: Single-player
Console(s):


Synopsis
Tanner's back for another undercover mission. This time, his assignment takes him through Miami, Nice, and Istanbul.

Plot
The story begins with two undercover agents called Tanner and Jones who are badly injured in an ambush against a man named Jericho. The cut-scene ends and the two men find themselves in Miami where the first section of the game takes place. Jones starts off by chasing a woman running a drug gang called Calita, but she gets away, so Tanner is sent in undercover to join the drug gang and earn Calitas trust. Tanner manages to infiltrate the gang and completes many tasks for Calita against an enemy drug gang leader called The Gator. Eventually, Tanner shoots The Gator. The story then moves to Nice in France, with Tanner still undercover working for Calita. Tanner completes more tasks given to him by Calita and which eventually result in him killing another person whom has a car belonging to Calita. Next, Tanner meets two other undercover agents but Calita figures out they are working undercover and kills one of the agents with Jericho who hospitalised both Tanner and Jones at the beginning of the game. Tanner manages to escape nice with the other agent and eventually finds himself in Instanbul, hunting down Jericho and Calita. He finds out where the gang is based and goes to spy on them, as he is doing this, he finds out the man he shot and thought he had killed earlier in Miami, The Gator. After a fight with the other agent, Tanner meets up with Jones again and chase down the two drug lords. Jones chases down Calita and arrests her, she tells the police Jerichos plans as she no longer has anything to lose. Tanner chases Jericho and they end up in a shoot-out in an alley. Both men are shot and are taken to hospital in the closing scenes of the game.

Gameplay
This game only supports single-player, third-person gameplay in an open world where the player can choose to play through the story and just play around trying out different vehicles and weapons. Vehicular gameplay is definitely the strong point in this game as there is such a range wide of vehicles available to the player. Players can interactive with over seventy different types of vehicles including motorbikes, cars, boats and even a go kart! Vehicles have very realistic sound effects and gain damage from collisions and gunfire which can lead to the vehicle exploding in a ball of fire. Gameplay on foot is not as spectacular as the vehicular gameplay, as there are a limited amount of weapons which and most gunning missions are very repetitive. The game has quite a bad AI with bots running in strange places and enemies with terrible aim as well as the playable characters having a very awkward jump. Overall vehicular gameplay is definitely much better than gun-play gameplay.



Graphics
For the time that Driv3r was released, the graphics were fantastic and one of the best features of the game. The surrounding environment had great detail and some of the environment was even destructible. The graphics on the vehicles was immaculate, especially as the vehicles take damage and explode. The water on the game also shows reflections which was quite a new feature when this game was released. However, there is a downside that many of the civilians look exactly the same and character graphics were not too detailed alike weapon details. Overall the graphics are very smooth with little to no glitches.

Controls
The controls on Driv3r are very similar to most other third-person shooters and racing games. Experienced gamers should find the controls very simple to pick up, although they may be difficult for a newer gamer to get used to. Driving controls are very simple and easy to use with very limited issues. On foot controls are also relatively easy, although aiming weapons can be quite hard to learn even though there is an aim assist feature. The controls are pretty average and there are not many things different to learn such as combos etc... Overall the controls are very simple and should be no problem for most gamers.

Ratings (Personal)
Plot: 8.8/10
Game play: 5.5/10
Graphics: 9/10
Controls: 6.8/10
Overall: 6.5/10