DRIV3R

"Somebody blew out the tires on this one."

Driv3r has raced into the world after four years in the manufacturing plant. With voice talent from big-name stars like Michael Madsen, Ving Rhames, and Michelle Rodriguez, three cities to cause mayhem in, and a mix of gunplay and car chases, Driv3r sets its sights on the GTAs and True Crimes. At least, that's what Atari thinks...

Story: Watch the following movies and you'll have your plot for Driv3r.

Bad Boys
Gone in 60 Seconds
Point Break
The Fast and The Furious
Bad Boys II

Basically, it reads like this: Undercover FBI agent Tanner (Michael Madsen) joins up with the South Beach gang, a Miami-based operation headed by the ruthless Calita (Michelle Rodriguez). South Beach has 40 of the world's most exotic cars in it's hands, and needs a driver to help get them out. You're it.

Nothing spectacular. This plot's merely there for you to pick up the game and play. It's quite boring actually, almost worse than some of the crap I see on HBO at 3 AM. True Crime had a better plot (and yes, I say that with full knowledge that True Crime threw some real long balls out of left field).

Story Rank: 4/10.

Gameplay: The gameplay is a Grand Theft Auto-style mix of shooting and driving. According to some sources, 70% of the game's levels are driving, with the final 30% being shooters. Now, given the success of GTA: Vice City and True Crime, and the fact that Driv3r has been delayed numerous times to allegedly improve the gameplay, this should have had a good shot of coming close to, matching, or beating out GTA and True Crime. Well...let me explain.

The driving part, the bread and butter of the game, is quite enjoyable. With a large assortment of cars, motorcycles, and trucks to choose from in three cities (Miami, FL, USA; Nice, France; and Istanbul, Turkey), the possibilities for large-scale police chases are aplenty. All the cars and motorcycles handle semi-realistically, with subtle, but noticeable differences between each one. At the same time, though, the cars slide out when pushed through turns at high speed, for that added Hollywood movie excitement. All this can be seen on the replay, which sees the return of Film Director (so you can create your own Gone In 60 Seconds-style chase scene) and the addition of an in-game Thrill Cam (that slows the action down, Matrix-style, and shows you your car from a camera placed a little ways away). Also, you can take other cars once yours gets wrecked, so you can keep on rollin'. Hours of fun can be had just from the free-roaming Take a Ride mode. Unfortunately, for every act of pleasure, there will be considerable pain...

...and that pain comes when you get out of the car. Although the rabid Driv3r fanboys on the message board will tell you that the on-foot controls are great, the truth is this: Driv3r has the absolute WORST on-foot controls of any game in it's current price range. Instead of relying on a lock-on system where you choose your targets (GTA: VC, Syphon Filter, JB007: EoN, countless others) or a lock-on system that chooses the nearest target for you, provided you have guns at the ready (True Crime: Streets of LA), we are given a First Person Shooter-style control system for a 3rd person game (strike one). This system has an auto aim, but it is rarely useful, as you have to be on top of the intended target for it to lock. Unfortunately, trying to hit the target with manual aiming is spotty at best. Collision detection is awful, since the target may be red or blue - indicating you have a lock - but nothing will hit the target. On the other hand, the target could be white, but your bullets will connect, killing your intended victim. This sketchy way of aiming makes what should be exciting gunfights frustrating survival fests (strike two). And strike three is all the skills that are just about required for games like this nowadays are all but gone. No wall hugging, no popping out from a corner and shooting, no diving for cover. All you can do is run, jump (and badly, but that's another section), shoot, duck, and roll. You can swim, but if you swim for too long, you drown. But wait, this goes for extra strikes! To add insult to glaring injury, you can't customize the control system to fit your tastes. And you can't use hand to hand skills to subdue or disarm your targets.

I haven't mentioned the enemy AI yet. I probably shouldn't. Quite simply, this is their lot in life:

Shoot. Walk forward. Shoot some more. Get hit with a bullet. Shoot some more. Duck behind nothing. Shoot some more. Get hit with tons of bullets. Die.

I said that exciting gunfights can become frustrating survival fests, but that's just if you get surrounded, in which case, you are dumber than the AI. That's all I'm gonna say about the AI, and I'll end with this: where are the improvements we were promised?

Gameplay rank: In car - 8/10, On-Foot - 2/10

Graphics: Another mixed bag. On the one hand, the cutscenes are quite detailed, looking very polished, and very good (maybe that's where all the improvements were made). On the other hand, in-game graphics are a toss-up between OK and stupid. Glitches abound in this game, from pop-up of buildings that weren't there a minute ago, to cop cars that will magically drop on your car or bike while running from the police right out of the blue. Remember what I said about Tanner jumping? Oh, my God. It almost brought me to tears when I jumped for the first time, I was laughing so hard. This man, who is supposed to be a real badass, looks like he's performing in the Blue Danube when he jumps. Sad.

Graphics rank: 5/10

Sound: The best part of the game, outside of the cutscenes. As IGN said, having Michael Madsen, Michelle Rodriguez, and Ving Rhames (as Tanner's partner) added some authenticity to the game. It kind of gets you more into the game. The soundtrack is gold (another place where the development budget went, apparently). That's all that needs to be said about that. The engines sound pretty authentic, but, for some strange reason, voices in the cutscenes are rather hushed.

Sound rank: 8/10

Overall: Had Atari and Revolutions not spent 3 years, 11 months, and 15 days getting the music, and the voice actors, and the cutscene graphics right, the game could have been so much more enjoyable to play. As it is now, this game is what NBC News would call a "Fleecing of America". But, it's selling like hotcakes, so a sequel is pretty much in the bag. Please, Atari, if you're reading this, FIX THE PISS POOR ON-FOOT CONTROLS AND ENEMY AI. Anyway, my recommendation is, wait until this becomes a Greatest Hit, then buy this at the $20 reduced price. Getting it now for fifty dollars should equal giving the store 20 and flushing the other 30 down the toilet.

Overall rank: 6/10 (I'm being a little generous)

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/04