Graphics: 90/100
Gameplay: 88/100
Sounds: 87/100
Longevity: 92/100
Tilt: 87/100
THE WHEELMAN IS BACK
After the mediocre Driver 3 and Parallel Lines, San Francisco marks the franchise's return to glory. The original Driver and Driver 2 were both big hits among the critics and among us players, but something just went wrong after them. Driver 3 had too much stiff shooting and Parallel Lines lacked the Driver vibe, even though it was a good GTA-clone (Tanner wasn't in it!). Now, San Francisco takes the player back to some old-school driving action. Time to get the good old Dodge Challenger R/T back on the road and step into the shoes of the wheelman himself, John Tanner.
AM I AWAKE?
Charles Jericho, Tanner's long time enemy and a ruthless crimelord has been finally caught by Tanner, but the devious Jericho manages to melt his handcuffs, knock out the guards and take control of the armored SWAT car. Tanner is then chased by Jericho in an alleyway and finally they crash. This allows for a very interesting story to happen in which Tanner is seemingly in a coma and all the weird events happen inside his head. Will he ever wake up and stop the escaped and dangerous Jericho? Jericho is developing his masterplan and Tanner is just knocked out, almost dead. Because of this story twist, the players get to use the new revolutionary mechanism called shift.
SUNNY FRANCISCO
San Francisco is a very good-looking game. The textures look great, the cutscenes are amazing and the cars are very detailed. The huge free-roaming San Francisco is a really impressive place full of big jumps, highways and alleyways. All three classic main characters have been, more or less, redesigned for this one. Tanner has more personality, sports a beard and generally looks a lot like Hugh Jackman. Tobias Jones is less black and now sports a beard too. The most radical redesign is easily Jericho who is now a ruthless crimelord instead of being an emotionless mercenary for hire. Instead of a flat top hairstyle and sunglasses, Jericho is now older and sports a black slicked back hair and a black beard. His face is also more scarred. He does wear a similar jacket to his trademark trench coat later in the game, though. I have to say that I liked the original Jericho better.
SHIFT HAPPENS
Driver: San Francisco is a somewhat old-school driving game with a huge collection of different missions. The story missions, called Tanner missions, take the story ahead and usually feature chasing or tailing. Then there's a big slide of side missions which usually put you in some other person's place who is trying to accomplish something or it can be taking down a getaway or it can be scaring a driving school teacher, for example. These usually feature a little story of their own. Then there's hundreds of dares, which have a simple goal that must be accomplished like drifting 100 meters, jumping 30 meters, smashing objects and more. The player earns willpower which is like experience or credits. You can buy garages, abilities and licensed cars (yes, Ford GT, Lamborghini Diablo, they're all in!). The shift that I mentioned is the biggest new element of the game. The shift allows you to move freely above the city like a spirit and then take control of any person's body. That way, for example, chasing a getaway is easier when you can just shift into the oncoming traffic, take a car from there and drive it straight head-on to the getaway's car. Simple, but revolutionary. Unlike in Driver 3 and Parallel Lines, Tanner is the wheelman, not a shooting man. That means that you can't get out of the car in this one.
TIRES SCREECHING
The voice acting is enjoyable. Main people like Tanner, Tobias and Jericho get their jobs done so there's nothing really to complain about in that department. The soundtrack, while not as great as the original songs in Driver and Driver 2, is decent with jazz and funk songs that really fit the mood and atmosphere of the game. The car sounds are fine, even though they sometimes sound a bit wussy. Tires screeching like in classic car chase movies is always a big plus and it has become an trademark of the Driver series.
KEEP DRIVING
After the lengthy 15 hour plus story mode, the game leaves you with hundreds of dares that are fun to complete. San Francisco also features a great split-screen multiplayer. While frame rate drops can occasionally be spotted, the police chases and getaways are double the fun with a friend. So overall, this should keep you hooked for weeks.
+ Big open world, good-looking graphics, nice voice acting, driving is the main event, exciting storyline, shift is revolutionary, licensed cars
- Some frustrating difficulty peaks, not too fond of Jericho's redesign
REAL SCORE: 8.8