Ubisoft’s upcoming title Driver: San Francisco is the next entry in the Driver series, and takes place a few months after the events of Driv3r - once again putting players into the shoes of police detective Tanner. The game is set to be released on September 6th in North America, so let’s take a look at what we know of the game so far.
Picking Up Where They Left Off
*Spoilers”
Driver: San Francisco will continue the story of Driv3r and take players to San Francisco. Both Tanner and Jericho survived the shootout in Istanbul but Tanner is recovering from the bullet wound and in a coma. The game takes place in Tanner’s coma and sees him and his partner tracking down Jericho after he escapes in Tanner’s mind.
*Spoilers End*
The game is presented in a sandbox-style with players able to roam around the vast environment and complete missions whenever they want to. The game’s story follows a rigid structure but there are many side quests and extra challenges that players can tackle if they want a break.
The sandbox element of the game will be a large part of the gameplay and will allow players to explore one of the biggest driving worlds ever put into a video game. Approximately 210 miles of road will be included in the game from the faithfully recreated routes of San Francisco and surrounding areas.
One feature that will not be returning to the racing game series will be the ability to get out of the car. Ubisoft has stated that the game is a “return to roots” for the franchise and the mechanic of leaving the car is being done in too many other games. Leaving the car is replaced by a new mechanic called “Shift.”
Time to Shift
A new feature of the game that is going to drive gameplay is the ability to “shift” into other drivers. Using this ability will allow Tanner to leave his body and enter the body of another person. The new mechanic has several uses in the game, including jumping into different characters for side quests or jumping into bad guys to infiltrate an organization.
The “Shift” feature is not unlimited however; players will need to recharge the ability by performing driving feats like driving in the oncoming lane or performing big jumps. The mechanic is fluid; the player presses a button and it pulls them to a bird’s eye view where they can navigate the streets and pick a car to jump into. For certain missions, like one where Tanner is helping a father-daughter racing team, a “quick shift” mechanic is added which will push Tanner back and forth between two designated drivers for ease.
Real Cars This Time Around
Another new addition to the series is a full array of licensed vehicles that will be made available to the player. In previous Driver titles licensed cars were nonexistent, but in this game there will be over 120 licensed cars. These licensed cars will range from sporty convertibles to bugs and more. Many big name automotive companies like Pontiac, Nissan, Dodge and Ford will have cars featured alongside more sporty luxury cars from companies like Aston Martin, Bentley, Maserati and Audi.
Multiplayer Modes
Multiplayer is a big part of any racing game and Driver: San Francisco is no different. There will be several multiplayer modes made available to players ranging from split-screen races to online matches. Here is a breakdown of the multiplayer modes that have been detailed:
Tag
Tag is very similar to the kid’s game, but with a twist - all of the cars are attempting to hit, or “tag,” a single car. Whoever hits the designated car becomes “it” and the goal of the match is to stay “it” for a specified amount of time. The car that is “it” will have a special marking on its hood and be clearly visible to the other racers in the match.
Takedown: Cops and Robbers
In this mode players will take control of either an out-of-control driver or a group of police chasing down the driver. The game mode ends when either the cops take down the driver or the driver successfully evades the cops.
Shift Race
A mode that centers on the new “shift” mechanic in the game, Shift Race will require players to shift from one car to another to either get ahead of the pack or to sabotage their competition. Recharging the shift meter quickly with jumps and power slides will be the key to this mode. Players can either use the shift function to jump into a car that is in front of the pack or use it to crash a competitor’s car.
Sprint GP
Sprint GP is a straightforward racing mode that will have players racing to checkpoints that are scattered throughout the map. The checkpoints must be hit in the correct order or the player will lose.
Trailblazer
In this mode players will need to follow an AI-controlled car as it races through the town. Players earn points for staying in between the yellow streaks that the car leaves behind. Bigger and more powerful cars are best for this mode because competitors will need to be knocked out of the way.
Capture the Flag
This mode is Driver: San Francisco’s version of the classic game where players will need to capture the enemy flag and return it to their base. Shifting in and out of cars will be essential for this game mode, as players who aren’t carrying the flag can either protect it or stop their competition with roadblocks and other obstacles.
Blitz
Blitz is an interesting twist on the simple “attack the base” concept that splits players into an attacking team and a defending team. The attackers have a simple goal: enter the defender’s zone and stay there as long as possible. The defenders need to keep attacking cars out of the scoring zone. However, a twist is thrown into the mode in that attackers can no longer shift once they are in the scoring zone and the scoring zone itself shrinks as the game mode goes on.
Checkpoint Rush
In Checkpoint Rush players will need to race to reach designated checkpoints as quickly as possible. The first person to get to a checkpoint will get the most points and the amount of points will decline from there. The game mode goes up to 100 checkpoints and the racer with the most points at the end of the race will win.
Relay Race
Relay Race mode is exactly what it sounds like; players will need to pass off a “baton” of sorts to another car at designated checkpoints in the race. The cars are rigged to run out of gas so the exchange has to be made.
This is just a taste of the 19 multiplayer modes that are going to be in the full game, most of which haven’t yet been fully detailed. 11 competitive online modes, three split-screen co-op modes and five split-screen competitive modes have been announced for the game. Private matches will support eight players whereas public online matches will support anywhere from six to eight players, depending on the mode. The multiplayer in the game will have a progression system that will allow players to get upgrades for their cars.
One of the most interesting things about the multiplayer modes is that most of them rely quite heavily on the shift mechanic in the game, so players will need to master shifting to do well in the multiplayer. It is good to see that the new gameplay item is being used in more than just the main game mode.
Demo Impressions
A demo has been released for the game and I promptly downloaded and played it. Here are my thoughts on my first-hand experience with the game.
The demo gives players three different missions to complete that vary from convincing your partner of your new ability to driving a criminal around in the hopes of infiltrating his organization. The first mission is called “Prove It” and deals with Tanner telling Jones about his ability to shift into other people and proving it by shifting into another car and doing crazy things. The shift mechanic is very fluid and doesn’t take long to understand. The HUD gives the player plenty of information on where they should be going and it wasn’t hard to figure out what to do.
The mission had me driving off a ramp, evading the cops and hooking up my car to a tow truck. The cop evading part of the mission was the toughest as it involved either outrunning or outmaneuvering the cops. The blocked-off areas in the map for the demo made outrunning the cops a bit difficult but not impossible. The mechanic for evading the cops is simple and really only requires the player to keep going fast without crashing for a while and they will eventually get away.
The second mission had me jumping in between the two cars of a father and daughter racing team. The objective was to make the father and daughter finish 1st and 2nd in a race around the streets. It was difficult to stay on track with all the cars moving in other directions, but that was part of the challenge.
This mission brought in the concept of the boost which is just like the boost in any other racing game. Holding the left thumbstick forward will initiate the boost and the meter will refill automatically. The mission also brought in the “quick shift” ability which allowed Tanner to jump back and forth between the two drivers in the cars with the push of one button. Pushing the right bumper button (on the Xbox 360 it would be R1 on the Playstation 3) jumps the player back and forth between the two cars quickly. This feature helped quite a bit and streamlined the shifting process which would have been tedious, had the full mechanic been used.
The final mission had me jumping into the body of a low-level criminal who Tanner isusing to get a “man on the inside” of an organisation that he uses Shift to infiltrate. The mission starts out with Tanner taking control of Ordell, the driver, and attempting to drive a passenger to a designated area. Tanner tries to get some information out of his passenger but is unsuccessful.
The place they are going to is crawling with police, so Tanner has to evade the cops and take his passenger to a new location. All of the assignments in the mission are on a timer, so Tanner needs to move quickly to impress the higher-ups in the organization.
These three missions gave a good idea of what the game is all about and provide quite a bit of fun. The controls for the car seem familiar but they are definitely less sensitive than other driving games. A car will take a more life-like turn in this game than in other examples of the genre, and spinning out of control is a lot more frequent in this game. The controls of the car add a good challenge to the game and are a welcome change of pace to the more arcade-style racing games that are out there, though I do love those too.
Overall, the game played very well and had a bit of a twist that is not usually seen in racing games. The shift feature is well done and adds a new gameplay twist that will make this game not only fun but unique. The demo showed all that was needed from the single player experience to prove that variety is clearly there and the different mission types will be fun and accessible.
Wrapping Up
Driver: San Francisco will be released for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and OnLive on September 6th in North America and Europe. The game will combine the fast-paced car action of the series with a massive sandbox environment and a new shift feature that offers a refreshing new take on the racing game genre. With a ton of multiplayer modes and fun gameplay, this title is poised to be a real contender among racing games towards the end of this year. The demo is available on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 now so, if you haven’t already, download it and take up the wheel yourself.
Written by James Pungello
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