DRIV3R : Games : Web Wombat

At times like this I wish I had insurance on the old '86 Holden Gemini, as just recently I had an uncontrollable urge to drive with reckless abandonment.

This is because I have been driving under the influence. The influence of DRIV3R.

Simply put, it's one of the best games I've ever played, although I could be slightly biased in making this call, as I am a petrol-drinking speed freak who has a tee-shirt that reads "I luv burnouts, boobs and beer."

But before we get into the nitty gritty, let's take a trip down memory lane. For those who have not had the exquisite pleasure of the Driver experience, allow me:

Previous instalments of Driver have always been mission-based driving games generally set in a small variety of medium sized cities. You basically get a car and have to burn around avoiding the cops while brokering incredibly shady deals left, right and centre.

You'd encounter road blocks and squad cars en masse, which were usually out to inflict some first class police brutality on your a$$, and this was one of the key drawcards of the game.

Another reason people loved the previous Driver titles were the burnout capabilities - on the control pad there is an accelerator, a brake and a burnout button. The burnout button allows you to maximise your circle work activity and get the most fun out of every journey. And let's face, burnouts are cool.

All these cool concepts for the action driving genre were executed with a very intricate graphics and physics engine, which was the icing on the cake and made driving the cars, which were quite reactive to the environments, heaps of fun.

<<Insert fart gag about spicy food>>

Although previous versions of Driver were limited to a one-car-per-level parameter, they have won many accolades, including numerous game of the year awards from around the World.

And now, in this 3rd instalment to the Driver series, a few new innovations have been added in a bid to improve the latest game's appeal.

The one car per level rule has now been shattered into tiny non-existing bits of nothingness, with your character's (Tanner) ability to leave his vehicle and enter (with force) any vehicles on the road.

He can do this at any time but it is particularly important when Tanner's current vehicle has been in one to many "fender benders" and is no longer suitable for safe road transit.

There are over 70 vehicles to choose from, which kind of made me feel like a kid in a candy store.

The vehicles are specific to each city and you can get your hands on muscle cars, sports cars, sports bikes, sedans, convertibles, hotrods, dumpsters, flatbeds forklifts, pickups, artics, vans, go carts, buses, SUVs, cruiser bikes, mopeds, off-shore powerboats, cruisers, shing boats and even police patrol boats. Take that Grand Theft Auto.

And if that doesn't get your motor running, then how about this - the vehicles have up to 20 damageable and detachable panels, which means I have now left the candy store and am on my way to mass destruction heaven, to simply sit and drink av-gas and smoke tyre rubber with the V8 Gods.

You play a fella called Tanner, and this is his story: He's a good guy, always has been and probably always will be. He's a tough-but-fair, good old American action hero working undercover for the CIA or FBI or something like that.

Tanner decides to vent some pre-tax
anger on a hapless freeway driver

Anyways he's knocking about undercover with some hardcore Scarface-esque Cuban lads who dabble in the stolen car export trade.

Tanner needs to first impress the "mob" with his highly sought after driving skills, cool head under pressure and lethality with the iron (I'm talkin about boom sticks). And if the mob like you - you're in.

DRIV3R, as with previous Driver instalments, has a range a game modes to choose from. The Undercover mode is the main mode where Tanner is working with the mob and has over 30 assignments to complete.

But if that's not your cup of tea, try your luck at Survival mode. It's great for all those thrill-seekers out there with "Born to Die" tattoo's on their torsos.

The Survival mode basically consists of you, your car and a squad of ultra-aggressive, psychotic, blood sucking, clinically insane coppers who hate you and want you dead so badly it hurts.

The aim of survival mode is to keep your car alive as long as possible whilst "the fuzz" crash and bash and do everything possible to stop you dead.

Other modes include Take a Ride, which is really sweat. It's the mode where you can just sit back, cruise along at your own pace, take in the scenery, crank up the kick-a$$ driving tunes and explore the massive locations, which by the way took 25 designers to build and render. And feel free to attract some attention from some moderately aggressive cops in order to mix it up a bit.

It keeps things interesting and fun, and don't worry, they're the Sunday afternoon type of cops -- they're kinda lazy, kinda fat and really just looking for a doughnut shop. Pop a cap in a cop though, and they will turn into the ultra-violent blood suckers from survival mode!

You want physics, you got 'em baby!

The gameplay has been heavily altered from previous versions of Driver, and here's the very short version of one mission: Drive to a bar, get out, shoot up the bar, get back in the car, escape from the marauding police.

It's a lot of fun, although I feel it's a much better driving game then it is a 1st/3rd person shooter game (the views are switchable).

The driving aspect of the game is almost impeccable and loads of fun, and the physics are top notch too, and that burnout button should be mandatory on all driving games.

However, some of the shooting missions can get a little tedious and frustrating as Tanner does not handle very well when he is on foot. The weapons are pretty good but there is just an overall lack of appeal to the non-driving areas of the game.

While the on foot aspect is hardly what you'd term as 'utterly crap-tastic', the controls don't provide enough accuracy for aiming your weapons of minimal destruction, and I did encounter a few collision detection problems too. The simple act of jumping also caused me lots of grief, and when time is a factor in missions, this sloppy coding can become fatal.

Don't get me wrong, it's a wicked way to mix things up and keep it all fresh and keep the old brain bubbling away. I'm just saying that I'd prefer to see the on foot element easier to use, shorter and with more impact.

DRIV3R also gets three massive locations to choose from - Miami in America, Nice in France and Istanbul in Turkey. Due to the generous size of the locations, a fair bit of time is required to explore in order for you to seek out all the little treasures that are buried away in the vast cities.

Guns and cars. 'Tis the perfect marriage of metal...

Just the other day I stumbled across a 4WD track in the Miami location, and needless to say the track is more fun then watching someone sprint their a$$ off to catch a train only for it to pull away a couple of seconds before they reach the doors, usually doubled over, sweating and swearing vociferously.

If it's on the map, you can drive there, and this freedom allows you to be creative.

If you're being chased, which happens a lot, why not take the action down on the beach if you're feeling, err, beach-like, or through parks, tennis courts, off road and even into people's front yards.

And, if you think you're a bit of a dare-devil, then take a massive launch off a ramp and land straight into oncoming freeway traffic. It's a very intense getaway experience indeed.

While there are bits and pieces of the game that don't gel perfectly, on the whole DRIV3R is a very satisfying experience, and the inclusion of motorbikes, boats and forklifts adds greatly to the game's appeal.

The ability to steal then drive/crash any vehicle on the road is extremely cool, and I think what we have here, ladies and gents, is a bonafide top shelf game. It's a high quality production, with Michael Madsen (aka Mr. Blonde) voicing Tanner perfectly, and the other voice actors put in good turns too, including Ving Rhames, Michelle Rodriguez and Mickey Rourke.

You'll get to hammer through some of the biggest cities you'll ever see on a console, you can mess about with the director/replay mode (complete with slow-mo effect - great for big stacks), and of course instigate some of the craziest chases you'll ever see.

I'd like to thank you all for reading and encourage you all to drive safe. And by drive I mean speed, and by safe I mean dangerously. Maybe topping up that auto insurance could be a wise move for all those gamers who, like me, are easily influenced.

I know I will be getting myself a nice little insurance pack, woah momma!

Game: DRIV3R
System: PS2
Players: 1
Online: No
Developer: Reflections
Distributor: Atari

Rating: 85%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

DRIV3R is on the shelves now.

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