Well I ordered Driver: San Francisco yesterday when it came out for the Xbox. I have fully played and reviewed it today and yesterday and the think its great. This reminds me of the movie bullet with Steve McQueen but without the walking around. Here’s a short background of the game. A ruthless crime lord, Charles Jericho, is lurking in the streets of the City by the Bay. John Tanner is on a mission to stop the threat of this crime lord. Step into the driver’s seat as this hardened detective and get ready for a relentless manhunt. Driver: San Francisco puts the wheels back into the hands of the player in this next installation in the classic racing saga. In this battle of good and evil, your car is your main weapon, and there are more than 130 vehicles to choose from. Tear through more than 200 square miles of road in San Francisco, including many iconic locations. Instantly swap to the exact car you need the moment you need it. In addition, you will get to experience six online game modes.

All missions completed earn the player ‘will power’, which can be spent in garages around the city on new cars. The game features licensed models for the first time, including luxury marques such as the Ford GT and Aston Martin Rapide, and there are an awful lot of cars to choose from. One of the greatest triumphs about Driver: San Francisco is the actual driving itself. Taking control of the vehicles is an absolute joy. The graphics are a mixed bag too. The facial animations and cut scenes are strong, with an impressive level of detail in the animation. However, the city itself feels a bit plastic and cheap, somewhat like those videos the council creates to show off a new urban development that will never get made. However, there are plenty of cars on the roads and pedestrians on the streets to at least make the city feel like a busy place to race around.

Alongside the lengthy single player campaign, Driver: San Francisco also offers a suite of up to 19 multiplayer modes for up to eight players online. Notable challenges include Trailblazer, where players have to catch the trails left by a speeding car to earn points, while Tag sees players competing to be ‘it’. Unlocking certain modes requires earning experience points to level up, which seems a bit disappointing considering people have paid for the full product and this is not DLC.

Screen Shots

Heres DanQ8000 testing out Xbox live demo version a few weeks ago.