Driv3r (aka Driver 3)
The third Driver game should have its license revoked.

PLATFORM: XBX, PS2

PUBLISHER: Atari

DEVELOPER: Reflections

GENRE: Action/Driving

ESRB: Mature

We were shocked to see some of the negative comments about Driv3r in the first published reviews. Surely the game couldn’t be as bad as all that. Especially since it was an A-List title, with big-name actors, a movie-sized budget and an ad campaign lesser games could only dream of.

We loaded the game up with great trepidation. The opening scenes in our tasteful Miami abode looked great. The city seemed huge; lighting and detailed textures were impressive. We even thought the on-foot control was miles above other driving/shooting games like Grand Theft Auto or The Getaway.

We hopped in a car. The driving seemed natural and not too arcade-like. The sunlight glinted off our car’s hood and all was right with the world.

Then, we started our first mission.

After a brief shooting range practice session, you’re ordered to follow a police car to a crime scene. This is where every other reviewer’s complaints hit us right in the face. If the car you’re following gets more than a few yards in front of you, even if it’s still in plain sight, you fail the mission and have to start over.

Even worse, you pretty much have to follow your target exactly, as if you’re connected by an invisible string. If you cut through a parking lot to catch up with the car you’re chasing, you often fail. Sometimes, if you even cross over to the wrong side of the street, you fail.

You can see how this can get frustrating pretty quickly.

We managed to get through a good number of missions, and found a lot to like about the game – the great architecture, the decent driving controls, the engaging storyline. But, while a lot of the gameplay mechanics were fun, the game itself seems determined to keep us as far from the fun as possible. During missions, you get virtually no chance to see much of the city, which is a shame, as it’s so nicely rendered.

Driv3r looks great and has all the ingredients needed to be a fun game, but in its current version, it’s for masochists only.