When I was tasked with writing a preview for Driver: San Francisco, I jumped at the chance. You see, not only do I happen to be a USA fanatic (well, certain cities within USA, to be precise) but I am also currently the only qualified San Francisco driver on the El33tonline team, so I’ll try to provide my opinion on how the game is looking in terms of reproducing a true San Fran experience, and get my nostalgia-junkie fix at the same time!

The fact that Driver: San Francisco has a plot immediately piqued my interest and raised my expectations. After further inspection I realised that the game actually has a similar feel and appearance to the sandbox Grand Theft Auto games (which I enjoyed immensely), only this time without the crime, murder or mayhem (because you’re a good guy) and with exclusive focus on the cars (because this series is called ‘Driver’). After the game’s intro, you can choose from one of three missions to try out, two of which emphasise the new ‘Shift’ feature prevalent in Driver: San Francisco.

Briefly, Shift is a teleportation ability that allows you to instantly take control of another car on the road, transferring from one driver to another. This ability is explained away in the story of Driver, as protagonist Detective John Tanner has been involved in an accident and slipped into a coma. From this state, Tanner is able to ‘project’ out of one vehicle and into a different one to continue driving. It’s not yet clear whether or not this means Tanner is dreaming or ‘reliving’ the action of the game, but we’re sure to find out when it’s released.

In the first mission the you play as Tanner trying to convince his partner, Tobias, about his new found ‘power.’ Shift seems to be implemented well in the game with a Google Earth-styled interface appearing whenever you activate the ability, allowing you to quickly select other vehicles in the vicinity to take over control from an overhead map. Well, that’s actually not entirely true - Tanner takes over the driver of the vehicle, and not the vehicle itself. Along with this assimilation comes any backseat banter and conversation in the car which can make for interesting dialogue.

The second mission makes use of the Shift ability in a street race where Tanner has to ensure both vehicles in his racing team finish in the top two. The only way to achieve this is to regularly ‘quick shift’ between the two vehicles which is surprisingly easy given the context of a high-speed street race. The ‘quick shift’ function works very well in the heat of the moment and despite dabbling in some driver hot potato you never lose sight of where you are or what you are doing, and when it’s working well, it adds a new and interesting twist to co-operative street racing.

The final mission takes most of the elements of the first mission and extends them to a higher degree of complexity. In this mission Tanner must Shift into a lowly gang driver’s body and perform a few evasive manoeuvres to outrun the San Francisco Police Department, and bring his passenger to a rendezvous point. Racing against the clock, the cops, and oncoming traffic certainly made this mission the most challenging (and in parts, frustrating) for me and showcased a lot more of what the final product of Driver: San Francisco is going to offer.

There’s also the ability to ram other vehicles in the heat of a chase, and when you prime the ram button the screen zooms out a little bit like an elastic band being stretched. When you release the ram button, your car shoots forward like a miniature lance and forces the unfortunate recipients of the ram to shunt out of the way. This can be used to great effect, especially in the second mission, and I think the cops use the tactic too when trying to stop Tanner (or more accurately, the unfortunate driver he’s Shifted into).

Control-wise, the game is a bit unforgiving when it comes to taking corners - it’s almost impossible to take any corners without slowing to a near standstill unless you plan to ram into side-walks or other cars. This detracted heavily from the exhilarating experience of racing through the city in the three short missions I had to play with and hopefully the developers will work on letting the physics be a little more flexible in terms of cornering to emphasise the high-speed chases and evasive racing manoeuvres.

Feature-wise, the developers have promised a lot in Driver: San Francisco, with more than 208 miles of road, iconic San Francisco landmarks (including the Bay Bridge), parts of Marin County and Oakland, and a bevy of over 120 fully licensed (and fully destructible!) cars on offer, not to mention numerous compelling multiplayer modes. Our sampling of the game, unfortunately, only gives us a taste of the singleplayer storyline experience and I can’t yet comment on the multiplayer.

In terms of the overall authentic San Francisco experience, and comparing the game to the real city, Driver: San Francisco seems a lot less colourful and vibrant than what I remember. Granted, the demo has locked off most of the areas around the tourist-parts of San Francisco but I’m still hoping for a bit more life to the city.

While it’s probably extremely difficult to fully recreate this famous Californian city in a videogame, here’s hoping that the final product not only reproduces the vibe and thrill of the town a lot more accurately, and that there’s also a chance to navigate between the cable cars and take a short-cut through scenic China Town!

Driver: San Francisco releases on September 2nd in Europe and the UK, and September 6th in the US.

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