DRIVER: SAN FRANCISCO IS OK
Yep, it's alright. The overarching concept is really interesting - the ability to jump from car to car at any moment. But, I felt like it wears a little thin. I seemed to be doing the same thing in every game mission or side mission. Start mission - warp into oncoming vehicle - crash head-on into target vehicles - repeat until you win. The variety of missions also seems a little thin. Less than a few hours into the game you will have played the same 3 or 4 scenarios over and over again - Race mission, Police pursuit mission, Getaway mission. That's pretty much it. There are some other types of missions, like transporting a vehicle without damaging it, but that is the same as a getaway mission. That being said, it is a fun mechanic, and crashing head-on into oncoming vehicles almost never gets not fun. What? Double negative? Yeah, deal with it.
The real star of the game is the story. You play as a Starsky and Hutch inspired cop, who falls into a coma while pursuing a super-criminal guy. The game takes place inside the coma guy's head, which is the justification for being able to body-leap. The story is well done, the writing is good, well voice-acted and engaging. Every time you load up the game you will get a little "Last time on Driver:SF" vignette to catch you up on the events on the game you have been playing ( in case you forgot ) it seems kind of silly to watch a bunch of cut-scenes that you just watched, but it is a neat addition, and I guess more useful if you put the game down for more than a few hours.
The driving mechanics are not my favourite. The cars all feel really swimmy, and appear to perform unrealistically at high speeds. I can't count the number of times I've been travelling at 130+MPH, with my car fishtailing side to side, but not skidding out, just driving sideways like it ain't no thang. They are serviceable, but I wouldn't recommend this game for it's driving.
If you don't mind a mediocre driving game with one really interesting mechanic and a great story, then Driver: San Francisco is the game for you. If not, well, play Minecraft or something.
