GOTY 2011: Best Racing Game – Driver: San Francisco
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While 2012 was filled with quite a lot of high quality racing titles, not a lot really hit that sweet spot that Driver: San Francisco did, at least for me.
Thankfully, Ubisoft Reflections managed to deliver a fun and lighthearted experience that didn’t take itself too seriously but still delivered a novel mechanic that made racing through the streets of San Francisco seem like a breath of fresh air.
While you blazed across the country in The Run, enjoyed hundreds of highly detailed cars in Forza or pushed vehicles to their limits in Shift 2, there was nothing more fun that shifting from car to car in the Californian city and enjoying the sheer lunacy of some of the side missions from Driver: San Francisco.
From trying to do as many jumps as possible, to recording reckless drivers on tape or getting the heart rate of driving instructors as high as possible, the Driver game made me once again enjoy taking control of virtual cars and doing whatever was possible.
Sure, it had some quirks, like extremely powerful cops, and might not have as many high quality cars as other titles, but, in the end, Driver: San Francisco reminded me of a simpler time when racing wasn’t as simulator oriented as Forza or as sharply tied to a narrative, like The Run.
If you just want to enjoy a great racing game, with a novel mechanic that lets you jump from car to car and engage in all sorts of wacky activities, then Driver: San Francisco shouldn’t be missed, no matter if you get it on the PC, PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.
I have always enjoyed the game reviews here on SoftPedia, I find they hit very close to home, and picking Driver SF as game of the year for racing is no exception!
When I first played this game I was blown away, not just by the detail in the game form the city scape to traffic, but, also the cars interior views, the hand motions of the driver in cockpit view, the dashboards and so on... many of these cars reminded me of when I was a kid, some as a teen, the days when cars had their own unique styles.
The physics in these cars although not simulation, are the best physics of any "arcade" style racing game to date, way beyond that of Need for Speed World, and even edging out DiRT3. The later 2 also favourites of mine.
Driver SF almost feels incomplete in a sense, it feels like there is much more to be added... maybe some dlc's in the future?*hint*
Of all the cars offered in DriverSF, I have to say my favourite one is the Didge Monaco.. why?.. because it's the most basic of cars from the great car era of the 70's, I found that to be a most refreshing touch to a driving game.
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