14 DAY TRIAL // 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.
While I certainly enjoyed Need for Speed: The Run, Shift 2: Unleashed or Forza Motorsport 4, all of them had their faults, from The Run’s mediocre story to the much too simulator-oriented Shift 2 or Forza.
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.
