Driv3r
Driv3r is cool. As mentioned previously, somewhere in this blog, Atari have successfully taken most of the good shit from the original Driver and used it in this title to good effect.
There's a slew of vaguely familiar cars to drive, all of which behave differently on the road and still maintain surprising realism from the physics engine (this coming from someone who doesn't have a license.) As the level progress they throw you into a variety of these cars, forcing you to take a few turns in each one to get the hang of that particular vehicle before you can feed it to the evil fuckers you're after.
Following on from the trend the GTA3 franchise kicked off, there's the obligatory motorbike (shitly implemented) and a couple of big trucks, buses and even some boats to fuck around in. Pretty pointless, poorly implemented and effectively useless in the game, except of course when they dump you in the ocean and you have to get home. The boats are handy then.
Something thats gradually diminished from games over recent years is the ongoing storyline, told as you progress through the missions. My fondest memories of this sort of delivery comes from titles like StarCraft and though the storyline of Driv3r obviously covers a different scale entirely, the concept is still there and assists in dragging you into what's going on plot wise. They've got dudes like Michael Madsen to record dialogue and recognising a voice in the cinematics makes the whole thing that little bit more enjoyeable. Cut scenes are delivered by pre-rendered animations, rather than in engine, but this is good 'cause apart from the cars the game engine looks pretty crap.
Unfortuantely Atari have followed the recent trend in console games to include third-person shooter components. Consoles are shit for shooting guns, everyone knows this but some people seem to like it, but I suppose some people like having someone taking a dump on them too. The shooty bits are pretty crap, the controls are typically useless and all in all I feel it detracts from the pace of the game.
Finally, Atari have fucked up the end of the game. Much like in the first Driver and American McGee's Alice, which was an otherwise immaculate game, the final level is a magnitude more difficult than the rest of the game. Now I don't mind a challenge, and Eightball can vouch for my success in overcoming such obstacles as the finale of Driver, but I CANNOT see the point in discarding the skills a player has built up as they work through a title, nor destroying their enjoyment in the game, just to produce a hard-to-beat final level. Cockheads.
So yeah, I've paid out several aspects of the game, but that's more because my job's giving me the shits rather than because they detracted noticibly from the game. Driv3r is great fun and will take most people several weeks to complete. Getting the hang of vehicles really gives you a kick, before too long you're carving your way through traffic like it's a re-enactment of Ronin, but without convienent gaps between oncoming traffic.
If you don't like my first review, suck my dick.
There's a slew of vaguely familiar cars to drive, all of which behave differently on the road and still maintain surprising realism from the physics engine (this coming from someone who doesn't have a license.) As the level progress they throw you into a variety of these cars, forcing you to take a few turns in each one to get the hang of that particular vehicle before you can feed it to the evil fuckers you're after.
Following on from the trend the GTA3 franchise kicked off, there's the obligatory motorbike (shitly implemented) and a couple of big trucks, buses and even some boats to fuck around in. Pretty pointless, poorly implemented and effectively useless in the game, except of course when they dump you in the ocean and you have to get home. The boats are handy then.
Something thats gradually diminished from games over recent years is the ongoing storyline, told as you progress through the missions. My fondest memories of this sort of delivery comes from titles like StarCraft and though the storyline of Driv3r obviously covers a different scale entirely, the concept is still there and assists in dragging you into what's going on plot wise. They've got dudes like Michael Madsen to record dialogue and recognising a voice in the cinematics makes the whole thing that little bit more enjoyeable. Cut scenes are delivered by pre-rendered animations, rather than in engine, but this is good 'cause apart from the cars the game engine looks pretty crap.
Unfortuantely Atari have followed the recent trend in console games to include third-person shooter components. Consoles are shit for shooting guns, everyone knows this but some people seem to like it, but I suppose some people like having someone taking a dump on them too. The shooty bits are pretty crap, the controls are typically useless and all in all I feel it detracts from the pace of the game.
Finally, Atari have fucked up the end of the game. Much like in the first Driver and American McGee's Alice, which was an otherwise immaculate game, the final level is a magnitude more difficult than the rest of the game. Now I don't mind a challenge, and Eightball can vouch for my success in overcoming such obstacles as the finale of Driver, but I CANNOT see the point in discarding the skills a player has built up as they work through a title, nor destroying their enjoyment in the game, just to produce a hard-to-beat final level. Cockheads.
So yeah, I've paid out several aspects of the game, but that's more because my job's giving me the shits rather than because they detracted noticibly from the game. Driv3r is great fun and will take most people several weeks to complete. Getting the hang of vehicles really gives you a kick, before too long you're carving your way through traffic like it's a re-enactment of Ronin, but without convienent gaps between oncoming traffic.
If you don't like my first review, suck my dick.
posted by skaffen at 8/13/2004 02:56:00 pm
3 Comments:
Apparently nobody wants to be the first to say they don't like your review. All that work, no dick suckage for Saffen.
If you are back - you must have finished Doom3.
Where's your review of that ? Its got a bit of a story line and keeps making me shit my pants.
It be coming soon. I finished it, downloaded vid tutes for the level editor and then had a bunch of mates from Melbourne turn up.
It is coming though, I just need to get drunk to write it :)
BTW, HL2 is being pre-loaded to Steam as we speak. Motherfuckinggod I don't need a life anymore whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
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