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Driver: San Francisco, first impressions on multi-player modes

Jamie Pert — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:10:23 +0000

Driver is a game that for years, has had to stand up with its bitter rivals in the driving simulator genre. From GTA to GT5, Driver has always just fallen short of what is expected of a fast-paced driving game, but from the looks of things, Driver: San Francisco could become the pack leader with its exceptional multiplayer modes including; “Tag” and “Capture the Flag.”

What’s that you say? Capture the Flag? In a car game? All will be explained, so just fasten your seatbelt while we take you through it.

First of all, we want to talk about Tag mode. Now as dull as it sounds, the guys at Ubisoft have made sure that it wont just be a couple of cars forever chasing one car to become “it,” no, they have added extra mechanics that make such things as Tag and Capture the Flag possible.

Introducing Shift. Shift is an entirely new mechanic that makes you feel like you are an agent from the Matrix, where by you can “Shift” from car to car, taking control of each one as you teleport to it, without actually getting out of the car. It’s kinda like a key-fob, you always focus your eyes and zoom onto your car, press a button and viola, the car is open. But imagine doing this, but instead of unlocking the car doors, you insta-port inside it. This is the mechanic that Driver has solely built itself around. Like it, love it, embrace it.

Now that Shift is out of the way, explaining the new Tag mode will be a lot simpler. There will always be one person who is “it,” but that will change as the time goes on, and other players strategically plan which car to take which will give them the best chance of a collision, resulting in them becoming “it,” but also then getting away from the rest of the pursuers. In heinsight, there is no point in Shifting to a heavy lorry that can smack seven bails of hay out of the “it” players 2006 Ford GT as it comes up to a junction. Yea, it will be fun, but now try and get away. All in all, Tag mode sounds like fun, and we for one cannot wait to try it out.

According to Ubisoft, Driver will come with a total of eleven online modes and eight split-screen two player modes, which by far sounds enough to keep even the smallest driving fans happy. Other modes include Capture the Flag, which you can probably imagine now that the Shift mechanic has been explained. Cops and Robbers is also another fan-favourite in the list.

There is really not enough time to explain all of the online modes, but VG247 have it pretty wrapped up if you want to take a look at what they think of Driver: San Francisco.

Driver will launch on August 30 in the US, and September 2 in Europe for PC, Mac, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A Wii version with different storyline and gameplay is also due to come out at a yet undisclosed date.

Are you looking forward to playing Tag? We haven’t been this excited since we were kids.

More About: driver, gran turismo, ubisoft

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Driver: San Francisco – 5 handy multiplayer tips

Tina Chubb — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:35:15 +0000

Ubisoft Reflections’ upcoming Driver: San Francisco game – which will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo 3DS – has got to be one of the most anticipated driving games of this year. Not only does the new game feature both split-screen and online multiplayer, it also includes a brand new feature known as ‘Shift.’

For those of you that don’t know what the ‘Shift’ feature is, it enables Tanner to shift to any car he likes at any given time. The downside however is that this feature is not unlimited, so the player is required to recharge their Shift meter by performing power slides and big jumps, as well as driving into oncoming traffic. The ‘Shift’ feature can also be used throughout the 9 multiplayer game modes.

Stephen Lambrechts from uk.ps3.ign.com got the opportunity to play the Driver: San Francisco game recently, and has kindly provided a few handy multiplayer tips. The first pointer is to shift far ahead. A quick tap of the R1 (or RB) button will take your viewpoint right up over the vehicle you are chasing. If players want any chance of catching up to their target using the ‘Shift’ feature, they will have to pick very wisely.

Shifting to a car that is too close to a target vehicle may cause players to fall back again due to the lack of speed. The safest bet according to Stephen is to shift to a car that is much further ahead but traveling in the same direction. Another interesting tip is to avoid shifting into one of the many big trucks that are found on the roads in the Driver: San Francisco game.

The only thing that these large vehicles are good for is blocking traffic in front of the target car you are chasing. Players shouldn’t rush into shifts either. Once players have shifted into another car, they have to wait a while before they can shift again. Another tip for when you become the target car is to drive on the wrong side of the road, as this makes it really hard for other players to shift near you.

One final pointer is to hide in alleyways. This is another great way to avoid other players from shifting near you. With no other cars around, it will become quite difficult for other vehicles to catch up to you. Are you looking forward to playing the multiplayer side of the Driver: San Francisco game?

More About: driver, ubisoft

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Driver: San Francisco – Ubisoft unveils full car list

Tina Chubb — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:48:33 +0000

We have some really exciting news now for those of you that are waiting to pick up a copy of the much-anticipated Driver: San Francisco game when it arrives in stores later this year, as we’ve just heard that the developer Ubisoft Reflections has recently unveiled the full list of cars that will be available. As some of you may already know, the upcoming sandbox-style action driving game will feature more than 125 licensed cars.

If you’ve been keeping up to date with the entire Driver: San Francisco news as and when it’s come in, then you may already know about some of the cars that will be included. As Martin Bigg over at drivinggamespro.com recently noted, the developer has been revealing the cars gradually. However, with the game now being less than two months from launch, Ubisoft has decided to reveal the entire list.

The official Driver: San Francisco car list features a wide variety of vehicles ranging from iconic muscle cars and buggies, to older cars and sports cars. Those of you that are Volkswagen fans will be pleased to know that the vehicle list includes the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, a 1965 Volkswagen Camper, 2009 Beetle Convertible, VW Baja Buggy (1963), VW Scirocco R –Rally (2009) and the VW Scirocco R (2009).

If you’d rather try out an Aston Martin, then you do have the choice of the 2011 Aston Martin Cygnet, a 1963 DB5, the Aston Martin V12 Vantage (2010), 2010 DB9 Volante or the Aston Martin Rapide (2010). The list also contains a number of Ford cars including the 1974 Gran Torino, Ford Crown Victoria (1999), Ford Taurus SHO (2010), 1973 Mustang Mach 1, 2010 Shelby GT500, 2008 F-350 Super Duty and the 1985 Ford RS200 – Rally.

The list may have its fair share of modern day cars, but there are plenty of older style vehicles to choose from as well. This includes cars such as the 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2, 1970 Abarth Fiat 695 ss Assetto Corse, 1967 Shelby GT500, 1975 Pontiac Trans Am, 1959 Cadillac Eldorado, 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, 1966 Shelby Cobra 427, 1966 Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto and the 1951 Hudson Hornet.

However, if you are looking forward to driving a sportier vehicle, then you’ll be pleased to know that the list also includes the 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro, 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports, 1997 McLaren F1, 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 and the 2008 Maserati GranTurismo S. You can read the full car list over on the drivinggamespro.com website.

What cars are you looking forward to the most in the Driver: San Francisco game?

More About: driver, ubisoft

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Ubiost Game Announcement: Driver Is Coming Back – Video Teaser

Jamie Pert — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:58:38 +0000

If you owned the original Sony Playstation you probably remember the impact that a video game called Driver had on the gaming world, essentially the concept was pretty simple, however challenging missions made this more fun.

In the game you played as an undercover NYPD officer who is trying to unravel crime in Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City. To do this you work as a driver for crime lords, carrying out missions whilst keeping a low profile from the police.

These missions involved following other cars without being seen, delivering stolen cars, stopping cars by any means necessary and even scaring a taxi passenger, as the game went on it got harder and harder, which meant it took a long time to complete (for a 13 year old).

So you may be wondering why I have just reminisced about a 11 year old game, well we have recently heard that a new Driver game will soon be announced by Ubisoft, if you check out the official site you can see a countdown timer and a teaser trailer.

At the time of this post the countdown timer read 6 days and 12 hours remaining, as for the video it reminded me of the original driver where you had to complete a long list of tricks within 60 seconds, I don’t think I will ever forget how I struggled performing a reverse 180, which at the time was a relatively new maneuver for a racing video game.