Driv3r

When this first came out it looked awesome, playing the first two driver games the graphics in this third installment was a great improvement. Cities more detailed, none of that wobbly PS1 graphics, crashing a vehicle seemed to have more detailed physics etc.

The story is predictable though and follows in the shadows of GTA games with it's certain gaming style attributes along the way.

If you was like me as a child i cared for the 'Take a Ride' option more than it's story.

Movie making mode was great, i use to love making my own movies but then problems started, lets talk about the games glitches......

The game is an absolute mess for glitches, speaking of movie making mode the playback would only get so far before you just saw Tanner randomly jumping and firing his gun into a wall so that was quickly binned. Mainly for the PS2 version some of the cities had huge holes in them so you could just drop yourself and maybe a vehicle a hundred feet to a matrix style area full of weird cracked graphics. Managing to still drive your fallen vehicle down these glitch gaps, driving off the base of the game would sling shot you back up to the surface and even further sometimes hundreds of feet in the air. It's sad but all these interesting glitches is what made the game weirdly enjoyable.

It doesn't stop there...

I'm not kidding if you play in the city of Nice, and start near that big rock you can drive through, i've seen pedestrians committing suicide and just falling off (What are they doing up there?!), same with certain buildings in the city. It's not how the game was intended but these glitches make it a horror show. Not sure if as many glitches happen on the Xbox version. Vehicles falling through the floor randomly, the list goes on.

I feel like this game was trying too much to be like GTA, it's always been it's rival really but certain styles are an exact match. As a child i loved the game nevertheless, but as an adult it's just not the same and seems dull. I suppose it was about back in the day when these games displayed what gaming could accomplish graphics wise but now being 2021 the game is easily disposed and left as just a memory. I still own it but hardly play it anymore.

As far as this game goes, I say all but one word - meh.

I suppose you could say it's alright. I mean, it is better than that Bruce Lee game, and it is better than that Beach Volley ball game, but still, it's missing something, something that makes the GTA series or to a lesser extent the True Crime games shine. It's hard to describe what but you know what I mean. Right?

The game has several characters voiced by famous actors. In fact, the main character is voiced by Michael Madsen - is there anything he isn't in? He's made appearances in both True Crime: Streets of LA and GTA III. He's also making appearances in the next driver game and some other game I forgot the name of...anyhow, enough about Madsen and on with the game.

The graphics are okay, although often it looks like Tanner has a form of mild constipation, plus the cops AI are as dumb as a sedated rabbit.

The plot's okay I guess. it's about Tanner infiltrating a gang that's smuggling 40 cars to some other country.

Overall, this game's okay. On a score of 1 to 10 1 being the lowest 10 being the highest I give this game a 10 - just kidding. An 6. Keep reaching for that rainbow Atari.

I love this game! And I still play it from time to time, after almost 10 years! Crazy, right? Maybe. I am aware of why people criticize this game. Poor on-foot controls, lack of polish, bad enemy AI, missions that are "too" difficult, and the game not feeling like it's finished. But, here are the reasons why I bare with it anyway. The on-foot, while certainly not feeling as smooth as it could, still works. I love running from side to side to shoot the enemy, and it works great for that. I love fps shooters! You get used to the roughness of it after awhile. The driving is also loads of fun. The feeling of the car is amazing, and sliding into turns is just so much fun! The police chases are also really exciting. The AI. It works! They do their job of trying to kill you fairly well, and can at least evade your shots a little bit. They act more like weak terminators than humans, but they still get the job done. They are fun to kill. Also, this game pretty much feels finished, to me. In a sense that, they added in everything that needed to be added, and it's fun. But, polish wise, definitely not. They could have used at least another few months polishing it. But, no! Atari needed it released right away! Oh, and if you think the missions are too tough, quit being a baby! Toughen up yourself! It is so satisfying when you finally beat a mission. Depending on what kind of a person you are, though, you might not want to do it again. It is not that hard, though. At least not to me. Also, while this game does have loads of bugs, they don't seem to get in the way of actual game-play all that much. Most of the time, nothing really bad happens. For example, falling through the floor in free roam, and having to start over. That is about as bad as it gets, and it rarely happens, depending on what you are doing. So, there you have it. I love this game! Maybe on technical terms (polish, smoothness, graphics) this game deserves what IGN gave it, a 5.4. But, based fun and how much I enjoy it, it deserves a 10 in my book.

Driv3r (Driver 3) is a very playable game. Those who rate it poorly because it wasn't simple should look into games rated N (n00b). I find the physics in Driver to be much more realistic than GTA games. The GTA series is another awesome series, and definitely has more to offer in GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas than Driv3r does due to the open-ended game-play and mini-games, etc. In comparison, Driv3r's Undercover mode is a very linear path. You beat mission after mission, each preceded with a cinematic. Driv3r is not for everyone. Fans of the series will appreciate it more than others. Although it does require some patience in beating the missions, anyone who can tie their shoes should be able to handle it. I look forward to Driver: Parallel Lines, and hope Atari and company continue to make the series better.

Driv3r was not well received by gaming critics when released, but it does show promise and definite improvement quality wise in comparison to its two predecessors. Of course, this is to be expected in the current age of gaming technology, with Driv3r showing a more realistic damage model; the use of weaponry; the ability to use boats and the excellent cinematic scenes (as well as the music) in between missions.

Greed and corruption are the main aspects of the rather entertaining storyline, and leads the player to an interesting climax; the numerous characters from the prequel certainly make their presence felt. These are the positive aspects to Driv3r which make it a somewhat enjoyable game in the franchise, even if the game-play does have the odd niggle.

In a nutshell, I liked Driv3r and what it entails; although it may ultimately lack the edge of the GTA franchise, it has enough strength to hold its own, and should be acknowledged for what it offers.