Driv3r

The most important thing to remember when looking at Driver 3 is that it is absolutely not trying to be Grand Theft Auto, The Getaway, True Crime, or any such game. Driver 3 is about power sliding, traffic swerving, high speed escapes through a Hollywood film sized city. And it can be pretty polarizing.

Jumping right into Driv3r, it's easy to get lost as to what you're meant to gleam from the game. There's a “take a ride” mode, which lets you freely drive around the city, a story mode, and several small driving minigames. Anyone who bought into the game on the assumption that it was a GTA-wannabe probably felt disappointed by any of the options, regardless.

Starting with “Take a Ride” is what's recommended, because it lets you get a good feel for the controls and individual handling of the cars. And that's when I learned that something -no matter what anyone else may say about it- that Driv3r can always claim, is that it has damn good driving mechanics. Every emergency brake, slide, swerve, reverse, throttle, and jump feels absolutely beautiful. Adding to the wow factor is an absolutely MASSIVE selection of cars, all with varied handling, and amazingly detailed damage models, at least for the time. There's nothing that feels quite as good as weaving through traffic in a crowded city with cops on your tail.

You'll end up at Take a Ride one way or the other.

Unfortunately, Take a Ride mode is also where the game takes time to introduce you to its flaws. The cities are an absolute obstacle course to navigate. Everything from trees to bushes to light-posts is indestructible, and smashing into them is sure to halt your high-speed chase to a teeth-grinding stop. I understand that one can argue large poles would withstand being rammed, but I doubt too many people could agree that knee high shrubs should be made of adamantium.

The reason these items are solid is to give the player some way to escape from the cops in less than speedy vehicles, and truthfully, when you are able to dodge every pole in your path and leave the cops behind you in a big wreck, it feels pretty good. It's not anywhere near comparable to the oh-so brief feelings of flying through Miami, smashing through fences and jumping across entire roads with tail right behind you, though.

Other than taking a joy-ride and getting a grasp of the mechanics, as its name implies, there's not really too much Take a Ride mode has to offer. There are goons scattered throughout the three cities for shooting, which unlocks extra challenges, but they're only bound to entertain for ten or so minutes.

There's ten of these guys to take down in each stage.

The main game (Undercover mode) is decently long, but it's not until the later half of the first city -Miami- that the game gets into the good stuff, and many people probably gave up by then. Why? On-foot missions. Back from Driver 2, Reflections Interactive decided to give on-foot levels another go, but this time with guns and an embarrassingly difficult control scheme.

No matter how forgiving and open you are to games, the first time you try moving around and shooting with Tanner, you are going to be appalled. There is absolutely no reason for the controls to work the way they do. Tanner's legs move entirely separately from the rest of his body on the left stick, and his torso, controlled with the right stick, moves far too slowly for you to get a good aim on whatever it is you're trying to shoot.

The first mission is an exercise in frustration. You have to confront a group of enemies after a brief drive, and you're more than likely to just stand in front of them and smash the shoot button, which is what they'll be doing too. It looks horrible, and it feels horrible.

Pew pew.

The first shootout in the game gives you the absolute worst possible impression of the main mode. Even after you shoot through a few baddies, the rest of the stage is a very ho-hum chase after a criminal. Most people would probably put the game down for good at this point.

If you have the patience to get to stage five, the game suddenly decides it wants to live up to its namesake, and you'll drive around a lot, smashing through walls, jumping over buildings, and sliding through alleys.

Hello there fun. Where've you been?

If you continue further into the game still, past another hideous on-foot section, you make it to the definitive "this is a Driver game" stage, where you escape through a mall flooding with cops, burst out the exit, and drive all the way back to your base with the police on your tail.

There's even a mission halfway through the second city in which the car will explode if you drop below 50 MPH, Speed style, and there's never a dull moment after that. Even the shooting sections become tolerable when you remind yourself what the reward is. 

From then on, Undercover mode has its faults, but they pale in comparison to the thrills. There really aren't any other driving games out there like the Driver series, and Driv3r makes sure you have its name etched into your brain by the climax.

For all its faults, the game is ultimately a thrill to play, and it boasts some nearly flawless handling and diversity for its roster of cars and missions. Far from perfect, and far from great, it still certainly has enough of that delicious uniqueness only Reflections can offer, given you feel like digging for it.