Driver San Francisco | trailer E3 Ubisoft

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[size=+2]Driver San Francisco | trailer E3 Ubisoft [/size]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPM_HOGnK0o&feature=player_embedded


[size=+1]Driver: San Francisco Preview (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)
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The game covers nearly every inch of San Francisco’s actual terrain.  Ubisoft Reflections went to some painstaking lengths to make sure the virtual city of San Francisco is similar to the real one, right down to the monuments and traffic-filled streets.  So when you’re not busy tailing suspects, you can drive around and take in the beautiful sights.  That’s not to say you should be too much of a tourist, though.  Along with your main storyline missions (which tie in to the antagonist, John Tanner – the whole game actually takes place in his mind), there are side missions as well, in which you can earn bonus points and, essentially, become a better driver.

Although we weren’t able to go hands-on with the game, it appears Edmondson and his team are getting back on track in terms of what made the Driver series work so well in the first place – nail-biting action.  Think of it as a video game version of Steve McQueen’s cinematic classic Bullitt, complete with crazy stunts and intense behind-the-wheel situations.  In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if the classic Bullitt car showed up in the car selection, merely as an homage to that cool flick.  (Seriously, pick it up if you haven’t checked it out yet.)  The car physics are pretty accurate (especially the skids) and the number of vehicles you can take control of are staggering.

In addition to the single player campaign, Driver: San Francisco will also introduce several multiplayer games.  We haven’t seen them all yet, but the one we heard of, Trailblazers, is most intriguing.  The AI takes control of a car, and up to four players stay in pursuit of said car, staying in its tail light stream, which streams across the road similar to Light Bike trails from Tron.  The longer you stay in the stream, the more points you accumulate.  Along the way, you can try to throw your opponents off your trail by “jumping” to other vehicles and causing accidents, and then returning in time to stay behind the car.  It’s a nice idea, but, of course, we wouldn’t mind seeing some Cops vs. Robbers type multiplayer action as well.

Ubisoft recently announced that Driver: San Francisco wouldn’t be coming out until early 2011, so we won’t be racing around its streets anytime this year.  However, with the original team back on task and several interesting ideas on the board, it’ll be worth the wait, we believe.  Look for more coverage soon, including an interview and a break-down of the best cars in the game.  Because there are, you know, a TON.

None as good as the Bullitt car would be, mind you.

http://www.gameplaybook.com/news/driver-san-francisco-preview-xbox-360-playstation-3/