[Xbox] Driv3r review ( #2 )


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Driver 3 ( Driv3r )

Review Platform: Xbox

Available Platforms: PS2, PC ( Soon )

Version: European

The Driver series.

A couple of years ago another new game was released for the Playstation ( PS1 )

The name was Driver. I have always been into driving games and i soon headed out to the closest

Electronic store and bought this little gem. The game surprised me in a very positive way!

I played it both day and night, i just couldn't stop. Later on they released Driver2,

And as the Driver fan i was ( Still am ) I went out and bought it. The game was a big disappointment!

It was one of the first game to implant driving and walking in a big living and breathing city in full 3D.

The game had many flaws, performance drops and some hard missions, this title was quickly put on on shelf.

Now we are in 2004 and Reflections Interactive and Atari has teamed up and released Driver3 wich i will now

tell you alittle more about.

Gameplay:

I powered up my Xbox and put the Driv3r CD in, took a few second and i was presented with a

nice clean, understandable main menu. Since there is no tutorial ( a big minus )

i decided to play Take A Ride Wich is basicly just cruising around and learning about the city.

I choose to drive around in Miami. The Cities are nicely detailed and are very lively, wich is great!

But the first thing i noticed was the Physics, i was bouncing around like a Cocker spaniel.

The damage looked really nice at first, but after you played it for a couple of hours it

get's alittle repetitive.

The walking part could have been more polished, too many glitches and bugs. Sometimes

when i enter a building a suddenly fall trough the ground, or a car comes out of

nowhere and runs me over. But despite all the bugs, you also figure out you can enter

a great deal of buildings too. They buildings are loaded with details and funny elements.

Back to the driving part, you also gotta get used to the cars easy sliding, they also takes

damage alittle too easily. Well, one time i was driving at the highway in miami i saw a motorcycle

so i pulled out my gun ( Default weapon with unlimited ammo ) and shoot the guy, he could take 2-3 shoots

before he died .. wich isn't very realistic. So i hoped on he's bike and raced down the highway and

i must say those controls are messed up. it takes a split second before the bike react to

my command of turning left or right, so i see myself bump into lightpoles and cars too often.

To all of you people who though't it was so annoying how you could smash a lightpole with any car

in the latest GTA games, you'll be pleased here ... They are rock solid. A truck can't even bent 'em

Same goes with tree's.

After the Free ride mode i decided to play Undercover mode, the first mission wher you have

to chase a guy is pretty hard for a first timer. Also while watching the FMW sequences i noticed

a stutter, wich is actually so annoying i tend to skip the FMW's

Alittle cool thing about the cars, if you shoot it a few times on the hood or just in the engine it will

explode. But if you fire over 500 rounds on the side and back almost nothing happens, i really like that :yes:

Graphics:

This game really surpised on the graphical side i must say, good job guys. The details on the cars, the bullet holes

the pedestrians. it's amazing how they created such a big living and breathing city with such an amazing graphics!

Like i was walking down alittle street in Nice ( France )

And i saw dustbins and some cardboard boxes just standing there.

and i saw little resturants with chairs and people sitting and relaxing. It really captures the city feeling.

The only thing wich has disappointed me graphics wise is the explosions :s

Looks so generic, all the same no matter what. But you'll learn how to live with that :)

There is so much eye-candy it's hard to describe.

Audio:

What can i say, big BIG disappointment!

When you reach top speed with every car in the game, it sounds like you just hit third gear and you can't

shifty any higher. Then you tend to release the accelerate button just to get rid of that annoying sound.

The weapon sounds are also annoying, you just don't wanna fire that weapon because each weapon has the exact same sound, not 2-3 sound files per weapon... just one. The music gotta be one of the biggest drawbacks in the

game i guess, it's also repetitive and i wouldn't even call it music :blink: it's just the same sound file going over and over again and it only changes once and awhile. The audio area has a large room for improvement.

The other things

It may have sounded like i've been just negative towards this game, but it really is a great game and you should give it a chance, atleast go rent it and see if it's something for you. I also forgot to mention the little games

Like Chase, trail blaizer Checkpoint race and so on. I'm not going to tell you so much about these, i'll let you try them for yourself.

Side note: The Cheats wich are posted on Several cheat sites doesen't seem to be working on the European version

Gameplay: 6/10

Graphics: 7/10

Audio: 3/10

Thanks for reading my little review. Since my English isn't that great you have to bare with me, i think this is the longest English text i've writting in a row :p. Please tell me if you find any major faults in my review, it's alittle late and the only thing keeping me from falling asleep is my coffee :laugh:

Edited by DoNuTs
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Then as always - PC version will be better. Why? Because when they bring out the console version they wait for peeps to complain about bugs. Then they enhance the menu, controls, music etc. and remove the bugs. Thank got Rockstar did this with the GTA series.

Then as always - PC version will be better. Why? Because when they bring out the console version they wait for peeps to complain about bugs. Then they enhance the menu, controls, music etc. and remove the bugs. Thank got Rockstar did this with the GTA series.

not necesarily, Halo PC sucked and it was ported YEARS after Halo Xbox

not necesarily, Halo PC sucked and it was ported YEARS after Halo Xbox

Who developed Halo for PC originally? Microsoft. Blah blah blah happened and it ended up being made for X-Box first. So the PC version was basically the PC edition of the X-Box edition of the PC edition. Fo' Sho' it was ******

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