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Driver: San Francisco |OT| A whole generation, with a new explanation

UFRA said:
I love the little comical aspects throughout this game.

I shifted into a car today with a passenger and the dude just happened to be talking like a pirate. So then Tanner started playing along with it and talking like a pirate too! It was awesome, and totally unexpected.

I really hope this game does well sales-wise. It deserves it.
Yeah there is a lot of really clever, incidental dialogue. The writer(s) of this game deserve a serious pat on the back.
 

Curufinwe

Member
I wonder if I can fit this game in before Batman and Uncharted arrive, or if I should just wait till the Black Friday sales. I still have a lot of RE 4 HD and Dead Space Extraction to play.
 

Jintor

Member
Neuromancer said:
Yeah there is a lot of really clever, incidental dialogue. The writer(s) of this game deserve a serious pat on the back.

I fucking love the asian brother missions.

Especially the more John starts being convinced the guy knows who he is. "GET OUT OF MY BROTHER. FIGHT YOUR OWN BATTLES"
 
Curufinwe said:
I wonder if I can fit this game in before Batman and Uncharted arrive, or if I should just wait till the Black Friday sales. I still have a lot of RE 4 HD and Dead Space Extraction to play.
I clocked in around 13 hours, without having done a whole lot of side stuff.
 

GQman2121

Banned
Curufinwe said:
I wonder if I can fit this game in before Batman and Uncharted arrive, or if I should just wait till the Black Friday sales. I still have a lot of RE 4 HD and Dead Space Extraction to play.
It's $30 this week at Best Buy if you use the $10 off coupon from their Gamer magazine, which you can rip out of one of the mags in the store.

I enjoyed the demo so I'm considering it even if I don't play it for a couple of weeks.
 
About to pull the trigger on this...Is it worth $5 extra for the Deluxe Edition??

Oh snaps, Amazon has digital download for $40 this week...Might have to go with the regular edition then.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
derFeef said:
I would love to see some PC screens from you NA folks. Game is not out in europe yet :(

driver2011-09-2713-10-setb.jpg


driver2011-09-2713-14-ee0h.jpg


driver2011-09-2713-19-ie9h.jpg


driver2011-09-2713-29-3c9n.jpg
 
I'm such a sucker for open world racing games, much less one that takes place in my home.

Can't wait to give this one a spin tonight.
 
derFeef said:
Sinatar to the rescue! Looks... ok, a bit bland. :/
It's not that amazing looking honestly but the handling, the shift mechanic, the story, the missions and the music all put together make for a really fun experience.
 
Neuromancer said:
It's not that amazing looking honestly but the handling, the shift mechanic, the story, the missions and the music all put together make for a really fun experience.
The handling is my only worry. From the looks of things cars seem to have more weight than say, Burnout Paradise or Midnight Club LA. Honestly looks somewhere between Midnight Club and NFS: Hot Pursuit.

The more of the car's weight you can feel and toss into corners the better. I also have to admit since falling into sim-racing games I actually appreciate using brakes for more than just to start drifts. Am I even going to use the brakes in this game? Or is it just full throttle and e-brake through the corners?
 

Flunkie

Banned
NullPointer said:
The handling is my only worry. From the looks of things cars seem to have more weight than say, Burnout Paradise or Midnight Club LA. Honestly looks somewhere between Midnight Club and NFS: Hot Pursuit.

The more of the car's weight you can feel and toss into corners the better. I also have to admit since falling into sim-racing games I actually appreciate using brakes for more than just to start drifts. Am I even going to use the brakes in this game? Or is it just full throttle and e-brake through the corners?
Awesome username. :)
 
NullPointer said:
The handling is my only worry. From the looks of things cars seem to have more weight than say, Burnout Paradise or Midnight Club LA. Honestly looks somewhere between Midnight Club and NFS: Hot Pursuit.

The more of the car's weight you can feel and toss into corners the better. I also have to admit since falling into sim-racing games I actually appreciate using brakes for more than just to start drifts. Am I even going to use the brakes in this game? Or is it just full throttle and e-brake through the corners?
I would describe the car handling as moderately weighty, lots of fish tailing and drifting around corners. And yes you'll be making full use of the brakes, lots of sharp 90 degree turns going in and out of alleys and such.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
NullPointer said:
The handling is my only worry. From the looks of things cars seem to have more weight than say, Burnout Paradise or Midnight Club LA. Honestly looks somewhere between Midnight Club and NFS: Hot Pursuit.

The more of the car's weight you can feel and toss into corners the better. I also have to admit since falling into sim-racing games I actually appreciate using brakes for more than just to start drifts. Am I even going to use the brakes in this game? Or is it just full throttle and e-brake through the corners?
E-brakes are for 180s. And you will need to slow down in the turns unless you enjoy crashing.
 
SapientWolf said:
E-brakes are for 180s. And you will need to slow down in the turns unless you enjoy crashing.
I am doing a lot of that - try as I might I get way too much lateral distance from my e-braking. That and AI controlled cars manage to dodge every obstacle flawlessly and handle turns like rally champions.

Not sure about this game from a few hours in. I think I liked it better when it was called Midnight Club L.A. Its got similar arcade handling with an emphasis on maintaining your speed and wild drifts, one large urban setting, civilians that can tribal dance out of your way at the last possible moment, and a fuckton of events scattered everywhere.

Where LA improves on the formula is a day/night transition, more areas to explore (in and on top of buildings, beaches, etc.), seemingly more jumps and more telegraphed jumps at that, and an absolutely bonkers level of car customizations and upgrades. That and I do value street names to help me learn the world and navigate. The San Francisco in Driver resembles my town only if you live in Bizarro world. I mean really, what the hell.

That said, I don't have Midnight Club LA on PC and I do have this. Guess it will have to do. The character banter and story bits are actually well handled and interesting for the most part.

Flunkie said:
Awesome username. :)
Cheers! When I was first learning object oriented code long ago I thought of NullPointers as a metaphysical concept. I still kindof do...
 
Physics are much better than Midnight Club imho, and the shift mechanic is useful, fun, and leads to some interesting challenges.

One thing I don't understand is why they lock areas of the city off. I don't see a gameplay reason outside of padding the content. You feel unusually constrained, especially early on. Just seems like such a weird design decision.
 

Curufinwe

Member
NullPointer said:
Not sure about this game from a few hours in. I think I liked it better when it was called Midnight Club L.A. Its got similar arcade handling with an emphasis on maintaining your speed and wild drifts, one large urban setting, civilians that can tribal dance out of your way at the last possible moment,

Running over pedestrians in Midnight Club 2 was hilarious. Shame they had to take that out for the sequels.
 

OneLetter

Member
I'm really enjoying this game so far. I went through most of the game with just the GXP, which served me well until I could buy the x10 income upgrade, and now I'm just slowly working through the car list buying each one.

Does anyone know the exact amount of time it takes for the next bank drop to occur? Seems to me it's around 20-30 min.

Regardless, the upper-tier cars, especially when you have the full boost upgrade and everything, tend to break most of the dares and challenges. In most, you can just speed away from your opponents.

Also, the shift mechanic is downright amazing. It adds so much more flavor and fun to the game, and trying to solve the missions in different ways. Don't feel like completing that race? Just slam a bunch of cars into your opponents. Not winning the race? Control a tanker and block the AI pathing for a few seconds. My only gripe is that I wish once you shifted out of a vehicle, the AI didn't take over immediately. I wish there was a 3-5 second delay, so you could setup better traps or scenarios.

Overall though, very happy with my purchase, and I'm glad to see Driver return to what I enjoyed from the first two games.
 

Zafir

Member
How annoying, I spent an hour doing the Mass Chase challenge not long after starting the game. Now that I've finally done it, I can use tackle and boost. Those would have been REALLY helpful in that challenge!

Oh well, other than that been rather enjoying it. More than I expected I would infact. Generally I'm not big on sandbox racing games.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
NullPointer said:
I am doing a lot of that - try as I might I get way too much lateral distance from my e-braking. That and AI controlled cars manage to dodge every obstacle flawlessly and handle turns like rally champions.

Not sure about this game from a few hours in. I think I liked it better when it was called Midnight Club L.A. Its got similar arcade handling with an emphasis on maintaining your speed and wild drifts, one large urban setting, civilians that can tribal dance out of your way at the last possible moment, and a fuckton of events scattered everywhere.

Where LA improves on the formula is a day/night transition, more areas to explore (in and on top of buildings, beaches, etc.), seemingly more jumps and more telegraphed jumps at that, and an absolutely bonkers level of car customizations and upgrades. That and I do value street names to help me learn the world and navigate. The San Francisco in Driver resembles my town only if you live in Bizarro world. I mean really, what the hell.

That said, I don't have Midnight Club LA on PC and I do have this. Guess it will have to do. The character banter and story bits are actually well handled and interesting for the most part.


Cheers! When I was first learning object oriented code long ago I thought of NullPointers as a metaphysical concept. I still kindof do...
Midnight LA doesn't run at 60fps. Much <3 to Reflections for that decision.
 
SapientWolf said:
Midnight LA doesn't run at 60fps. Much <3 to Reflections for that decision.
Couldn't agree more. 60fps should be the baseline for gaming.

I guess I miss any sense of car customization in Driver:SF, and exploring the city isn't as fulfilling. Hell, I've lived here all my life and can't make my way around the city in the game.

Still, the car handling, while not realistic is fun and seemingly pretty varied between car models.
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Good GOD this game is *INFURIATING*. I know the Driver series is supposed to be challenging but jesus fuck shit assing christ this is making me madder then just about any game I've ever played in my life.

I think I'll go play some Battletoads, TMNT and Ninja Gaiden to mellow out.
 

Jintor

Member
DonMigs85 said:
Anybody have tips for getting a 250m drift/jump?

Get a car that is fast as fuck and find a area of the map that won't have as much fucking traffic so you don't randomly get nailed by a random piece of crap.
 

legbone

Member
hope it turns out good for you. best driving game i have played in a long time. i am currently playing some other stuff right now but plan on starting my new game plus run over my thanksgiving break.
 

NE1WeKnow

Neo Member
derFeef said:
Is there a free roam mode you can play with a buddy? Please says yes :/

Alright because u asked so nicely, the answer is "yes". Free roam split screen on a single console plus free roam online is available.
 

derFeef

Member
NE1WeKnow said:
Alright because u asked so nicely, the answer is "yes". Free roam split screen on a single console plus free roam online is available.
Thanks! Is the whole city unlocked when you play that, or is it just a drop-in during the campaign?
 
NE1WeKnow said:
Alright because u asked so nicely, the answer is "yes". Free roam split screen on a single console plus free roam online is available.
I had no idea this had free roam online... May have to try it.
 

SLV

Member
I dont know if its a bug or what not, but i have not been able to make a private game with my friend. He is in my friends list and all, he gets the invite but it fails to connect in the end. I know im fine, i can quick game and being in game in a matter of seconds. He usually gets another person and some qualification of sorts... I know i didnt have anything of the sort. Does it have anything to do with how far along i am in Singleplayer ? And does that influence private game joining ?

EDIT: Looks like driver is not really getting any love, well anyway, someone mind trying to set up a private game ? Still no dice with a friend of mine for some reason...

EDIT 2: NWM, for some unholy reason the game didnt update to version 1.02 no matter how many times starting it with the game exe... Had to run autorun from the disk and then push play and only then it decided to download the update, normally launching it didnt do nothing.
 
Neuromancer said:
I guess so... But I actually really like this game's soundtrack. =/
Its funny but I always end up making custom playlists for games even when I love the in-game music. I've got a custom playlist of Marty's stuff over the years for Halo and a bunch of Gears tracks for Gears, etc. Pull a bunch of your favorite in-game 70's tracks, throw in a few of your own and voila, best of all worlds.

But yeah, having the option for online would still be the best ;P
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
Can I skin alive the person who decided to put all these stupid arbitrary time limits on everything? I mean it'd hold up on court, the judge would just need to play the game and be all "Yea, skinning that fuckbag was the way to go, case dismissed."
 
I'm a stop and smell the roses kind of gamer, especially when given an open world to absorb, but I finally unlocked the full mainland and the game has definitely grown on me. With the full city unlocked it really feels massive, and without the red barriers everywhere cockblocking you at every turn you can just let loose and explore or burn rubber to your heart's content.

I've said it before but I think it's a mistake to arbitrarily lock away large portions of the city - it hasn't made any story sense and it actually diminished a lot of my fun early on. But now that I have the freedom to roam wild I'm loving this.

Just gotta save up for that Lancia Stratos and hit the rally tracks that seemingly litter the southern reaches of the city (now that's some artistic license I can appreciate) ;P
 
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