You’re an undercover cop working for mobsters that have hired you to run some “errands” for them. Each new level will have you performing tasks like outrunning the cops or delivering goods from point A to point B without wrecking your car or getting hauled to the police station. Real-world physics are employed masterfully like no other game has done before. The cities you travel through (Miami and San Francisco are where you’ll start) are buzzing about with real traffic, have stoplights that actually work, and are full of pedestrians that (unfortunately) know when to get out of the way. When you hit another car it will react just like it would in real life. If you swerve in front of someone else, you’ll see him or her hit the brakes to avoid crashing into you. It’s quite amazing how all of the little features add up to create an experience that isn’t present in most games currently available today.

One of the great aspects of the level design is that the cities are absolutely huge. It will take minutes to go from one side to the other and there are seemingly endless roads that crisscross to form a never-ending maze of routes to take. Back alleys are littered with boxes and trash and are only wide enough for one car to fit through at a time. Many times you will be trying to avoid police by either outrunning them or outsmarting them and knowing when and where to turn can make all the difference. While driving around trying to accomplish the various tasks given, you’ll have to be careful not to take too much damage to the car or it’s game over. A damage meter at the top of the screen is a constant reminder of how close your car is to being totaled. As you take damage your car will begin to show it. From a dented hood with black smoke coming out of it to smashed doors and missing hubcaps, the details are all there.

The game has a 70s motif to it. Most noticeable is the game’s music. It fits the game perfectly and although you won’t remember any of it, it sounds like something out of Chips. The sound effects are all recreated effectively although I did have some trouble with the sound effects being too low to hear most of the time. There is an option to turn the volume up or down on the effects and the music, but no matter what combination I used, the sounds of the car burning rubber or smashing into a light post just didn’t offer the same thrills as the version on the PlayStation did. That’s just another downside of computer games though, you can never be sure it will fully work with the equipment you have. On the bright side, all of the police radio announcements are very clear and add some excitement to the chases.

The graphics are far and away better than the PlayStation version, which is to be expected. Given the right 3D card and computer (I used a TNT 2 and 500 Mhz Pentium III) you will see some really great visuals with some spectacular special effects like lens flares and smoke. There is some draw-in way out in the distance at times, but it’s kept to a minimum and usually you’re so occupied with what’s right in front of you that you won’t have time to notice it. I can’t be sure how accurate all of the streets and buildings are since I’ve never really been to the cities portrayed in the game, but they all look realistic. Main landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge are thrown in for good measure. It would have been nice to have more recognizable establishments, similar to what Crazy Taxi (arcade) has with Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, etc. but perhaps licensing would have been too much hassle. Another slight area of disappointment lies in the various car designs. For the most part they are all generic and boring.

Imagine how awesome it would be if a game like this would come out with 200 or so different real vehicles all driving around the neighborhood. Again, I’m sure there would probably too much trouble with licensing, but it would increase the realism even more. Overall though, I don’t think too many people will complain about the graphics.

My main area of concern with Driver, both on the PC and on the PlayStation, is the control scheme. I’ve noticed this in many of Reflection’s games, and I was hoping they would eventually fix the way the cars handle. It will take most gamers considerable time mastering the controls in Driver. I’m not saying you’ll have trouble with the basic controls, but turning on a dime and cornering without taking damage is indeed a challenge. As with any game, the more you practice the better you’ll become, but it would be nice if the game had tighter controls. Right now it feels like the car is hovering off the ground a few inches and I think it has a tendency to slide more than it really should. I often found myself trying to correct my slide only to end up sliding the other direction. Fishtailing is far too common in this game. It’s almost like you’re constantly driving on ice. Once you’ve played the game for a while you will become used to the controls and begin to perhaps even like them, but in my personal opinion they could definitely use some improvement.

In addition, the difficulty level can be high, especially for those who are trying to use the keyboard to play the game. You will most definitely want to buy a control pad that has enough buttons to properly play the game. I used Microsoft’s Sidewinder game pad and didn’t have any difficulties, other than the sloppy controls noted above. Also, before you can even start the story part of the game you must prove that you have the driving skills required for the job. There is a list of moves (180, 360, reverse 180, etc.) that must be performed in under a minute. This can be very difficult to do in the time allotted, especially since most players will be unfamiliar with the game at this point. I found that most people who begin playing the game are forced to stay in the parking garage trying to perfect these moves for at least an hour before finally opening up the story mode. The real question is, why is this even in the game? After I passed this training mode of sorts I almost never used the techniques it was trying to teach me. It’s an utter waste of time and an exercise in frustration that simply shouldn’t be a requirement to play the story mode.