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| Driver 2 | |
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Driver 2 has more action, better graphics, and tons of great new features...on paper. Actually playing the game is a big disappointment. |
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It’s hard for a sequel to live up to the expectations of everyone who loved the original. For one thing, you can never re-capture the freshness because it’s already been done. Hardcore fans of Star Wars will never be satisfied with any sequel, no matter how good, because their expectations will always surpass what is possible. If there had never been a Star Wars, Episode One might be considered a masterpiece (Jar-Jar aside). Conversely, if there had never been a Driver to create enthusiasm for a sequel, Driver 2 would be on sale now for $9.99.
Continuing the story of undercover super-cop Tanner and his partner Tobias, the two team up to find Pink Lenny, a bookie for a scumbag crimelord, who’s decide to work for the competition and ignited a gang war. The cutscenes are extremely well done and feature some of the best use of facial movements and subtle body language ever seen. The linear missions also lend themselves to the more traditional story-telling process, and the completion of each mission usually reveals another plot twist. Overall, the story is a little slow-moving and not very exciting, but it is a lot better than Driver and provides a solid link between each mission. The four cities in Driver 2 are bigger and have better textures than before, especially in places like Chicago and sunny Havana, with up to 20 miles of road and 150,000 buildings and objects in each. They look good, but push the hardware beyond its limits and end up choking the game at its more critical points, typically just when it’s getting exciting. The thrill level drops along with the framerate, especially when you’re the one being chased. The addition of curved roads adds nothing to the game, and it’s almost impossible to stay inside the lines using the controller. It was a lot more fun screaming and sliding around right-angled corners in Driver than it is curving gently onto a freeway. The “Take a Ride” option lets you see just how big the cities really are, and there’s lots of Easter eggs and hidden cars and locations to discover, but you’ll never find them all yourself so check your favorite cheater’s website. Another great idea that made it into the design document is the ability to exit your car and run around on foot, even car-jack another vehicle. Unfortunately, the control system is so poor that there’s no fun in it at all. Some missions require you to get out and press a button to open a door, and since these missions usually have a time limit your frustration level will definitely hit the redline. Tanner runs like a young Forrest Gump with his leg braces on, and staggers so wildly left and right you’d think he was too hammered to have been driving in the first place. Car-jacking in-game is also discouraged by the time limits set on the missions where getting a faster car would actually help. Overall this feature is poorly implemented and should have been dropped. Missions are much the same as in Driver, where you’re either chased or doing the chasing, with some on-foot work thrown in. The difficulty level is very uneven, with some missions requiring no effort at all and others requiring 20 or 30 tries. In missions where you have to keep up with another car, the game will often tell you that you’ve lost him when in fact you can still see the other car. Opponent AI seems much better though, and very adaptive to oncoming traffic and your continued rear-endings. The welcome addition of multiplayer means you won’t always have to contend with these road-ragers, unless you’re playing Mike Tyson. A sequel should fix all the problems of the original and introduce new features that make the game more fun to play. Driver 2 does neither. Sure there’s "more game" than the original, but it’s all fluff and the core gameplay is bogged down by all the "enhancements". Driver was fast and fun and the Director mode made you want to make your own movies so you could watch the excitement over and over. You won’t need to do that in Driver 2. |
