Developer : Ubi Soft
Release date : September 2, 2011
Synopsis :
Driver: San Francisco is an action-adventure racing video game and the fifth installment in the Driver series. Developed by Ubisoft Reflections and published by Ubisoft, it was released in September 2011 for the PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, with an edition for Mac OS X in March 2012. The game sees players traversing a fictional version of San Francisco and the Bay Area conducting missions through the use of licensed real-world cars, with the ability to shift into any car in the game’s setting in most platform editions. The game’s main story sees players controlling John Tanner, a police detective, who falls into a coma pursuing his nemesis Charles Jericho following a prison breakout after the events of Driver 3 (Driv3r), and finds himself piecing together his plan in a dream world while it is happening in real life.
The game received favorable reviews upon its release, with the exception of the Wii edition which received mixed reviews. A mini-comic series was released which provides plot details of the events between Driv3r and San Francisco, with the game receiving a collector’s edition that includes additional multiplayer vehicles and single-player events.
The game’s setting focuses on a fictionalized version of San Francisco, and surrounding regions of Marin County and Oakland, recreating the geography, generalized layout of the city, and notable landmarks including the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge. The recreation features around 208 miles (335 km) of roads, though the amount of roads and territory in the setting is reduced in the Wii edition, as the main bridges of the city are blocked. The events of the game take place six months after the events of Driv3r; a mini-comic series provides background on events during the six-month period.
On the other hand, the plot of the Wii version differs from the console, PC and Mac versions, and serves as a prequel to the original Driver.
After he and FBI agent John Tanner undergo successful surgery, criminal Charles Jericho escapes from a Turkish hospital and flees back to the United States. Following this, Tanner and his partner Tobias Jones manage to locate and arrest him in San Francisco. On the day of his trial, Jericho stages a breakout from his prison convoy, overpowering his guards and eliminating the police escort. While monitoring the convoy’s route, Tanner and Jones witness the breakout and pursue him after he takes control of the prison van. As Jericho ambushes them and attempts to run them down with the van, Tanner escapes into a street with heavy traffic that results in a devastating crash, putting him in a coma.
Moments later, Tanner awakens in his car with Jones, with things seemingly normal; Tanner however finds himself hearing voices in his head regarding an accident. When the pair track down the prison van, Tanner finds himself suddenly disappearing from his car and reappearing in the driver’s seat of an ambulance carrying a critically injured patient. To his shock, he learns he is actually inhabiting the body of the ambulance’s driver, and is confused by the event. Tanner soon discovers he has an ability that lets him “shift” into another person’s body, taking on their appearance but retaining his own memories and skills. Deciding to use this ability to his advantage, Tanner begins helping people across the city while continuing to investigate Jericho.
Tanner discovers that Jericho intends to construct a chemical bomb, with which he plans to hold the city ransom. Tanner then inhabits the body of a small-time crook to infiltrate the organization, but is immediately discovered by Jericho, who also possesses the ability to shift. As things around him begin to grow more bizarre, Tanner eventually discovers that he has been in a dream world since the crash, with the events influenced by his subconscious hearing the TV broadcast. As Tanner combats the dream Jericho in order to regain control and end his coma, he realizes that Jericho’s plan goes against his character, and suspects that he is plotting something else.
Upon finally awakening from his coma, Tanner informs Jones that Jericho is hoaxing a bomb threat to conceal a major crime. Jones reluctantly trusts his partner, and hands the key to his car, allowing him to go after Jericho. Tanner’s deduction proves correct when an explosion that seems chemical is in reality a large-scale smokescreen; Jericho’s actual plan was to conceal the breakout of another inmate from the prison he was held in. Tanner then pursues Jericho, leading to a confrontation between the two at a warehouse. As Tanner prepares to hit Jericho with a head-on collision, Jones suddenly arrives and rams Jericho from the side, incapacitating him, before suggesting to Tanner that they go for a drink after.
Source : Wikipedia
