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sorrowfulkain:

Remember Driver 3? Or Driv3r, as it was written? Probably not ,as this game was quickly discarded in favor of the GTA series, especially once San Andreas came out. The ones that did stick around to play it often complained about a lame storyline, frustrating gameplay, and subpar graphics. While I don’t necessarily disagree with all of that, I don’t think it was as bad a game as it is often made out to be. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that as far as the actual driving was concerned it’s one of the best that I’ve played.
Before I get to that though I want to address a couple of the complaints. The storyline was not compelling to me either, but in reality I didn’t get the game for that. So, to me, it was never an issue. Most people wouldn’t agree and need a reason to care enough to keep playing and the storyline just didn’t provide that. Similar games like Vice City and San Andreas had a great story and it made you want to see what would happen to everyone involved. The most significant thing that happens in Driv3r is that Tanner gets shot, but the game ends without addressing it further. So yeah, this game definitely does not deliver on the storyline front.
Next is the frustrating gameplay. This is one of those games that demands perfection, especially in the later missions. There is nothing casual about them. You have to know exactly what you’re doing, where you’re going, and how you’re going to get there. And even if you have the skills and the lay of the land, all it takes is a car pulling out in front of you or any number of random occurrences to mess you up and force you to start all over again. There was something rewarding about beating a mission in that game, though. It truly felt like an accomplishment and sticking with it actually made you better at the game.
Unfortunately, most people don’t have the patience to stick with anything they’re not instantly good at it and despise any game they can’t beat easily. So the frustration was another downside to this game’s popularity. I never played Stuntman, but I heard the difficulty was similar and it also turned people off. Again, it’s unfortunate, but games tend to be easier these days because they can reach a broader audience and not scare them away with its difficulty so games like these become disliked quickly.
So if the storyline isn’t great and the missions are frustrating, why would it be worth playing? The driving. That’s it, just the gameplay. The realism of the vehicles and the skill required to drive them was always the compelling feature to me and in that regard, it delivered. The on foot stuff wasn’t amazing and it was no real surprise that the later games in the series did away with it entirely. Still, it had this realistic approach to it that made it interesting and, at times, it worked in my favor.
Here’s a cool story about that. I was playing one of the later Nice missions where the object was to chase down this woman before she got away. The mission started with the both of you on foot in an alleyway with her having a good headstart. She was far enough ahead to where it was a guarantee that she would get a car before you. As a added bit of mockery, you could always see her speeding by at the end of the alleyway. No matter what I tried, I could not catch up to her and even when I did get a car she was already miles ahead and I’d fail the mission. Finally, after the twentieth time of trying, In an act of frustration, I unloaded the assault rifle I was carrying into her car as it passed by at long distance from the alleyway. And she died. I actually shot her and passed the mission then and there with the luckiest of shots. That’s still one of my best gaming stories!
Even though the game will likely never shake the negative stigma its garnered over the years, I still say it’s one of the best driving games ever made. As a recommendation, I could only see fans of the series or fans of driving games in general getting into it. It’s flaws are many, but it’s got it where it counts, the driving, and once you get into it, man, what a rid3.
- Martin AKA SorrowfulKain

I fully and completely agree with this entire post.

Also one think that should be mentioned, the amazing and I mean AMAZING soundtrack. There is a mission where you have to drive to the police station and it was dusk and Streets of Miami was playing, and it just felt like something was brooding. The atmosphere of the game was great. I miss that game, I’ll have to pick it up again soon.

Remember Driver 3? Or Driv3r, as it was written? Probably not ,as this game was quickly discarded in favor of the GTA series, especially once San Andreas came out. The ones that did stick around to play it often complained about a lame storyline, frustrating gameplay, and subpar graphics. While I don’t necessarily disagree with all of that, I don’t think it was as bad a game as it is often made out to be. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that as far as the actual driving was concerned it’s one of the best that I’ve played.

Before I get to that though I want to address a couple of the complaints. The storyline was not compelling to me either, but in reality I didn’t get the game for that. So, to me, it was never an issue. Most people wouldn’t agree and need a reason to care enough to keep playing and the storyline just didn’t provide that. Similar games like Vice City and San Andreas had a great story and it made you want to see what would happen to everyone involved. The most significant thing that happens in Driv3r is that Tanner gets shot, but the game ends without addressing it further. So yeah, this game definitely does not deliver on the storyline front.

Next is the frustrating gameplay. This is one of those games that demands perfection, especially in the later missions. There is nothing casual about them. You have to know exactly what you’re doing, where you’re going, and how you’re going to get there. And even if you have the skills and the lay of the land, all it takes is a car pulling out in front of you or any number of random occurrences to mess you up and force you to start all over again. There was something rewarding about beating a mission in that game, though. It truly felt like an accomplishment and sticking with it actually made you better at the game.

Unfortunately, most people don’t have the patience to stick with anything they’re not instantly good at it and despise any game they can’t beat easily. So the frustration was another downside to this game’s popularity. I never played Stuntman, but I heard the difficulty was similar and it also turned people off. Again, it’s unfortunate, but games tend to be easier these days because they can reach a broader audience and not scare them away with its difficulty so games like these become disliked quickly.

So if the storyline isn’t great and the missions are frustrating, why would it be worth playing? The driving. That’s it, just the gameplay. The realism of the vehicles and the skill required to drive them was always the compelling feature to me and in that regard, it delivered. The on foot stuff wasn’t amazing and it was no real surprise that the later games in the series did away with it entirely. Still, it had this realistic approach to it that made it interesting and, at times, it worked in my favor.

Here’s a cool story about that. I was playing one of the later Nice missions where the object was to chase down this woman before she got away. The mission started with the both of you on foot in an alleyway with her having a good headstart. She was far enough ahead to where it was a guarantee that she would get a car before you. As a added bit of mockery, you could always see her speeding by at the end of the alleyway. No matter what I tried, I could not catch up to her and even when I did get a car she was already miles ahead and I’d fail the mission. Finally, after the twentieth time of trying, In an act of frustration, I unloaded the assault rifle I was carrying into her car as it passed by at long distance from the alleyway. And she died. I actually shot her and passed the mission then and there with the luckiest of shots. That’s still one of my best gaming stories!

Even though the game will likely never shake the negative stigma its garnered over the years, I still say it’s one of the best driving games ever made. As a recommendation, I could only see fans of the series or fans of driving games in general getting into it. It’s flaws are many, but it’s got it where it counts, the driving, and once you get into it, man, what a rid3.

- Martin AKA SorrowfulKain

I fully and completely agree with this entire post.

Also one think that should be mentioned, the amazing and I mean AMAZING soundtrack. There is a mission where you have to drive to the police station and it was dusk and Streets of Miami was playing, and it just felt like something was brooding. The atmosphere of the game was great. I miss that game, I’ll have to pick it up again soon.

Source: sorrowfulkain

Internet fame, here I come.

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