cars and bikes

I know this game has dissapointed a lot of fans, but before anyone dismisses this review, for being too generous, there are plenty of very unpolished aspects to this game, but I also have plenty of reasons as to why this game is worth playing.
Comparing this game to the Grand Theft Auto series has already been done countless times, but it simply cannot be helped. This game will attract the same audience, and plays, at least on paper, very much the same as Rockstar's series. However, this game is NOT Grand Theft Auto. Sure, you can steal cars, and wreak havoc in three huge cities, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. Unlike GTA's free-roaming gameplay, which allows presents players with multiple missions at once, and allows gamers to tackle them in the order they choose, Driv3r's story mode is completely linear. You'll be given one mission at a time, and the story will progress much like a movie. Most of the game has you behind the wheel of one of a huge selection of vehicles ranging from motorcycles, to boats, to eighteen-wheelers. There aren't liscensed cars from real car manufacturers, but these vehicles take such a realitic beating, I can't imagine why a real car company would want to see their cars in the game. You'll play through three realisticly modeled cities, all of which look and feel picture perfect, and very real. You'll start in Miami, and eventually work your way through missions in Nice and Istanbul. But not all of the game takes place in a car, about a fifth of it has you on foot, gunning through enemies in either a third or first-person perspective. While, this can be fun for a while, the aiming is a bit touchy, and the enemies never move, or duck for cover. They simply stand, shoot, and get shot. Plus, the range of moves your character, (returning serie's star Tanner, voiced by Michael Madsen of Kill Bill) is given is extremely limited. You can: run, walk, shoot, duck, and roll forward. There aren't any slow-mo dives like in Max Payne, no pressing against walls and jumping out from corners like in Metal Gear, no taking hostages like the Getaway; just very straightforward running and shooting. You're given a handful of weapons, including handguns, machine guns, and a grenade launcher, which will send cars flying, or simply shatter them into auto parts. You can, however, shoot out tires, windshields, windows, and bumpers, which is cool, plus the game models bullet-holes on the car's bodies which is cool if you are going to toy around with the game's Film Director mode, which was featured in the first two installments in the series but has been completely re-wroked for this game. But I'll get into that later.
So, shooting is a bit disappointing, but still dumb fun. But driving is flawless. Speeding through three real world cities, through alleyways, around corners... It is isn't only fun, it's almost addicting. Each car controls uniqely, so don't expect an eighteen wheeler to control like a sports car.
The driving missions can be a lot of fun, but mostly consists of just a few scenarios that keep repeating: escape from a tail, chase a car, or drive to a location and start shooting.
The game offers players three different game mode's: Undercover mode, which is the game's story mode, Driving Games mode, which offers players a number of short but effective minigames with which to perfect their driving skills, and Take a Ride mode, which is basically the game's go-anywhere mode, where you are free to roam the three cities without time limits or missions.
But, in my opinion, the real reason to play this game is the Film Director's mode. As an aspiring director, this mode has been the reason I have purchased each installment of this series, but casual players should really dig it as well. Plus,it has been re-worked, and re-tooled, making it more powerful, and easier to use. Basically, Film Dircetor let's you save a replay from a mission you've played, and mini-game you've run through, or even from the Take a Ride mode, and then choose your own camera angles, locations, and effects, and direct it from the beginning. This time, Film Director includes some options which I have been hoping would appear in the Driver series for sometime: It gives you new camera angles, which include a rotating Chase cam, and a wheel-cam, (positoioned behind the front-right wheel), plus it offers you returning camera angles including first-person perspective, and tripods. This time players can control the tripod's zoom completely. But, best of all, picture effects have also been included. You can now add slow-motion or motion-blur to your replays, which are two ways to better illustrate the game's realistic crashes and destruction.
The game, while not including blood, still earns it's mature rating, by letting players hit pedestrians, (a first for the series) and shoot innpcent civilians and policemen, even while the citizens are still behind the wheel of their car.
All in all, though, if you look past the violence, this is an impressive game, with terrific visuals, and amazing physics.

First off I have to say this game looks great, driver 3 set's the bar for how GTA 4 should look. The detail of the cars is top notch as well as the city's , but it all ends there. I enjoy playing a game that will allow me to actually play and interact in the experience of the game , Driver 3 does not do that by far. I don't want to say its a HARD game , its just poorly designed. When you play missions over and over and over constantly failing to even get close to the car your trying desperately to chase because your burn out or hit a pole that completely stops you and with in seconds the title says " You lost him" or " He got away" , the frustration is unbearably constant , I just want to play to get close not to get shut down within seconds. I can't believe the game testers allowed this flaw to get pass . Within and hour of me playing the game for the first time I shut it off and installed GTA vice city , thank you ol RockStar Thank You....

This is one of the worst ever made games....Long cut scenes....A story that jumps around too much...And when they say you can go anywhere and do anything they lie....It is very hard and confusing....