Driv3r appeared with the smell of burning rubber and the bellow of exhausts, yet it was quickly and quietly forgotten about and left in the bargain bin. Was it really that bad?
Driv3r, the third installment in the popular Driver series, was the first game to progress from the PSX onto the sixth generation consoles. Early screenshots showed the game to be open world – a mix of car chases with realistic damage, intense gun battles and detailed environments. The game was in development for just over three and a half years and had awaited with anticipation.
Every era is recognised as much for its failures as its successes, from the ones which deliver on their promises perfectly, to the likes of Ride to Hell: Retribution. The sad thing about video games is that the vast majority of such let-downs are the disappointing kind. Even when it’s so dire the developers might as well be mocking your very existence, you can realise how they might have succeeded. Put in enough hours or look far enough into the behind the scenes work, and you can just about see the great game developers were trying to bring to life, even in the absolute worst of games. The shovelware tie-in for Batman Begins might have been dreck of the worst kind but you could at least see the beginnings of ideas which would make it into Arkham Asylum.
Wez and Larry have a slightly NSFW look at some of the most overhyped games of all time, that made you think they’d be the best thing EVARRR, but turned out to be total trash.
EuroGamer - So I ran this guy over. I guess I didn’t like the look of him. He gets up twice, but I pop him back down again until he runs out of getting up juice. This causes the police to arrive, two of them. They screech to a halt nearby, get out of the car and then stand still. One stands in front of his police car, which proves a mistake when a van crashes into the back of it, causing the policeman to be run over by his own abandoned vehicle.
