DRIVER: SAN FRANCISCO
UBISOFT (XBOX 360, PS3, Wii, PC)
Any real-life high-speed chase through San Francisco’s hilly, curvy streets would likely culminate in the kind of car carnage seen only in driver’s ed. films—but the latest installment in the Driver franchise lets you fulfill your Bullitt-inspired fantasies without becoming an organ donor. More than 200 miles of roadways—from the Golden Gate Bridge to Lombard Street’s famous switchbacks—have been faithfully re-created, while a stunt camera records your deft weaving through rush-hour traffic and drift cornering at Haight and Ashbury.
The game puts you behind the wheels of more than 120 licensed autos—almost simultaneously. A novel twist lets you hop seamlessly from vehicle to vehicle to coor dinate roadblocks, terrorize entire convoys of foes, and use your enginepowered ingenuity to stop a mob boss from terrorizing the city. If single-player stalls out, you can take on friends in nearly 20 multiplayer modes, or try special challenges modeled after famous TV and movie chase scenes. We can almost hear Steve McQueen spinning his wheels in his grave.
