- Fri May 10, 2013 3:43 am
#48957
It may be a bit late, seeing as how Driver 2 came out 13 years ago (time sure flies), but I finally got around to playing Driver 2 for the first time this past few weeks. As a part of my quest to get caught up with the Driver series after beating Driver for the first time earlier this year, I purchased Driver 2, Driv3r, Parallel Lines, and San Fransisco. Determined to beat the games in order of release, I set out to conquer Driver 2 on a used PS2 and the old CRT we have at college. The following review summarizes my experience with the game.
Gameplay
Gameplay is the most important aspect to any game, hands down. A game can have the best graphics and push technology to it's limits yet fall flat due to poor gameplay. Unfortunately, this group is where Driver 2 falls. Mission difficulty is horribly inconsistent, ranging from extremely hard missions to missions that can easily be beat in one try starting right at the outset of the game. Many of the gang cars are far too overpowered to the point of being unrealistic (the mission in Havana where you need to damage a truck while simultaneously being thrown about the map by a small gang car comes to mind). Damaging cars is also flawed; the game uses a system where how long you rub against the chase car determines damage dealt, while how hard you hit the car is not considered in the slightest. One would expect that slamming into the car full speed would cause considerable damage, but the same amount is done as if you had just brushed the car. One issue with chases that came up less often but was equally annoying is that many chase cars are immovable from their path, as if they have freight train on. It may be funny to see them send your car flying once or twice, but it quickly becomes frustrating and breaks the immersion immediately. I often found myself asking why they could so easily push myself and other cars out of the way while I could not move them in the slightest. The game also had poor collision physics. Many times I would barely clip the back of my car with an obstacle, yet my car would inexplicably flip around wildly. There were also many times that I would be skimming a completely strait wall and then catch on the border between buildings, as if an invisible wall were placed in my path. Poor framerate also plagues the gameplay, making it difficult to control your car and taking away much of the feeling of speed. One mission in particular suffered from many of these problems: Chase the Gunman. While the premise is sound, run a gunman off of the road as they travel around cliff sides, the missions is so difficult that it can be considered a game-breaker. It took me well over 100 tries to beat the mission. It shows a complete lack of any play-testing and should have been seriously amended, if not cut from the game. The frequent freezes also highlighted another small issue that could have been easily fixed, which is that there is no load game menu on the second disk. Having to disk swap every time it froze and every time I started the game got old very fast.
Despite all this, there were some areas where the gameplay did well. Although many of the missions were simple get from point A to point B or chase this or that vehicle, there were also several missions that had interesting new ideas. Some examples of this were missions where you had to tail the target without getting to close, avoid bombs falling from the back of a truck, or get to a car on the train tracks and drive it away before the train reaches you. The ability to get out of your car was also a nice touch, although it did not seem like it was taken advantage of fully. The second major addition of curved roads helped enhance the appeal of exploring the cities. Cop AI also appears to have been improved without going overboard.
Graphics
The graphics for Driver 2 received a significant upgrade from the first game. Curved roads were especially helpful in improving the look of the game, making the cities feel like actual cities rather than just a grid. There is also good variation in the textures and buildings, and it does not feel as though you are driving past the same building over and over again. The cities themselves are varied and each have a well defined style to them. Driving into water or falling into the canyon in Rio could have been improved, but since this doesn't come up often (save for Chase the Gunman) it is not a major issue. The cars are well made, and there is a good selection. Despite this, the first game felt like there was more variety in the cars you could drive. Making separate levels for the day and night areas was a good move, especially for cities like Las Vegas. The one downfall for the graphics was the abysmal framerate. In very few places was the framerate anywhere close to where it should have been. It is unfortunate that this game did not receive a PC port like the first game, as this would have really let the better graphics shine. Even though the graphics are improved, the poor framerate makes it so I would rather play the first game with it's less impressive graphics.
Sound/Music
Sound effects in Driver 2 were fairly good quality. Changing the language the cops speak in each of the cities was a good move, and helps develop the location. Although the sirens for some of the cops gets a little annoying after a while, they are fairly accurate sounding and work well. Adding different horns for the different car types was also much appreciated, although it would have been better to have a continuous horn when holding the button rather than a repeating sound effect with breaks. The music for the game was also decent. The music during cutscenes was done well, and I preferred it to the in-game music. The in-game music didn't seem to fit with the cities as well as it could have. The change in music when you are spotted works well though. Overall the game had average sound and music, but nothing special.
Story/Cutscenes
Driver 2 has a much more focused storyline than the first game. I won't go into too much detail here as to avoid spoilers, but the story follows a logical progression with each of the new discoveries made. The cutscenes are well made and tie into the gameplay well. Much of the animation problems of the first game's cutscenes have been resolved. The voice-acting is generally well done, but there are some cringe-worthy moments such as the first meeting with Jericho. Driver 2 definitely improves upon the first game in the story and cutscene area, even though it comes at the cost of a linear storyline.
Well, that about sums up my experiences with Driver 2. It had its moments of greatness, and more than its fair share of frustrations, but I am glad I got through it in the end. I certainly don't feel it has the same replayability as the first game, but I'm sure I'll pop it in a few more times in the future. Since everyone seems to like scales, I've included a rough guess of what I'd give each category below.
Gameplay - 3/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound/Music - 5/10
Story - 8/10
Overall - 5.5/10
Gameplay
Gameplay is the most important aspect to any game, hands down. A game can have the best graphics and push technology to it's limits yet fall flat due to poor gameplay. Unfortunately, this group is where Driver 2 falls. Mission difficulty is horribly inconsistent, ranging from extremely hard missions to missions that can easily be beat in one try starting right at the outset of the game. Many of the gang cars are far too overpowered to the point of being unrealistic (the mission in Havana where you need to damage a truck while simultaneously being thrown about the map by a small gang car comes to mind). Damaging cars is also flawed; the game uses a system where how long you rub against the chase car determines damage dealt, while how hard you hit the car is not considered in the slightest. One would expect that slamming into the car full speed would cause considerable damage, but the same amount is done as if you had just brushed the car. One issue with chases that came up less often but was equally annoying is that many chase cars are immovable from their path, as if they have freight train on. It may be funny to see them send your car flying once or twice, but it quickly becomes frustrating and breaks the immersion immediately. I often found myself asking why they could so easily push myself and other cars out of the way while I could not move them in the slightest. The game also had poor collision physics. Many times I would barely clip the back of my car with an obstacle, yet my car would inexplicably flip around wildly. There were also many times that I would be skimming a completely strait wall and then catch on the border between buildings, as if an invisible wall were placed in my path. Poor framerate also plagues the gameplay, making it difficult to control your car and taking away much of the feeling of speed. One mission in particular suffered from many of these problems: Chase the Gunman. While the premise is sound, run a gunman off of the road as they travel around cliff sides, the missions is so difficult that it can be considered a game-breaker. It took me well over 100 tries to beat the mission. It shows a complete lack of any play-testing and should have been seriously amended, if not cut from the game. The frequent freezes also highlighted another small issue that could have been easily fixed, which is that there is no load game menu on the second disk. Having to disk swap every time it froze and every time I started the game got old very fast.
Despite all this, there were some areas where the gameplay did well. Although many of the missions were simple get from point A to point B or chase this or that vehicle, there were also several missions that had interesting new ideas. Some examples of this were missions where you had to tail the target without getting to close, avoid bombs falling from the back of a truck, or get to a car on the train tracks and drive it away before the train reaches you. The ability to get out of your car was also a nice touch, although it did not seem like it was taken advantage of fully. The second major addition of curved roads helped enhance the appeal of exploring the cities. Cop AI also appears to have been improved without going overboard.
Graphics
The graphics for Driver 2 received a significant upgrade from the first game. Curved roads were especially helpful in improving the look of the game, making the cities feel like actual cities rather than just a grid. There is also good variation in the textures and buildings, and it does not feel as though you are driving past the same building over and over again. The cities themselves are varied and each have a well defined style to them. Driving into water or falling into the canyon in Rio could have been improved, but since this doesn't come up often (save for Chase the Gunman) it is not a major issue. The cars are well made, and there is a good selection. Despite this, the first game felt like there was more variety in the cars you could drive. Making separate levels for the day and night areas was a good move, especially for cities like Las Vegas. The one downfall for the graphics was the abysmal framerate. In very few places was the framerate anywhere close to where it should have been. It is unfortunate that this game did not receive a PC port like the first game, as this would have really let the better graphics shine. Even though the graphics are improved, the poor framerate makes it so I would rather play the first game with it's less impressive graphics.
Sound/Music
Sound effects in Driver 2 were fairly good quality. Changing the language the cops speak in each of the cities was a good move, and helps develop the location. Although the sirens for some of the cops gets a little annoying after a while, they are fairly accurate sounding and work well. Adding different horns for the different car types was also much appreciated, although it would have been better to have a continuous horn when holding the button rather than a repeating sound effect with breaks. The music for the game was also decent. The music during cutscenes was done well, and I preferred it to the in-game music. The in-game music didn't seem to fit with the cities as well as it could have. The change in music when you are spotted works well though. Overall the game had average sound and music, but nothing special.
Story/Cutscenes
Driver 2 has a much more focused storyline than the first game. I won't go into too much detail here as to avoid spoilers, but the story follows a logical progression with each of the new discoveries made. The cutscenes are well made and tie into the gameplay well. Much of the animation problems of the first game's cutscenes have been resolved. The voice-acting is generally well done, but there are some cringe-worthy moments such as the first meeting with Jericho. Driver 2 definitely improves upon the first game in the story and cutscene area, even though it comes at the cost of a linear storyline.
Well, that about sums up my experiences with Driver 2. It had its moments of greatness, and more than its fair share of frustrations, but I am glad I got through it in the end. I certainly don't feel it has the same replayability as the first game, but I'm sure I'll pop it in a few more times in the future. Since everyone seems to like scales, I've included a rough guess of what I'd give each category below.
Gameplay - 3/10
Graphics - 7/10
Sound/Music - 5/10
Story - 8/10
Overall - 5.5/10