Lincoln Kelly: Driver San Francisco multiplayer preview: Repossessed

Friday, July 15, 2011

Driver San Francisco multiplayer preview: Repossessed

It's Wednesday, right in the middle of E3, and as I sit in the Joystiq conference room frantically tapping away at my keyboard, I hear my colleague Alexander gushing about Driver: San Francisco's multiplayer component. The following day he would publish a piece about the game's Tag mode and thanks to it, and many others like it, Driver's multiplayer would emerge as one of the show's sleeper hits.

At the core of all the excitement is "shifting." With the press of a button, you can seamlessly exit your vehicle and hover above the game world ... think of it as an out-of-auto-body experience. Then, you can "possess" other vehicles, taking direct control. There's plenty of solid driving, but the possibilities of shifting are what no one can seem to stop talking about.

"It's really confirmed to everyone in the studio that the shift mechanic works -- it's especially exciting in the multiplayer," creative director Martin Edmondson said. "To get people at E3 playing it for the first time and writing very positive things about it is great for the team."

Up until now, I've only been able to get cozy with the single-player component, but when Ubisoft invited me out to see the multiplayer, I finally got to see exactly what Alex and everyone else was so worked up about.

Gallery: Driver San Fancisco (Multiplayer)