Words by Chris Leggett

Just over half of the Well Played crew (Julie, Siobhan and I) headed over to local distributor Fiveight recently for a hands-on session (and one hands-off, I’m afraid) with a few of its upcoming titles. Driver: San Francisco The latest in the Driver series takes its long-standing, firmly grounded and relatively believable premise and throws in a somewhat far-fetched gameplay twist: the ability to subconsciously assume control of another driver, effectively shifting the player into another vehicle on the fly. It sounds crazy. Heck, it is crazy, and I’m not entirely sure that I’m on board with it. But it adds another relatively interesting tactical layer to Driver’s famous objective-based-mission gameplay and makes for some good multiplayer action to boot.

The plot of Driver: San Francisco once again follows the exploits of series staples Tanner and Jericho. We played through a small, early portion of the single-player story mode, where the incident that “explains” the new Shift mechanic takes place. I’ll leave this story element to Driver fans to discover for themselves, but allow me to attempt an explanation of how it’s used: Driving through a considerably faithful representation of the real-world San Francisco, the player can enter a bird’s-eye view of the immediate area at the press of a button. You can then select any car in sight and “shift” into it (with a few exceptions, of course, such as, say, the target car in a pursuit). Try to picture the famous “Agent possession” scene from The Matrix and you’ll be looking in the right general direction. There are obvious tactical advantages to this, such as positioning yourself that much closer to your objective or simply upgrading your vehicle. However, it’s not necessarily the game-breaking  mechanic that it might sound like; it’s rather easy to lose your bearings once you’ve made the shift, and you may even unwittingly shift into a car that’s either worse than your previous vehicle, in a worse position, or simply with very little momentum. So there’s definitely a skill to identifying when shifting is indeed to your tactical advantage.

Your use of the Shift ability is also, naturally, limited. You can refill your Shift meter by performing drifts, near-misses and the usual nitro-building methods from the racing genre. Being the central mechanic, the Shift ability also transfers to the multiplayer component. We tried our hand at a fair few of the multiplayer modes and, for my money, this absolutely appears to be the crown jewel of this title: There’s a mode that’s essentially a straight-up race through objective markers littered around a portion of the San Francisco map, complete with shifting enabled; there’s a cops-and-robbers mode where multiple police players (with the ability to shift) must take out a lone “robber” target (without the ability to shift); hell, Driver: San Francisco even has its own Horde mode variant – a co-operative survival mode where players must reach checkpoints by racing through the streets with cops in chase. You’ll upgrade your car with every checkpoint cleared, but the police will become increasingly more vigilant in their efforts to take you down. Each and every multiplayer mode that we tried was a riot.

Rayman Origins

When we fired this title up, there was a fleeting uncertainty as to whether it was an Xbox Live Arcade/PlayStation Network title or a fully fledged retail disc title. To be honest, you could be forgiven for assuming it’s the former, when in actual fact it turned out to be the latter. Rayman Origins is a traditional-style 2D platformer that looks nice enough, but there are plenty of alternatives available on the console digital distribution platforms that have similar or even better visual chops.

In terms of gameplay, Rayman is simple to pick up and play, like the best 2D platformers, but its simplistic nature simply fuelled our confusion as to whether or not it would be a retail release. It supports up to four players in co-operative action (with one player assuming control of Rayman himself, another playing as his friend “Globox”, and the final two reportedly playing as “teensies”. Siobhan and I played through a few levels co-operatively, and there’s certainly fun to be had here that defies its aforementioned simplistic nature. Players can jump around, slap enemies, slap each other and so forth. If one player is killed off, they’ll float around as a large bubble that must be popped by a remaining player before they can re-enter the fray.

There’s a certain chaos to the multiplayer gameplay that reminds of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, with players seemingly able to help and hinder each other in equal measures. It all adds up to some undeniably madcap fun. And while the difficulty and overall pitch seem squarely aimed at children, it’s an ideal game for an older player to enjoy with their kids; it won’t bore them to tears like many other games aimed at youngsters. The 2D platformer is often considered to be the most timeless of gaming genres, so it’s not such an insult to say that Rayman does remind of platformers of old. As such, though, it’s hard to tell at this stage whether this will all amount to enough to justify a typical retail-disc’s asking price.

Sonic Generations

In contrast to Rayman, the latest Sonic title at least feels like it’s better utilising the current-gen hardware available to it. Ironically, the very premise of this title is that it’s a throwback to the franchise’s 16-bit Mega Drive glory days, but it’s executed with a visual and technical flare that makes it absolutely feel like a title from this generation. What makes it so, aside from some extremely blistering, flashy visuals, is the integration of the best aspects of Sonic’s (sometimes patchy) forays into 3D territory. By choosing classic Sonic or, er, modern Sonic, you’re essentially choosing between 2D or 3D gameplay. They’re not simply different versions of the same level, either; each constitutes a completely different type of gameplay.

We played through parts of the first world – the famous Green Hill Zone recognisable from Sonic’s very first outing. Siobhan opted to play through as the contemporary Sonic, resulting in a near seizure-inducing run through Green Hill Zone with a visual and gameplay style very similar to last year’s Sonic Colors. It appears to play in much the same way as that game, with the camera perspective shifting at key moments, and the ability to target and bounce off multiple enemies in succession. It’s often almost overwhelmingly chaotic, yet at the same time you’re able to process it all and, for the most part, rein it all in. That’s the appeal of a contemporary Sonic game: harnessing that seemingly uncontrollable pace. And the 3D sections of this game seem to capture that well.

I, on the other hand, played through as older Sonic with the familiar side-on perspective that those who grew up with the Mega Drive know so well.  It’s only slightly less disorientating than the 3D versions, but it’s most definitely that tried-and-true, old-school Sonic with a current-gen lick of paint. The old computer monitors, springboards, robotic wasps and everything that you remember from your first jaunt through Green Hill Zone returns in what is some undeniably well-executed fan service. In fact, from the title screens to the music to the sound effect from when Sonic comes to a screeching halt, there are so many subtle gestures to your nostalgia that it’s somewhat difficult to take it all in. Much like last year’s Sonic Colors, I’m once again surprisingly intrigued by a Sonic title.

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

This one was hands-off and based on the same build demoed at E3 a couple of months back, but it was still interesting to see it in action as controlled by another player (even if that player was, unfortunately, not me). I don’t have a lot to add to what you’ve likely already seen from the E3 demo other than this: seeing it in action in person in full HD really makes you appreciate what a monumental visual upgrade this is even from Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.

The vibrant and colourful township of Constantinople – particularly during the festivities of the gameplay segment we were walked through – lends itself to some stunning detail. It’s a far more interesting environment than either of the previous settings, and Ubisoft seems intent to utilise that to full effect. Particularly striking was the section where protagonist Ezio Auditore de Firenzo sets a number of ships in the harbour ablaze, the inferno raging around him and illuminating the environment with a hot glow.

It’s probably the most interesting game I’ve watched someone else play in quite some time. Imagine what it’ll be like to play it!

Editor’s note: I’d like to thank Chris “Leggetron” Leggett for contributing his words to Game Culture.