Driv3r has been a hot title for a while now. Ever since Reflections released Stuntman, people have been begging them to get the third Driver installment out, as it's been a long time since Driver 2 bombed on the PSOne. So, four years later, it's finally here and... well, not much has changed really, except the huge controversy this game is starting to cause... not because of the gameplay, but because of the scores it's been receiving. 5 out of 10, 12 out of 20, 3 out of 10 and even 2 out of 5. Does it really deserve such harsh punishment? Read on and find out...

Driv3r once again puts you into the boots of undercover cop Tanner, who is thrown into an underground car theft ring. A buyer wants a whopping 40 cars delivered and Tanner wants to know who the thief is. Driv3r's story is told through some very impressive cinematic sequences that look as if they're straight out of a movie. The title has outstanding presentation; I'll give it that. The menus are sleek, the cinematic sequences are top notch, the characters are well portrayed and the voice acting holds up due to some big names. Unfortunately Atari was betting all of its money on the game selling for these reasons and the fact that it's a non-linear on foot game similar to Grand Theft Auto, but the game seems shockingly unfinished in many areas.

The physics hold up and are quite good but not as impressive as they were back when the first Driver came out. Driving will actually take a bit of getting used to, as every time you turn you power slide, giving the game a big movie chase feel. This will easily turn some gamers away who prefer more realistic handling but arcade fans will eat it up. Cars break apart and explode in a bunch of various ways and it looks fantastic; Reflections did a good job with the damage models as usual. Despite being about driving and having cinematic chases, much of Driv3r takes place on foot.

Originally introduced in 2000's Driver 2, the on-foot mode has been beefed up considerably and Tanner can now pull a variety of high-powered weapons out of his chest, including the grenade launcher, which is a lot of fun to use. The aiming system is very basic here; just point in a direction and hold the trigger and that's pretty much it... you can roll and jump but they're very sloppy and pretty much a waste of time.

The Undercover mode is supposed to be the main part of the game but is often quite dull. Some missions can be boring, easy and too short; most people will want to play this to unlock the hidden cars and cheats, as well as to see the excellent video sequences. However, much of my time (okay, just about all of it) has been spent in Take A Ride mode and Driving Games (mainly the hilarious Survival). Take A Ride allows you to explore any of the game's three cities (Nice, Miami, and Istanbul) and do pretty much anything you want (and yes, you can now hurt anybody you see, unlike the past two games). Driving Games has a variety of mini-games to play, like Quick Chase, Quick Getaway, Survival and a few others. The beauty of these two modes is that you can view the replays of your adventures (or at least the first 5 minutes) and that's where the best part of the game comes in: namely The Director's Mode. Though it remains damn near unchanged since Driver 2 (and even downgraded since the first Driver), it's easily the most fun area of the game and where all the replay value comes from.

If you've never played the first two games, here's what the Director's Mode is all about. You take the first 5 minutes of whatever mode you're in (it can be any mode in the game) and place cameras wherever you want, as well as adding effects like blur and slow motion moments. This allows you to not only create intense movie-like chases, but now you can direct shoot-outs and on foot pursuits as well, or all of them mixed into one. To make it even better, Driv3r brilliantly allows you to share your short movies with the world via Xbox Live and there's even a Top Director's ranking system. Unfortunately you can only have one movie up at a time (meaning you can't upload your best 5 movies and have them all there at once) and you cannot save other peoples' creations. The mode is a great addition nonetheless though and I've wasted days away trying to create the perfect chase for others to admire.

Everything seems good so far, but unfortunately Driv3r is unacceptably unfinished. While the graphics look superb standing still, you'll notice dozens of errors that should not be there when you start moving; civilian animations are missing frames and they jump around a lot (one area of Nice continually has civilians falling from the sky!), the camera in director's mode sinks into the ground and gets lost when you go into the wrong area, replays sometimes don't match what you did in the game (I've had Tanner die in a replay when he did not die in the mission), the frame rate drops drastically when too much is going on, there's considerable pop-up (sometimes it's not too bad, sometimes it's downright brutal), textures break and rip apart at night and I've not even scratched the surface yet. Going to the options will reveal an option to set your MPH display, nothing wrong with that, right? Well, there is, because there is no display in the game! It wasn't put in! Some copies also experience freezing issues when accessing certain menus.

With so many graphical issues and other glitches, it should be impossible for this game to have made it through the testing cycle. How it was released with all these glitches is just beyond me. The sound isn't much better and it's not because of glitches either, it just basically sucks. Most of the cars sound very similar, pedestrians don't say anything but "Hey!" and police will say "You're under arrest" for five minutes straight, because there is nothing else for them to say. The music is also quite boring and repetitive, as it's looped over and over and over. You can use your custom soundtrack in Driv3r but unfortunately it just repeats the same song every time you go to a new mission.

Unlockables and hidden items are scattered throughout the three cities, if you can be bothered to find them. If you can't be bothered, playing the lacking Undercover mode there are button codes to unlock pretty much everything just like in Grand Theft Auto. Extra trailers and a "Making Of" feature have been thrown in for good measure as well. The cities are also very big and have a great deal of neat places to explore, such as a fully accessible yacht in Miami and the steep declining hills of Nice that lead to a wonderful beach. All the cities are definitely worth driving around and there is a plethora of cool places to have a car chase sequence.

Rent Driv3r if you're interested in the story and are a fan of the first two games, or if you're curious about the director's mode and have never played a Driver title before. If you're a huge fan of the franchise like I am, you may find some enjoyment in the title; it doesn't deserve all of the bad press it's been getting. The graphics do look good when they're not glitching madly and the physics and game engine is pretty good (the on-foot mode is vastly better than it was in Driver 2 but could still do with some tweaking). If you enjoyed the Driving Games and Director's Mode of the last Driver, then you'll want to have this game in your collection. Many hours can be killed creating a great short movie, or just watching the other ones people have created via Xbox Live; I really wish I could score this game higher from those modes alone but I just can't let a game that's essentially not-finished drive pass a six. Atari, next time just delay it as long as you need to... please!

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).