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Driv3r Ships 2.5 Million, Reviews Not So Sunny

Posted by simoniker on from the those-darn-reviewers dept.

Thanks to Yahoo! for reprinting a press release revealing Atari has shipped 2.5 million copies of long-awaited PS2/Xbox title Driv3r, with Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell reassuring: "The global Driver fan base is as robust and passionate as ever, as indicated by retail reaction in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, and other key territories." However, some of the initial reviews are decidedly mixed, in a similar vein to Atari's big 2003 title Enter The Matrix, with GameSpot lamenting of the third Driver title: "Driver 3 is full of the sorts of glitches and problems that final retail products shouldn't have", and IGN complaining that the game "...plays like a bigger, prettier version of Driver 2 with band-aids, but no real solutions to the problems that riddled it." Most of all, Eurogamer were previously skeptical about a late preview version, and are even more scathing regarding what they see as a "class-A disaster" final product. Fair, or not so fair?

2 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. Unfair by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Okay, I RTFR, and they all say the same thing; The problem isn't with the game, but the fact that the "gaming world" around it has changed.

    Nobody I know who played Driver and enjoyed it (myself included), could have given a toss about the storyline, or the boring non-driving bits. We just loved the driving: the physics, the destrucability of the cars, a dozen police cars, sounding like the mutant offspring of Christine chasing after you like the hounds of hell.

    We loved the replay value with the minigames and the unlockable cars.

    In a nutshell, all these reviews are great news to those of us who bought the first 2 games: It's more of the same, only much prettier. Who cares if GTA is a much more immersive game, blah blah blah. I just want to drive like a bat out hell and outrun the cops as long as I can!

    --
    Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
  2. Does anyone believe pre-game reviews anymore? by happyhippy · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Weve been stung too many times before of rave game reviews only to find that its a pile of dog poo with dead fly topping.

    IMO if you pre-order or buy it on day of release, you deserve the pain of finding out its a polished turd.