Reviews// Driver: Renegade

The Driving

Thankfully controlling your generic-looking cars around a Dull Town is made slightly bearable thanks to the control system. Cars are helped around corners with a touch of in-game assistance meaning that sliding off into a poorly textured wall is a rarity and at times it can actually be quite fun to chuck your back end out when taking a tight corner.

The boost system is also fun if slightly underwhelming when activated and the attack buttons are a nice touch. When side by side with an enemy's car, tapping L or R will jolt your car in the requested direction, slamming him into submission. It can be quite exciting when trying to line up your car in order to activate these attacks.

Content Lacking

The most disappointing of all the issues I have with this game is just how short it is. The main story mode offers you 20 missions. Even with just 20 they lack variety and each can usually be polished off in a matter of a couple of minutes. It's a game that can be completed from start to finish in around two hours and that's just not good enough.

It tries to add some longevity with the Career mode which consists of every racing type that other games have done better. There's no originality here and while taking part in yet another elimination race, you'll wonder why Ubisoft has asked full price for it. There's also no multiplayer whatsoever, which just adds to the content issues.

All this points to one thing. Driver Renegade 3D is a rushed game. It has been released with visual problems, a half-baked story and an extreme lack of content. The sad thing is that given extra development time, this could have been quite good.

If the graphics were smarter, the missions more varied and it had a decent multiplayer then this could have been a success. What it feels like though is a money making exercise, that has been put out to capitalise on the success of Driver San Francisco. It's a poorly put together game that should be avoided at all costs.

Summary

The 3DS can do so much more than this. Despite its lack of power it's capable of providing some wonderful looking games. This isn't one of them. With that issue alongside many others, Driver Renegade 3D makes for a sub-par videogame that will leave anyone who buys it at full price feeling utterly cheated.

SPOnG Score: 34%