History VideoGame / DriverSanFrancisco

The game received positive reviews for its unique gameplay as well as its campy, ''Series/StarskyAndHutch''-style tone as well as some MindScrew thrown in with the coma dream element. It is available on UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows (via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and [=uPlay=], though [=uPlay=] is tied in to the game regardless and this game is no longer available on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} but users that bought the game can still play it on their account), UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}}.[[note]]Also to add, of the three platforms, the Xbox version ''doesn't'' have a online pass because Ubisoft botched the code printing for that game. They decided that the only way to fix this was to make the online pass free for everyone on Xbox Live, essentially making the online multiplayer free for all Gold members. The codes still work to unlock some free content, however.[[/note]], and the Wii.

However, the Wii version is substanially different from the previous versions, to the point the game is practically unrecognisable other than a few characters. Set before the first game, it centers around Tanner and Jones, with a few playable segments as the main antagonists, and is more of a traditional Driver game with some rail shooter elements mixed in.

* BatmanGambit: Jericho pulls one off on ''all of San Francisco'': [[spoiler:very visibly steal the ingredients for cyanide gas and make a bomb threat to clear out downtown. He has no intention of detonating a bomb; he just wants the city evacuated so the path is clear for a prison break.]]
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: ''[[FridgeBrilliance The entire game.]]''

* EndlessDaytime: The entire game, even in short segments in the begining, [[spoiler: the end, and the end credits]] taking place in the real world.

* RealityEnsues: Since the final chase takes place in reality, there's no shifting, boosting or ramming.
** During the opening, Tanner gets broadsided by a semi truck. Rather than brush it off, Tanner gets knocked into a coma
* RubberbandAI: As said by [[WebAnimation/{{ZeroPunctuation}} Yahtzee]], opponent cars slow down dramatically once you're far enough behind them.

* TerroristsWithoutACause: In the real world, Jericho steals ammonia and platinum, two ingredients for making cyanide gas, and threatens to detonate a bomb in San Francisco for no real reason. [[spoiler:Subverted when this lack of reason is what tips Tanner off to Jericho's ''real'' plot, evacuating the city to stage a massive prison break.]]

** The heavier commercial vehicles are also fictional though they are based on real vehicles like the Caison Elementary C being based on a typical Bluebird school bus or the Dykemann Haulier SF which is modeled Kenworth T-600 or similar model.

* LighterAndSofter: Compared to the previous game, the game has little to no shootings, far less gritty setting with little to no gangland ghetto, far more focus on driving and cars, a more wise-cracking, talkative protagonist, and generally more wacky, fantastic plot and characters, although justified.

The game received positive reviews for its unique gameplay as well as its campy, ''Series/StarskyAndHutch''-style tone as well as some MindScrew thrown in with the coma dream element. It is available on UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows (via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and [=uPlay=], though [=uPlay=] is tied in to the game regardless and this game is no longer available on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} but users that bought the game can still play it on their account), UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}}.[[note]]Also to add, of the three platforms, the Xbox version ''doesn't'' have a online pass because Ubisoft botched the code printing for that game. They decided that the only way to fix this was to make the online pass free for everyone on Xbox Live, essentially making the online multiplayer free for all Gold members. The codes still work to unlock some free content, however.[[/note]]

Following the events of ''[=Driv3r=]'', Jericho is being taken into custody in an armored truck. Although Tanner's partner, Tobias Jones, insists Jericho's in safe hands, Tanner himself isn't so sure and tails the van just in case. Sure enough, Jericho breaks free of his handcuffs and hijacks the truck. During his escape, Jericho slams Tanner's car with the truck and pushing him to be t-boned by an incoming semi, [[AdventuresInComaland causing Tanner to enter a coma]]. From here on out, the game takes place in Tanner's coma dreams, influenced by the news broadcast in his hospital room, in which he continues the chase for Jericho through San Francisco.

* UnexplainedRecovery: No explanation is given for how Tanner survived the ShootTheShaggyDog ending of ''[=Driv3r=]''.

* UsefulNotes/NewYorkCityCops: Tanner is an NYPD detective.

* DramaticIrony: Throughout the game, the player is aware of Tanner's coma, but Tanner himself isn't.

** Such as The [[Film/BackToTheFuture DeLorean DMC-12]], a [[Film/{{Bullitt}} 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback]], [[Film/GoneInSixtySeconds1974 another Mustang (a 1973 Mach 1)]], [[SmokeyAndTheBandit Pontiac Trans Am]], [[Film/TheCannonBallRun Lamborghini Countach]], [[Film/TheLoveBug Volkswagen Beetle]] etc. Pretty much every CoolCar used in a chase scene shows up.

*** Then there's the Trans Am from [[SmokeyAndTheBandit Smokey and the Bandit]] and the Mustang Mach 1[=/=]Shelby [=GT500E=] from ''Film/{{Gone in|SixtySeconds1974}} [[Film/GoneInSixtySeconds2000 60 Seconds]]''.

** Such as The [[Film/BackToTheFuture DeLorean DMC-12]], a [[Film/{{Bullitt}} 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback]], [[Film/GoneInSixtySeconds1974 another Mustang (a 1973 Mach 1)]], [[SmokeyAndTheBandit Pontiac Trans Am]], [[Film/TheCannonBallRun Lamborghini Countach]], [[TheLoveBug Volkswagen Beetle]] etc. Pretty much every CoolCar used in a chase scene shows up.

* DramaticThunder: A bolt of lightning and a clap of thunder is used to denote when another player Shifts into a car in most multiplayer modes [[spoiler:and when Jericho takes control of cars in traffic around the midpoint and during the finale along with when he throws them at you]].

* DramaticThunder: A bolt of lightning and a clap of thunder is used to denote when another player Shifts into a car [[spoiler:and when Jericho takes control of cars in traffic around the midpoint and finale along with when he throws them at you]].

*** And then there's the Dodge Challenger from ''VanishingPoint'', [[Series/TheDukesOfHazzard a '69 Dodge Charger]], and [[Film/JamesBond 007's Aston Martin DB5]].

* AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle: No one in the game can properly pronounce [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County,_California Marin]].

** In one mission, Tanner has to catch two lowlifes who stole a church collection box. His reaction? [[IAlwaysWantedToSayThat He's always wanted to say that]] [[TheBluesBrothers he's on a mission from God]].

* CoolCar: Now all real cars (Except ASYM Desanne, see WritingAroundTrademarks below), in change from the previous games which use [[Expy Expies]] or unbranded cars. Out of the 140 vehicles to choose from, a lot of them are darn cool ranging from muscle cars to supercars, luxury cars and off-road cars and a ''lot'' of them are a reference to one movie or another.

* UniversalDriversLicense: Tanner has no problem going from his [[DrivingStick manual]] Dodge Challenger R/T to an automatic car whose stick may be on the wheel itself, to an F1-style paddle-shifter up to a school bus, armored van or the eighteen wheel semi-truck. The game even properly animates these situations in first person, complete with Tanner putting his hand on the wheel stick when reversing an automatic or having a separate, slanted-wheel animation for larger vehicles. Being AllJustADream, it makes sense Tanner wouldn't have a problem.

* WritingAroundTrademarks: There is this one and only fictional car that cannot be driven, the [=ASYM=] Desanne which appears as certain police cars in cutscenes or the normal version for a character, later blasted by an RPG-7 or planted with a car bomb. This is probably to avoid licensing issues because it's doubtful Ford, Dodge, or any other car manufacturer would approve of the depiction of their police cruisers (or other cars, in the matter) being blasted by an RPG or shown deliberately bombed.

*** And then there's the Dodge Challenger from ''VanishingPoint'', [[TheDukesOfHazzard a '69 Dodge Charger]], and [[Film/JamesBond 007's Aston Martin DB5]].

* CoolCar: Out of the 140 vehicles to choose from, a lot of them are darn cool ranging from muscle cars to supercars, luxury cars and off-road cars and a ''lot'' of them are a reference to one movie or another.

* EveryCarIsAPinto: Surprisingly averted for a game themed off of movie car chases. The only time a vehicle explodes is if it's a tanker filled with something volatile or if the car (usually [[WritingAroundTrademarks ASYM Desanne) was rigged with a bomb. Tanner jokingly alludes to this when teaching "driving lessons" to an unfortunate passenger.

* CowboyCop: Tanner, to the hilt.

* EnemyWithin: There are two Jerichos. The genuine one is loose in the real world, plotting a false flag attack on downtown as a distraction for his jailbreak. The Jericho in Tanner's head is an embodiment of his fear of death. (Hence the theme song, "Race With Death".)
* EveryCarIsAPinto: Surprisingly averted for a game themed off of movie car chases. The only time a vehicle explodes is if it's a tanker filled with something volatile or if the car was rigged with a bomb. Tanner jokingly alludes to this when teaching "driving lessons" to an unfortunate passenger.

* SecretAIMoves: There is this one car that cannot be driven, the [=ASYM=] Desanne which appears as certain police cars in cutscenes or the normal version for many of the cars that are completely trashed, be it blasted by an RPG-7 or planted with a car bomb. This is probably to avoid licensing issues because it's doubtful Ford or Dodge would approve of the depiction of their police cruisers being blasted by an RPG.

*** How about the AMC Pacer that's the same year as the one used in ''WaynesWorld''?

* MushroomSamba: One mission involves a spider collector whose boyfriend got bitten by a "Congolese Dream Widow", which means intense hallucinations that degrades into a coma with the only prevention being adrenaline. Thankfully she happens to be driving a Chevrolet Corvette [=Z06=] to perform winding drifts to keep Sam awake. Among his hallucinations involve seeing a bright light (which Joni!Tanner is confused if it's GoIntoTheLight or stay out of the light to stay alive), Joni!Tanner's head being a big balloon, big, angry screeching owls, thinking he's going to the park and sleeping atop a big bear among other crazy things. The whole mission becomes DramaticIrony when you think about it as the game states "Coma Averted!" when you reach the hospital and win the mission, too bad you couldn't avert a certain other coma...

* UniversalDriversLicense: Tanner has no problem going from his [[DrivingStick manual]] Dodge Challenger R/T to an automatic car whose stick may be on the wheel itself, to an F1 style paddle-shifter up to a school bus, armored van or the eighteen wheel semi-truck. The game even properly animates these situations in first person, complete with Tanner putting his hand on the wheel stick when reversing an automatic or having a separate, slanted-wheel animation for larger vehicles. Being AllJustADream, it makes sense Tanner wouldn't have a problem.