Preview

Driver San Francisco

VITAL STATISTICS
Publisher Ubisoft Developer Ubisoft Reections Genre Driving Web www.driver. uk.ubi.com

RELEASE 2 SEPTEMBER 2011

More cinematic car chases round Frisco. Now with mind-hopping

and uidity to the game, explains Martin Edmondson, founder of Reection Studios and Creative Director for Driver SF. Regarding the shift into licensed car territory, he explains: This game is about movie car chases, and it makes perfect sense to use the real cars. Our cars were chosen for their iconic status. Speaking of shifting, the real buzz about this game comes from shift mode. In short, you can pop in and out of the mind of any driver in the city. I shifted into the mind of a kid learning to drive, and taught my cranky instructor a lesson by driving like a maniac and pushing him towards cardiac arrest. Cool. That level of innovation is rare in this genre, and weve got all kinds of appendages crossed that Driver San Francisco delivers the goods in style this September. Phil Iwaniuk Trailblazing
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WHATS THE STORY?

The stylish chase-em-up returns, with real-world licensing, familiar faces and innovative gameplay. Dig out your Bullit DVD in anticipation of this quirky drivers forthcoming autumn release.

emember John Tanner? Well, you could hardly be blamed for drawing a blank. Its been ten years since he featured in the Driver series, and Driver SF has itself been in development for ve years. Why the wait? Well, for starters the rendering and physics engines have been built from the ground up. The wild, ferocious handling was an important part of Driver and its follow-ups, and the developers arent about to let that reputation slide. This time there are over 140 licensed (and damage modelled) cars, each one handling independently and authentically. Ubisoft Reections are also making sure the game runs at 60fps across all platforms: The whole reason is to give a feeling of responsiveness
The brooding, terse undercover cop with a fetish for handbrake turns is back

The cars were chosen for their iconic status

Its all about the wild and crazy handling

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You have the ability to pop in and out of other drivers minds

The game runs at 60fps across all platforms

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Driver San Francisco/Tomb Raider

RELEASE AUTUMN 2012

Tomb Raider
Meet the new Lara Croft (again)
Laras adventure kicks off with physicsheavy puzzle challenges

VITAL STATISTICS
Publisher Square Enix (Eidos) Developer Crystal Dynamics Genre Action-RPG Web tombraider.com

WHATS THE STORY?

Rebooting the franchise, were reintroduced to Lara on a hostile island. She must puzzle her way through tombs, clamber cliff-faces, and ght off hostile natives and wildlife.

S
You access new locations by learning new skills and unlocking new tools This is much more of an action-RPG, like the Metroid Prime series

There are multiple routes through the levels

ince day one, Ive been a Tomb Raider sceptic Ive just not got on with Lara Croft. Ive sneered at the movies, been disappointed in her repeated reboots, and thought of her less as a strong female role model and more as a marketing gimmick for an action game. Karl Stewart, the Global Brand Director for Tomb Raider, is introducing the new Lara to us: Shes just a girl called Lara Croft shes 21, straight out of college, always wanted to be an adventurer like her parents. She takes ship on the ironically-named Endurance with a friend of her parents, Captain Roth, who is searching for the eet of Kublai Khan, lost off the coast of Japan centuries before. Sufce to say, the Endurance doesnt endure. The game gets gruesome and dirty quickly, with skulls, corpses and lth surrounding the shipwrecked Lara. After a long, physics-heavy sequence of Lara escaping from captivity in an underground cave system, which establishes the games core puzzleand reaction-based challenges, Lara manages to reunite with Roth. Hes survived, despite being savaged by wolves, but requires urgent medical attention and the pack is in the wolves lair, way up behind an abandoned native village. Though Lara eventually regains the pack, the open layout of this area is more important. Way past the wolvess lair is a blinking red light atop a transmitter tower, Laras ultimate aim in this area. Despite my scepticism, Im convinced by this reboot. Without gutting Laras character Square Enix has taken her back to basics. In the process its removed the sequels clutter that was designed for kids but doesnt work for players in their 30s. Dan Griliopoulos rebootylicious
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Square Enix have taken Lara back to basics but will that make her less distinctive?

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