The point is proven by the unexpectedly brilliant selection of online and split-screen multiplayer modes, which show off Shift at its most entertaining and versatile.

It has more variety than any other racer I can name. There are chase missions where you're inside cop cars, escort or tailing missions where you have to stick with the same vehicle, missions where you have to contrive insane crashes to help out a camera crew for America's Most Insane Car Chases 4, missions where you're helping earnest Japanese boys to become street-racing heroes and fund their college education, and much more. Driver takes full advantage of its premise, never holding back from ridiculous set pieces. As the game goes on, your Shift abilities improve and more of the city unlocks, until you can zoom right out for a bird's-eye view of the whole Bay Area.

Instead of concentrating purely on driving fast and cornering smartly, you can suddenly send oncoming traffic zooming into opponents to take them out, or block routes with a truck, or traverse the entire city in seconds. Play After an hour or two of that, though, it becomes apparent that there's more to Shifting than meets the eye, and it completely changes how you think about racing.

Download driver san francisco ps4