Channel your inner wheelman with a variety of rides in Driver: San Francisco

When we last left John Tanner in Driv3r, the third installment of the game, he had just put world-class bad guy Charles Jericho into the hands of police.

The new game, Driver: San Francisco, released on Sept. 6, starts with Tanner and partner Tobias Jones in the City by the Bay, overseeing Jericho's route to the penitentiary. As the men wait in Tanner's 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T (440 Six Pack, of course) Jericho breaks out of the police transport and escapes, but not before our hero is put into a coma via a semitruck accident.

In the coma is where most of the game takes place. In Tanner's dream state he can float over the city, jumping into anybody and any car he deems fit. It's a cool spin on a genre of sandbox games that are getting more tired as the years go by. Each civilian has his or her own little piece of the story, which you'll hear when you jump in the driver's seat.

All of that is good. But the real stars of this game are the cars. An accurate representation of San Francisco is filled with sedans, pickups, work trucks, buses and sports cars just like a real city. And, in a first for the series, licensed cars from real manufacturers are used.

Expect to see a bunch of Dodge Chargers and Ford Taurus sedans, small Fiats, Pontiacs and Chevrolet Camaros in traffic accidents, parked at coffee shops and generally hindering your speedy driving. In total there are 140 cars in the game (see the full list below), ranging from the 1960s to the present, all of which can be purchased at garages throughout the city.

Game maker Ubisoft didn't skimp on the car selection either. Driver: San Francisco has one of the most eclectic vehicle groups you'll see in a nonracing game. The pony cars are all present, in both modern and classic interpretations. Along with them are the exotic Aston Martins, Lamborghinis and Alfa Romeos. The Chevy Corvette is a good buy, though it's a bit weak structurally for police work.

As for the other classics, there are Cadillac Eldorados, Chevy Bel Airs, Dodge Charger RTs and even Jaguar E-types. The really impressive part is that they aren't all the cars you think of when putting together a driving game. In the first batch of missions you drive a 1965 Alfa Giulia TZ2, chase a Lamborghini Countach, have the option to buy an AMC Pacer and go rallying with a Lancia Stratos and a Ford RS200.

The game map is filled with of driving events ranging from races to chases, top-speed runs to movies stunts and everything in between. One particular event has our hero competing to win both first and second place in a race. That can be done either with speed, switching from car to car, or the most fun way, taking control of oncoming traffic and smashing head on into your competition.

Driver: San Francisco comes with a two-player component where you can race and chase your friends with a split screen. It also works online, where up to eight players can compete simultaneously. We didn't get much of a chance to test that yet but if the one-player mode is any indication, it should work well, if not a bit chaotically.

Driver differs from Grand Theft Auto in that it really is all about the cars. Unlike previous Driver games there is no running around outside the car, just loads of tire-smoking, metal-crunching action. If the rest of the game is anything like the four chapters we've completed so far, it should be a lot of fun.

Driver: San Francisco

Manufacturer: Ubisoft

Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Windows

Release: Sept. 6

Price: $60

Abarth 500 (2008)

Abarth Fiat 695 ss Assetto Corse (1970)

Alfa Romeo 159 Ti (2009)

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione (2007)

Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2 (1965)

Alfa Romeo Giulietta (2010)

Alfa Romeo Mito (2009)

Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto (1966)

AMC Pacer (1980)

Aston Martin Cygnet (2011)

Aston Martin DB5 (1963)

Aston Martin DB9 Volante (2010)

Aston Martin Rapide (2010)

Aston Martin V12 Vantage (2010)

Audi A4 2.0 TFSI (2010)

Audi Q7 4.2 FSI quattro (2010)

Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro (2010)

Audi RS 6 Avant (2008)

Audi S5 Coupe (2010)

Audi Sport quattro S1 - Rally (1985)

Audi TT RS Coupe (2010)

Bentley Arnage T (2005)

Bentley Continental Supersports (2010)

Cadillac CTS-V (2010)

Cadillac DTS (2010)

Cadillac Eldorado (1959)

Cadillac Escalade (2007)

Cadillac Escalade - Cop (2007)

Cadillac XLR-V (2009)

Chevrolet Bel Air (1957)

Chevrolet Blazer (2001)

Chevrolet C10 (1965)

Chevrolet C10 - Tow-Truck (1965)

Chevrolet Camaro SS (1968)

Chevrolet Camaro SS - Jones' car (2010)

Chevrolet Camaro Z28 (1986)

Chevrolet Chevelle SS (1970)

Chevrolet Corvette (1960)

Chevrolet Corvette Z06 - Drift (2009)

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (2010)

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 - Cop (2010)

Chevrolet El Camino (1973)

Chevrolet Impala (2006)

Chevrolet Impala - Taxi (2006)

Chevrolet Volt (2011)

DeLorean DMC-12 (1983)

Dodge Challenger R/T - Tanner's car (1970)

Dodge Challenger SRT8 (2009)

Dodge Charger R/T (1969)

Dodge Charger SRT8 (2009)

Dodge Charger SRT8 - Cop (2009)

Dodge Grand Caravan (2009)

Dodge Grand Caravan - Taxi (2009)

Dodge Monaco (1974)

Dodge Monaco - Cop (1974)

Dodge Neon (2002)

Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie (2010)

Dodge Ram SRT10 - Jericho's car (2006)

Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR (2009)

Ford Crown Victoria (1999)

Ford Crown Victoria - Cop (1999)

Ford Crown Victoria - Taxi (1999)

Ford F-150 XLT SuperCrew (2010)

Ford F-350 Super Duty (2008)

Ford Gran Torino (1974)

Ford GT (2006)

Ford Mustang Convertible (2008)

Ford Mustang GT Fastback (1968)

Ford Mustang Mach 1 (1973)

Ford RS200 - Rally (1985)

Ford Shelby GT500 (2010)

Ford Taurus SHO (2010)

GMC C5500 (2008)

GMC C5500 - Ambulance (2008)

GMC Savana - News Van (2005)

GMC Sierra (1998)

GMC Sierra - Monster Truck (1998)

GMC Vandura (1983)

Hudson Hornet (1951)

Hummer H3X (2009)

Jaguar E-Type (1966)

Jaguar XFR (2010)

Jaguar XKR (2010)

Jeep Wrangler (1988)

Lamborghini Countach LP400S (1978)

Lamborghini Diablo VT (1994)

Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 (2009)

Lamborghini Jalpa (1986)

Lamborghini Miura (1972)

Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 (2007)

Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV (2009)

Lancia Stratos - Rally (1974)

Lincoln Town Car (2010)

Maserati GranTurismo S (2008)

McLaren F1 (1997)

McLaren MP4-12C (2011)

McLaren SLR (2008)

Nissan 370Z (2009)

Nissan 370Z - Drift (2009)

Nissan GT-R (2010)

Nissan Skyline GT-R (R33) - Drift (1998)

Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 (1970)

Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser (1972)

Pagani Zonda Cinque (2009)

Pontiac GTO The Judge (1970)

Pontiac Lemans (1971)

Pontiac Solstice GXP (2009)

Pontiac Solstice GXP - Drift (2009)

Pontiac Trans Am (1975)

Pontiac Trans Am (1977)

Pontiac Trans Am (1980)

Range Rover Sport Supercharged (2010)

Ruf CTR 3 (2010)

Ruf CTR Yellow Bird (1987)

Ruf RK Coupe (2010)

Ruf RK Spyder (2009)

Ruf Rt 12 (2010)

Shelby Cobra 427 (1966)

Shelby GT500 (1967)

Volkswagen Camper (1965)

Volkswagen Scirocco R (2009)

Volkswagen Scirocco R - Rally (2009)

Volkswagen Baja Buggy (1963)

Volkswagen Beetle (1963)

Volkswagen Beetle Convertible (2009)

By Jake Lingeman