IN PICTURES: Did the six most overhyped games of 2011 deliver?

We look at what we predicted to be six of 2011's biggest potential gaming disappointments and whether our predictions came true or not

By Patrick Budmar

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What we said: “We love driving games — they're almost as fun as getting out of your basement and actually driving a car. But we're not looking forward to Driver: San Francisco, to be honest. There's a simple reason for this — since the original, the Driver series of games has seen a slow but consistent slump in quality.”

What others said: Despite the franchise getting worse with every installment, Driver: San Francisco surprised even the most hardened critic when it came out in September 2011. Gone were the gimmicks and poorly implemented gameplay mechanics of past games, and instead gamers were presented with a high polished and enjoyable driving experience set in San Francisco. The game scored approximately 80 per cent across all three platforms on Metacritic, while users scored it a bit more conservatively between 6.5 to 7.5.

Our final verdict: While it’s true that the past games in the series have been consistently underwhelming, Driver: San Francisco was a refreshing reboot to the franchise. The graphics and voice acting was top notch, and the new mechanic of teleporting between cars took the gameplay in a new direction. While the vehicle controls were a bit loose and arcadey, the large amount of licensed real world vehicles made up for it.

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IN PICTURES: Did the six most overhyped games of 2011 deliver?

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