Most near-death experiences are all white light and dead relatives, but not for Detective Tanner. When his vintage Challenger gets T-boned, he spends his restless coma flitting between the drivers of San Francisco like the vengeful spirit of Steve McQueen.

In the mildly hallucinatory headspace that passes for your new reality, mobster kingpin Charles Jericho's criminal career takes a sharp left turn into terrorist territory. Only you can piece together his plot - but is the threat real, or just the paranoid drama of a traumatized brain? The answer isn't any big surprise, but surreal touches like billboard messages from your subconscious and trippy time-warp chase sequences will at least sustain your interest.

Unlike Tanner's last adventure, Driver: San Francisco ditches foot pursuits and firearms to focus entirely on behind-the-wheel mayhem. More than 120 licensed vehicles run the gamut from Mustang to Murci‚lago, while forgiving handling and a convincing (but mostly cosmetic) damage model deliver arcade-style accessibility. Don't get too attached to any one ride, though: the touch of a button ejects your soul to soar high above traffic, where you can pick out a new driver to possess and a new ride to ruin.

Being chased by the cops? Temporarily hijack an oncoming tanker and slam it into 5-0's grill. Need to infiltrate Jericho's tight inner circle? Slither into an unwitting informant's skin and redefine what it means to go undercover. All this body-hopping feels less revolutionary than it sounds because your objectives usually revolve around simply doing critical damage to other vehicles or acquiring a fresh sled for yourself. Still, it's hard to return to ordinary racing games afterward.

Given this inventive gameplay-wrinkle's otherworldly appeal, it's a drag that San Francisco feels so sterile. There's no day/night cycle to offer moody relief from a contrast-killing noon-day sun. Notoriously nutty Bay Area drivers putter along like they live in Orlando. You can even power-slide through a crowd of nimble pedestrians without injuring a single soul. Plentiful side missions such as stunt dares, cop chases, and checkpoint races let you rack up piles of Willpower currency, which you can then spend on garages and minor ability upgrades. But while there's a believable sense of speed - especially if you drop the hammer in a modern supercar - the city never really feels like a thriving automotive playground.

Add seven other human beings for online multiplayer, though, and suddenly the whole state seems to be breathing down your neck. Some of the 11 unlockable modes are standard checkpoint and sprint exercises, but changing rides at will turns capture-the-flag and cops-versus-robber takedowns into breathless, crash-filled battles. Unless you're invading and attacking an enemy's turf in Blitz mode, the focus of the action is constantly on the move. A moment's hesitation can make the difference between grabbing a powerful Dodge Charger or a wimpy AMC Pacer, but even those left in the dust will have a great time.

Driver: San Francisco hasn't got much in the way of cutting-edge visual pizzazz or precision physics, but it gets enough online mileage out of the body-snatching gimmick to make up for some offline disappointments.

On Xbox 360

+ On-demand out-of-body experiences let you drive all kinds of vehicles.

+ Excellent multiplayer action; natural handling; lots of licensed cars; tons of optional side missions.

- Bland version of SF; unspectacular graphics; cheesy catch-up A.I.; all attempts at humor fall flat.

? What controls your body while your spirit wanders?

7.5