Driver (video game)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Driver is a series of mission-based driving video games for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance and PC. Developed by Reflections Interactive in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, it was originally published by GT Interactive, and is now published by Atari. There have been four installments released, the latest on March 14, 2006. Recently, Ubisoft has bought the franchise from Atari, and all of the 80 employees who work at Reflections Interactive transferred to Ubisoft.
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[edit] Driver: You Are the Wheelman
- Main article: Driver: You Are the Wheelman
The first game of the Driver series was released June 30, 1999 in the US, and March 9, 2000 in Japan for the PlayStation, and September 10, 2000 in the US, and October 13, 2000 in Europe for PC. You play as an undercover police officer named Tanner. It featured a storyline based in four real-life cities; Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City. The game was set in the 1970s. This game was the best selling game of the Driver series of games. The game was an evolution of the freedom to explore a city and do whatever as brought forth in the early "Grand Theft Auto" games.
[edit] Driver 2: the Wheelman is Back
- Main article: Driver 2
The second installment was only released for PlayStation, by Infogrames (now known as Atari), and later ported to the Game Boy Advance. It came out on November 13, 2000 in the US, and four days later, November 17 in Europe. It featured Tanner once more, in four real-life cities, which were Chicago, Havana, Las Vegas and Rio De Janeiro. It was also the first in the series to feature the ability to get out of your car at any time in order to steal another car on the street.
[edit] DRIV3R
- Main article: DRIV3R
The third edition of Tanner's story was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on June 21, 2004 in the United States and officially on June 22 in Europe to generally poor reviews. This game takes place in Miami, Nice and Istanbul. It was subsequently followed by versions for the PC, Nokia's N-Gage and a GameBoy Advance version. [1] The game sold rather well despite poor reviews, and Reflections paid notice to the complaints about the insipid story line, poor controls, and abundance of glitches in order to improve the series' standings with critics and gamers in the fourth installment of the series.
[edit] Driver Vegas
- Main article: Driver Vegas
A mobile exclusive game featuring Tanner, the protagonist of Driver, Driver 2 and Driv3r which features his exploits in Vegas in an attempt to exact revenge on Jericho.
[edit] Driver: Parallel Lines
- Main article: Driver: Parallel Lines
The fourth game in the series, Driver: Parallel Lines (aka DrIVer), was released March 14, 2006. Reflections intended Parallel Lines to "return the series to its roots" by focusing more on driving. The game differs greatly in other aspects from its predecessors, though, as the story no longer follows undercover cop Tanner and the game takes place in only one location, New York City. The new main player's name is T.K. The game includes two time periods, 1978 and 2006. While an improvement over the disappointing Driv3r, it was a blatent clone of the recent "Grand Theft Auto" games. The game garned unimpressive reviews, but unlike Driv3r, did not sell particularly well. Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions have been released. Ubisoft are now working on a PC and Nintendo Wii version of the game.
[edit] Driver PS3
IGN reports that Ubisoft will acquire the rights of the series from Atari, and that Sony confirmed at last year's Tokyo Game Show that a new Driver was already in development for the PlayStation 3. Developer Reflections Interactive will continue developing the game, and will spend more time on the series after selling Stuntman to Pygnositics.
[edit] Driver 76 (PSP)
- Main article: Driver 76
On the 23rd of January, 2007, Gamespot reported that the Driver franchise would be coming to the PlayStation Portable, as Driver 76. This will be set in New York City in 1976, two years before the events in the first half of Driver: Parallel Lines. The game is being developed by Sumo Digital and Reflections, and is currently slated for a March 2007 release.
[edit] Film Adaptation
- more on Driver (film)
As reported by Daily Variety, Driver is being adapted into a motion picture by Roger Avary for Rogue Pictures and Constantine Films. The Movie has currently past the script stage and production has started.
[edit] External links
- Mirror of the original Driver site
- Official Driver: Parallel Lines site
- Driver Madness Fansite
- Driver series at MobyGames
- French Driver Fan community
- German Driver Fan community
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Driver video games
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Driver: You Are the Wheelman • Driver 2 • DRIV3R • Parallel Lines• Driver 76 • Driver Vegas |
