For series of the same name, see Driver (series).

Driver, known as Driver: You Are the Wheelman in North America, is a 1999 action driving video game developed by Reflections Interactive. It is the first game in the Driver series, released for the PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Mac, and Game Boy Color. An IOS version was also available.

Undercover Mode

See: Driver (video game)/Undercover Mode

Plot

The game tells the story of John Tanner, a detective with the NYPD, going undercover in order to infiltrate organized crime by impressing the bosses with difficult driving missions (e.g., stopping and following another car, smashing through restaurants, delivering stolen cars, or scaring taxi customers). Tanner was chosen for this mission due to his unique driving skills, which he gained from his time as a racecar driver.

As Tanner goes deep undercover, he travels throughout the cities of Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City, changing his lead as his initial target, Rufus, ends up killed and his killer pointing to Castaldi, who would travel across the country. Tanner would soon work under him until the very last moment when he was instructed to assassinate the president.

Features

The game is played in four cities: Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City in which, like many games at the time, they remain only partially faithful to the original city layouts, but notably featured them as explorable open world environments.

The game was designed to mimic 1960s and 1970s car chase films. The title and the overall theme seem to be heavily inspired by the 1978 film The Driver. Most notably, the "Training" level at the beginning of the game is a copy of a scene from the movie in which the main driver proves his skills to some gangsters in a parking garage. The music, overall character design in the cutscenes, and the cars themselves, complete with flying hubcaps, are inspired by films such as Bullitt and television series such as Starsky and Hutch. The game also features a "Film Director" mode, where a run could be replayed with cameras chosen by the player, and a "Quick Replay", where the cameras are automatically selected.

In addition to the "Undercover" mode, the player also had an option to drive around in the cities (once they are unlocked) and dirt tracks. There are several other modes, like pursuit, getaway, and checkpoint races. After the game is finished, several cheats are made available. Among them are invincibility, immunity to the police, and other cheats that add that extra "fun factor" to the game.

Newcastle

In a nod to the city where Reflections Interactive is based, a small portion of Newcastle upon Tyne was modeled and used in the end credits. The city cannot be accessed under normal circumstances on the PlayStation version. However, in the PC version, players can unlock the city and drive around. The drivable area is very small, and can be very buggy around the barriers as this area was only made with the credits in mind.

Differences between the PC & PlayStation versions

• Different graphics in the PC version.
• 2 cars not featured in the PlayStation version include a Ferrari 250 SWB and Ford Thunderbird look-a-like.
• Different soundtrack for both games.
• Different cheats for both games.
• The 4 main cities in the PC version are slightly different than the ones featured on the PlayStation version.
• Different cars can be selected at certain points in Undercover mode in the PC version.
• The maximum number of cops that can appear in Take A Ride mode is 4 in the PC version and 2 in the PlayStation version.
• Car selection available for Take A Ride mode upon completing Undercover mode in the PC version.
• Carnage game mode (smash as many things as possible within a time limit)
• Cheats not present in the PC version include Long Suspension (Stilts), Small cars, an upside-down camera, and rear-wheel steering.
• Cheats not present in the PlayStation version include Freight Train (cars don't slow you down), Play in Newcastle, Skip intro mission, and super speed for all playable vehicles.
• The PlayStation version has only two different types of NPC cars, where the PC has more.
• In the PC version, The Mercy Mission has a fourth part in which Tanner is instructed to go to the phone booth at the Palace of Fine Arts (both versions use the same final cutscene, and the forth part's absence on the PlayStation version creates an obvious continuity error).
• Similarly, the PC version has two extra cutscenes not included on the PlayStation version: first upon completion of The Briefcase mission, in which Tanner returns to his contact with the goods; and second the Good Ending following completion of The President's Run, which reveals Ali stole some money from Hancock's office, much to Tanner's delight, before driving off together in the jeep.

Licensed Music

In contrast to the console version, the PC port featured a custom soundtrack licensed through music libraries instead of original compositions by Allister Brimble, this ended up resulting in a lack of variety for the musical environment, making the port highly criticized for dropping the original score in favor of copyrighted music.

Only one song present in the videogame is also used, the soundtrack features a variety of classic and contemporary funk artists.

• Main Title: "Huggy Bear" - Crispin Merrell
• Interview: "Punch Bowl" - Alan Parker
• Motel Room: "The Rally" - Dennis Farnon
• Miami: "Givem' The Shaft" - Chris Lang & Eric Cunningham
• San Francisco: "Testing Time" - David Lindup
• Los Angeles: "Subway Tunnel Chase" - Lati Kronlund
• New York: "Do Ya Feel Lucky?" - Crispin Merrell
• Desert Offroad: "Rough Ride" - Powerhouse
• Newcastle: "Hole In One" - Powerhouse

Reception and Awards

The first Driver game was met with very positive feedback and critical acclaim. IGN gave the game a score of 9.7 and Gamespot gave it a score of 8.6.

Awards

• E3 1999 Game Critics Awards: Best Racing Game
• Ranked #12 on IGN's list of the "Top 25 Games of All Time" for the first PlayStation console.^[1]

Nevertheless, the PlayStation version suffers from some glitches that the developers acknowledge and justify, because the game was pushing the boundaries of the hardware^[2] Despite the overall positive critical reception, the unskippable tutorial set in the parking lot was criticized for its high difficultly, especially for being the first mission in the game, as well as its overly-aggressive A.I. that makes completing certain missions very challenging.

Gallery

Video

Driver (1999) - Full Official Soundtrack

Trivia

• The cover art for the PAL versions of the game features a 1972 Dodge Challenger with Photoshopped hood scoops that are off-center.

References

External links

• Mirror of the original Driver site