Driver 2
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| Driver 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Reflections Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Infogrames |
| Platform(s) | Sony PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows |
| Release | Sony PlayStation: November 13 2000 November 17, 2000Nintendo Game Boy Advance: October 22 2002 October 4 2002 |
| Genre(s) | Action, Driving |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Driver 2: The Wheelman Is Back (in the UK, Driver 2: Back on the Streets) is the second installment of the Driver video game series.
Overview
Driver 2 expanded on Driver's 3-D, free-roam structure, as well as adding the ability of the character, Officer Tanner, to step out of his car to explore on foot and carjack other people. The story missions are played separately from the take-a-ride mode where the player can explore the cities on their own time.
The game was first released on the PlayStation video game console and was later ported to Nintendo's Game Boy Advance. Because the game was so long, and cutscene graphics were somewhat advanced for that of the Playstation era, the game was released on two discs for the Playstation. The first disc contained data for the first two cities, and the second disc contained data for the later two cities.
Reception of the game was mixed. Some felt it expanded on the original Driver enough and contained enough fresh content to be a worthy sequel, while others felt this was not enough of an upgrade, or lambasted the graphics (particularly the framerate) and almost constant slowdown/lag whenever the action on the screen got too busy.
Story
The story in in in Driver 2 follows Tanner, an undercover police officer, and his life-partner, Tobias Jones, as they track a man named Pink Lenny. Lenny is portrayed as a weasel in the intro,where he is in the Red River Bar bragging to a Brazilian about scaring somebody with his handgun. 'You shoulda seen the look on this guy's face', Lenny tells the Brazilian. Then a couple of real hoods walk in and shoot everyone in the bar, while Lenny cowers and prays in the back by the pool table. Lenny escapes out the back door and the chase is on. Lenny is a former money man for a gang lord named Solomon Caine, but has sided with Caine's rival, a Brazilian gangster dubbed Alvaro Vasquez. Gang wars are erupting in Chicago, and Tanner must find Lenny before the violence boils over. The game features a cold blooded hood named Jericho, with his twin sawn-offs.
Missions in the game are generally vehicle-oriented, and involve trailing witnesses, ramming cars, escaping from gangsters/cops, etc... A cutscene is shown prior to each mission to help advance the storyline, and thus the game plays rather like a Hollywood-style car chase movie. Although Tanner can leave his car and interact with certain elements of the environment, all violence takes place during pre-rendered scenes, and, as such, there is no player-controlled shooting or gun play.
Characters
- Tanner - An undercover cop and the protagonist of the game.
- Tobias Jones - Tanner's partner and another undercover cop.
- Pink Lenny - the main criminal focus, and the man whom every other character in the story wants to find. He is also a former henchman of Solomon Caine and is rumored to work for Vasquez.
- Solomon Caine - a gangster with a nationwide criminal empire, and is best known for his introduction line: "You'll wish you never met me." He later is shot in the head while in an elevator by Jericho.
- Jericho - Caine's main hitman, lieutenant and bodyguard. He is most noted for his twin sawn-off shotguns and black trench coat. Jericho is a minor character in Driver 2 but becomes the main antagonist in the sequel, DRIV3R.
- Alvaro Vasquez - A mysterious Brazilian mobster and Caine's rival.
Cities
Driver 2 includes four cities: Chicago and Havana, which are both immediately open for 'TAKE A RIDE' mode, Las Vegas, which can only be accessed once missions are complete for the first two cities, and Rio de Janeiro, only accessible after completing the Las Vegas missions. The cities all have secret cars hidden within them, which become available once the player finds the cars. The cities include many of their respective landmarks, such as the Navy Pier and Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Havana's Plaza de la Revolución and the Capitolio, recreations of the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, and the Corcovado and some other known landmarks of Rio.
Trivia
- One of the music tracks for the Chicago missions is a note-for-note copy of Tekken 3's Paul Phoenix theme.
- GTA III's developers poked fun at Tanner's 2D appearance in the game, by putting him into a mission, "Two-faced Tanner".