Driver (video game)
| Driver: You Are the Wheelman | |
|---|---|
| PC budget re-release Cover | |
| Developer(s) | Reflections |
| Publisher(s) | GT Interactive, later Infogrames |
| Platform(s) | PS, PC, Mac, GBC |
| Release | PS1: 1999, Others: 2000 |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Driver: You Are the Wheelman, better known as Driver, is a 1999 video game developed by Reflections Interactive, who had earlier hits with Destruction Derby on the early years of the PlayStation.
Features
In the game, the player is Tanner, a cop gone undercover due to his impressive driving skills, and must gain the confidence of the syndicate's bosses by performing increasingly difficult missions such as stopping or following another car, driving through windows, delivering a stolen car or a fan-favorite, scaring a taxi customer. The game is played in four cities—(Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City)—which, like many games, remain only partially faithful to the original city layouts.
Most missions (many times the player has the option to choose between two or three missions) are simple A to B travels, with little or no variation, which is the most criticized flaw in the game design. Other flaws include the ease of turning 90 degrees in any direction, only straight curves, general bad and overly aggressive cop AI and a (for many) difficult starting level, where Tanner must complete several maneuvers like slalom, braking or turning 180 degrees in a small garage with only three "scratches" (hitting another car, pillars or walls) allowed.Many of the missions involve picking up some gangsters and outrunning the police; when this happens, a voice repeats, "Lose the tail, man" every 15 seconds. Timed missions can be frustrating seeing as how a few seemingly don't give you enough time to finish them. "Trial and Error" may come into play as the player must use shortcuts, avoiding the police and traffic, not hitting objects (lamp posts, trees, etc.), and driving as flawlessly as possible until the player finally does complete the mission. The last mission is considered by far to be the hardest/most frustrating mission in the whole game which requires more luck than actual skill.
The game was designed to look like '60s and '70s car chase movies. The music, the character design in the cut scenes, the cars (with flying hubcaps), everything looks inspired from movies such as Bullitt. The game also features a Director's Mode where the run could be replayed with cameras chosen by the player, and a Quick Replay, where the cameras were automatically selected.
In addition to the Undercover mode, the player also had an option to drive around in the cities (once they were unlocked) and dirt tracks. There were several other modes, like pursuit, escape, checkpoint, and carnage (inflicting as much damage as possible). After the game was finished (or secret passwords inserted in the records screens), several cheats were available. Among them are: skipping the garage mission, give (among others) the car super speed, immunity to police cars, invincibility, or a short ride on Newcastle, Reflections' home town.
Initially only for the PlayStation, PC and Mac ports were released. A special Game Boy Color version was released, with top-down view, only three cities—San Francisco was removed—and fewer missions.
Story
Template:Spoilers A movie starts as Tanner and New York City's deputy are talking about a mobster named Castaldi. In order to stop him, Tanner must give up his status as a cop. In training, you must prove you can be a great wheelman by performing tricks while keeping the car intact. Once you succeed, you begin in Miami, Florida.
Miami
Tanner begins his missions in a hotel room. You look at the answering machine to see if there are any missions. Sometimes, you have 2-3 missions to choose, but they do go to one path. You might hear gag messages.
When you complete either stealing a car or assist in robbing a bank, Tanner talks to a pimp named Rufus. You then do a little errand in saving his associate. You also get an order for pizza on your answering machine. Near the end, Rufus is shot and you must chase the shooter who's in a monorail. She will tell police interrogators that Castaldi is in San Francisco.
San Francisco
You get more options, like carrying explosives and freaking someone out (fan favorite), and you get a message about an order for chicken & pork. After Tanner either assists in freaking, carrying dynamite, chasing a trolley, delivering weapons from Fisherman's Wharf, or getting pranked on, you must destroy the car of a mobster named Slater. After this mission, you go to Los Angeles.
Los Angeles
LA is straight-forward, and all missions are at night. There is a mission where you get to steal a cop car, which is one of only two opportunities in the game to do so. After you take Castaldi's girl Maya to the hospital, you must help out in an assassination as well as chase Duval, who drives a car similar to OJ Simpson's. After this, Tanner goes to New York.
New York City
This is the last city, but Tanner isn't done yet. At the beginning you can choose to find info or drive a clunker to a location where Tanner dumps his girlfriend. At the middle, you must assist in destroying taxis. At the end, Tanner goes to his "rite of passage" and reaches Castaldi's headquarters. Tanner is disgusted by his ultimate plan - having to kill the president. Tanner refuses and saves the president while evading both Castaldi's gang and the FBI.
Newcastle
By use of a Gameshark or other cheat device, players can unlock the city of Newcastle for play. However, the driveable area is very small and can be glitchy around the barriers. This city appears during the final credits in regular play.
Criticisms
The game was terribly criticized because of lacking carjackings, lack of weapons and combat, and the polices were influenced because even if they have stopped the vehicle, the cops still chase game. The "undercover" mode was actually a Driving Lesson 101. The PC version were massively criticized because of the use of keys, W, S, A and D instead of the arrow keys. Also, the PC version may actuallly freeze up, crashes or making the "Pings" harder to communicate and be forced to drop the connection.
Aftermath
All mobsters are captured, but Tanner doesn't want his badge back. He leaves the garage to go elsewhere.