Driver

Overview

Driver is a series of action-adventure racing games published by Ubisoft Entertainment. The series was originally created by Martin Edmonson as an homage to car chase movies from the 1970s.

Each game has emphasis on car pursuits in an open world city setting.

Main Games

Driver (1999)

The first in the series, it was released in 1999 on the original PlayStation, and then on the PC and Macintosh in 2000. The game put the player in the role of Tanner, an undercover detective working as a wheelman. It established the series' cinematic driving inspired by classic car chase movies like Bullitt and was met with critical acclaim.

Driver 2: The Wheelman is Back (2000)

Also known as 'Driver 2: Back on the Streets' in Europe, it once again featured Tanner and introduced his new partner Tobias Jones. The game focused more on the narrative this time, with a structured story (Tanner and Jones are after a man named Solomon Caine) and pre-rendered cut scenes played between various missions. A first for the series was the ability to exit the car, walk around on foot, and then 'steal' a different vehicle. There was a mixed reaction from fans and critics, and it was never released on PC or other consoles.

Driv3r (2004)

With a new generation of hardware, Reflections returned once again with Driv3r/Driver 3, going for a cinematic theme even more, with voice talent from big Hollywood names such as Michael Madsen (as Tanner) and Ving Rhames (as Tobias Jones). The 1970s look was abandoned for a more modern day appearance, with both classic and modern cars on the streets, as well as the addition of boats and motorcycles. The game also featured third person shootouts, one of the many reasons the game was poorly received by most critics and fans.

Driver: Parallel Lines (2006)

The first game to abandon Tanner and company, Parallel Lines featured a new protagonist known as The Kid/TK, a getaway driver hired by various criminals. Also, unlike the previous games which featured three to four cities each, the whole game was set in New York City, and takes place across two time periods: 1978 and 2006. Not much else was changed: the game still had a story campaign that focused on high speed chases, as well as third person shooting.

Driver: San Francisco (2011)

After a seven year absence, Tanner made his triumphant return in the latest Driver game. Set entirely in San Francisco, one of the cities featured in the first game, Tanner and his partner Tobias Jones are out to get Jericho, who was first introduced in Driver 2. The developers have emphasized a return to the roots of the series, removing all on foot interactions and keeping the action exclusively behind the wheel.

Spin-Offs

Driver '76 (2007)

A spin-off prequel of the previous game, this was a PSP-only title featuring a different character from Parallel Lines, 'Ray'. Co-developed with Sumo Digital.

Driver: Renegade (2011)

Renegade is a 3DS game which features Tanner taking down criminals in New York City. Released at the same time as the console title, but with a number of peculiar differences, the 3DS game has a more serious and mature tone compared to Driver SF's light-hearted story, and where D:SF only had a Teen rating, Renegade received a Mature rating.

Successors

There are also Game Boy Color versions of Driver 1 & 2, and a Game Boy Advance version of Driv3r and a few mobile phone games made under license by Gameloft, one of which is an iPhone version of the first Driver.

C.O.P The Recruit, a Ubisoft game on the Nintendo DS that featured similar gameplay to some Driver games, had at one point the working title 'Driver - The Recruit'.

Originally, Watch Dogs was developed as a game in the Driver series with emphasis on hacking to avoid car pursuits. The driving mechanics of the Watch Dogs series is primarily developed by Ubisoft Reflections.

Legacy

A competitor to the Driver series was Grand Theft Auto. Due to this competition, there have been several references to each game by both parties.

In GTA III, one of the side missions given in the game was to kill an undercover cop named Tanner. To add insult to injury, he was given a walking animation used for female characters in the game, referring to criticism of Tanner 'running like a girl' in Driver 2. Reflections responded to this by featuring a character in Driv3r named Timmy Vermicelli who constantly wore arm floats, a jab at how Tommy Vercetti in GTA: Vice City was unable to swim; falling into water in the game resulted in him drowning.

Rockstar responded to this in GTA: San Andreas. In a mission where the player has to sneak into Madd Dogg's mansion, he is playing a video game on the TV while yelling: "Damn, I mean how can Refractions mess up so bad? Tanner, you suck ass!", most likely referring to how poorly received Driv3r was. There was also a graveyard with gravestones that read "RIP Opposition 1997-2004".

Trivia

• There is a not-so-subtle reference to Driver: San Francisco featured in Watch Dogs 2.