DRIV3R

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DRIV3R

Developer(s)	Reflections
Publisher(s)	Atari
Release date(s)	June 21, 2004 (US) June 25, 2004 (UK)
Genre(s)	Action, Shooter
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: M (Mature) for violence PEGI: 16+ CERO: Z (Ages 18 and up only)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox
Media	DVD

DRIV3R or Driver 3, is a racing, shooting, and adventure video game. It is the third installment in the popular Driver series and was developed by Reflections Interactive and published by Atari. DRIV3R was released in North America for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on June 21, 2004 to mixed reviews. In Europe, it was officially released on June 25, although due to the way Atari shipped the title across the continent, it made its way into independent UK retailers before the release date, even making a #6 position in the ELSPA chart for that week. On March 15, 2005, it was released on PC for US customers and a scaled down version was released for the mobile phone in June 2004. At one point a Nintendo GameCube version was planned, but it was later cancelled.

A version of DRIV3R was announced for the Nokia N-Gage; however, it appears to have been cancelled. A version for the Game Boy Advance was also released.

DRIV3R brings back features from Driver 2 and adds the ability to ride motorcycles and boats, use weapons, swim, and enter certain buildings among other things.

1 Story
2 Connection to Grand Theft Auto
3 Reviews and criticism
4 Realism
5 Trivia
6 Cars
7 Soundtrack
8 Notes and references
9 External links

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The game begins in Miami, where undercover police officer Tanner, along with partner Tobias Jones, must infiltrate a crime ring specializing in stolen vehicles. A ruthless woman named Calita, along with henchman and weapons specialist Lomaz run the gang. Tanner convinces them to give him a shot to work for them. Once he is accepted by the group, Tanner begins conducting various jobs for them, in pursuit of a total 40 stolen high performance vehicles.

After a falling-out with an important contact and local crimelord named "The Gator", the outfit moves their operations to Nice, France, and Tanner relocates as well. However, Interpol agents have their own plans to take down the crime ring and are at odds with Tanner. Tanner decides to work the job his own way, which, in several cases, leads him into direct conflict with the Interpol agents. Finally, after being caught with Interpol agent Didier Dubois, who is then promptly murdered, Tanner's cover is blown and the crime ring leaves for Turkey.

In Istanbul, Turkey, Tanner is now working as a rogue agent, due to his implication in the death of an Interpol agent. However, Tanner and Jones are able to find a number of contacts who lead them to the crime ring and its true leader Jericho, a former hitman and main character in Driver 2. Once it is evident that Tanner has found a way to stop the gang from selling the stolen vehicles, he is brought back onto the force and aids in stopping the sale. Following a car chase and violent shootout, Tanner face crimelord Jericho in a final showdown. Both men are injured and the ending of the game shows one of them flatlining; however, which of the two is not specified. There is a hint, though, in the following game, that Jericho dies. On a wall there is graffiti that reads "Tanner Lives". Although this may mean he lives in memory and not as a real person. At the beginning of this game there is a cutscene that shows the fight , the showdown between Tanner and Jericho is not shown , the fight ends as Tanner kicks a door of a car which hits the Fourth wall causing the screen to go black. Which we then cut out to the hospital which focuses on Jericho more, and most people would think that the doctor looking at the screen which flatlines, was with Jericho.

[edit] Connection to Grand Theft Auto

After the release of DRIV3R, there was a notable stir in the gaming community due to DRIV3R mocking Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. In DRIV3R, tanned men with floaties on their arms and Hawaiian shirts were hidden throughout the game. They were called Timmy Vermicellis after the playable character in Vice City, Tommy Vercetti. The men were wearing floaties most likely as a dig at the fact that players in the GTA series were unable to swim (until Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which was released later in 2004), whereas in DRIV3R, players could. Many GTA fans were angered by this, even though it was in fact Rockstar North that had started the rivalry with a mission in Grand Theft Auto III called "Two Faced Tanner" in which players had to kill an undercover cop who was "useless out of his car", a reference to Driver 2's game play (they even went so far as to give the pseudo Tanner a female's walking animation). Rockstar fought back in GTA: San Andreas. There, in a mission where the player breaks into a rapper's mansion, a person can be overheard playing a video game and making fun of the way the main character walks (Tanner's walking animations were often criticized) and asking how Refractions (a play of the Driver series' developer, Reflections) could have "messed up so bad". He also says "Tanner you suck ass!".

Somewhat ironically, Michael Madsen, the voice actor for Tanner, provided the voice of Toni Cipriani in Grand Theft Auto III, but did not provide the voice of Toni in the prequel, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. This may have been because Toni was the lead protagonist in Liberty City Stories, so there were at least twice as many lines, or because he was angered by Rockstar for disrespecting Tanner, whose look and some characteristics, are said by fans, to be based on Michael Madsen.

Also, the character Calita from Driv3r could be a play on Grand Theft Auto III's Catalina.

[edit] Reviews and criticism

DRIV3R was met with a poor critical reaction, with the vast majority of magazines and websites giving the game mediocre scores; IGN and GameSpot both gave the game 5.4 out of 10 [1] [2]. However, two magazines published by Future Publishing (PSM2 & Xbox World 360) gave it 9/10, sparking a furor on one of Future's own forums, GamesRadar, which culminated in the revelation that two forum members who had praised the game were, in fact, working for Atari, the publisher of the game. However, the game was so poorly received by the gaming community in general that ultimately their influence on the game's rating by the magazines was little to none.

DRIV3R "won" the MegaGames.com award for Worst Game of 2005 [3].

The in-game world was also criticized because of Tanner's lack of hand-to-hand combat and meleé weapons.

The police vehicles were criticized due to the hidden slipstream technique that players were unable to perform. The police's slipstream can only work on Miami and Istanbul, which is why it is said to be easier to evade the police in Nice.

[edit] Realism

Though the game has more than its share of flaws, Driv3r also has realistic vehicle aspects:

The reverse gear in cars making the characteristic whine that many games leave out
Bullet holes appearing on car bodies
Vehicles only taking significant damage when the engine is hit
Rims of blown tires screeching against pavement
Extremely realistic damage modeling
Headlights and tailights can be shot out
Doors, trunklids, hoods, and windows can come off of cars after taking damage or accelerating to high speeds

[edit] Trivia

Tanner participated in GameFAQs' Character Battle in 2004; he received the worst defeat in the history of the Character Battles: 5.7%, against Solid Snake.^[1]
Sobe is referenced several times in the game.
It is noted that the doors on the Lamborghini Countach seen in Nice are of traditional style rather than the scissor doors of a real Countach.