Driver (1999 Video Game) User Reviews

Promising start for the now legendary Driver series

[jamiecostelo58 · 7/10 · 3 January 2007]

I liked the look of this game when I saw the first viewings of it. Upon buying it, I was even more hooked, despite its many flaws. The storyline in which undercover cop Tanner has to take on the role as THE DRIVER to bring down the mighty Castaldi, the kingpin of crime in America, is quite entertaining, although I personally lost interest toward the end.

The very first 'mission' involves showing your prowess behind the wheel in an underground car park. That's rather good, although it's not as hard as it may look.

Graphics wise, Driver is good, but when driving along the wide variety of roads, other vehicles may simply 'pop-up' suddenly in front of you, driving through a solid object is not impossible (I've even driven through a building) and any damage sustained is unrealistic. Another flaw is that you don't even get bends in the road! 90% or so of the undercover missions involve simple A-B driving, and is rather repetitive, the vehicles we can drive all sound exactly the same, and you cannot get out of the car and walk around the cities. Despite these serious flaws, Driver is an enjoyable game (up to a point) and was a more than satisfactory start to a good series of games, even if it cannot match the likes of GTA. 7/10

The rest is history

[Badr90s · 8/10 · 3 October 2021]

The classic yet better than many recent cars games in terms of driving mechanic, unforgiving missions and brutal cops.

The best racing-sim ever!

[vincent.vega-2 · 10/10 · 24 December 2000]

If you liked the movie "The Driver" with Ryan O'Neal and Bruce Dern, you should have played this game. The atmosphere of the film -written and directed by Walter Hill- is perfectly put into this game.

You are Tanner, an undercover-cop, who trys to become a part of the mafia by taking care of different jobs like deliveries, bank robberies and persecutions. Its impossible to regard traffic rules with a time-limit in your back so you gotta handle the police which hunts you merciless. Drive through parts of New York, L.A., San Francisco and Miami and enjoy to direct and cut your own replay.

Brilliant game

[Eamonn_green · 13 August 2002]

First before you play the game you have to take a test. Easy enough to pass and then you have drive people from getaways and killings. You have to drive stolen cars but in a nutshell you're playing as a driver for the mafia.

There are good mini games in this game, the best being survivor where you have to avoid expert cops for an hour.

This is better than the first 2 GTA games but the third I have not played. 8 outta 10.

Excellent ! At the time..........

[Imay_37 · 10/10 · 19 June 2006]

This game was brilliant for a couple of years and we all wanted and waited for the sequel.

Eventually the sequel came and it was disappointing nothing much had been improved and the 2 player option was crap felt slow with no enjoyment.

But then GTA 3 came out which was what driver 2 could have been like. Since GTA 3 came out Driver (atari) was supposed to rethink there ideas and make a game that could beat GTA 3 but foolishly and disappointingly they continue to make a Driver based game with the thrill totally gone.

GTA 3 came out in 2000-2001 and 6 years later the sequels to driver haven't caught up. Predictable and easy improvements such as more cars, tracks and music is not enough. What about the Gameplay and Something completely different. Anyway the point is Get GTA 3.

Easy to pick up, impossible to put down

[Mr-Fusion · 9/10 · 25 September 2013]

Man, did I put in some gameplay hours on this one.

Looking back, it's no wonder I'm a car movie enthusiast. "Driver" wears its gritty '70s influences on its sleeve and has that crime movie feel as you go undercover to bring down the Castaldi mob.

The concept is simple: you take on missions that range from courier to getaway, but the difficulty is enough to break a sweat. Evading the fuzz is no small feat when they plow into you head-on (which is not so funny when the Damage meter is filling). And simply making it to your destination isn't always enough; sometimes you have to floor it back across town while the whole police force is bearing down on you.

But the game itself is instantly charming with catchy music, fun gameplay and maximum replay value.

9/10.

Wonderful take on the car chase genre

[abbazabakyleman-98834 · 10/10 · 10 June 2022]

From the studio responsible for the Destruction Derby series come a homage to the car chase genre of the '70s. John Tanner is an undercover NYC detective and former stock car driver who infiltrates a nationwide crime ring. Tanner's journey takes him from Miami to San Francisco to Los Angeles and back to New York. He must dodge bad guys as well as hard-nosed cops out to get him. I can't say all the missions are easy to complete, as it requires time limits, as well as managing the damage meter on your car. There are some cool mini games, as well as an option to cruise all four cities. The storyline is a bit weak and the cliched dialogue is pretty cheesy, as well, but this is a classic game of the Playstation era.

Brilliant game

[rossrobinson · 20 September 2003]

I remember when this game came out, driver was the first game out of the driver trilogy, then the 2nd driver came out with better new skills, you could get out of your car with driver 2, and then all of us are expecting driver 3 that's coming out soon on the playstation 2 in November 2003.