PS1 REVIEWS: Driver
I knew Driver was a special game when it was released, since everyone talked about it with such reverence in the playground. Male kids in my part of the world are pre-inclined to love driving games, and everyone could see that Driver was mechanically heads and shoulders above the rest. More impressive, it was rumored that the game had multiple open cities that you could freely drive around.
To my surprise, I realized that most people who played it (including myself) couldn't get over the opening tutorial stage, since it demanded near-perfect driving performance to clear. Nearly 25 years later, I managed to finish the tutorial stage for the first time and experienced the game as it was meant to be played. 
"This guy has gasoline in his veins"
Now let's get to the good part. If you are playing a game called Driver, then you are bound to expect great driving mechanics, and it's no exaggeration to say that this game not only has the best traditional driving mechanics of its generation, but possibly in comparison to the PS2 as well. The car's handling feels weighty, and the multiple ways you can drift around corners and evade obstacles and other vehicles feel "realistic" for lack of a better word.
As an undercover cop, the majority of the game's missions need you to go from point A to point B within a short time limit while being chased by police cars trying to ram into you. Since you are driving in crowded streets, all while being chased around, and the rather narrow time limits mean you will need to use all the game's mechanics at your disposal to be successful.
Thankfully, besides the ridiculously difficult tutorial and final mission, the game is challenging but fair. If you fail a mission, it's easy to retry it without losing much time. Unfortunately, the biggest contributors to the game's difficulty are luck-based to a certain extent. With both street traffic and cop car spawning point being random, you could be forced into some super-human reactions to avoid obstacles that suddenly appear in front of you, thanks ot the technically mandated short draw distances. Still, if you manage to pull it off, it's just that much more exhilarating because of it.
"I've got some work and no room for second raters"
Besides the game's main story, there are two more ways to enjoy the game. First, in what I consider one of the earliest, if not the earliest, modern times "open world" sandbox, you can drive around the game's four cities randomly or chase to be chased around by the police. This "take a drive" mode predates Grand Theft Auto III by 2 years and is probably one of the main reasons this game is remembered so fondly.
Another reason was probably the more niche video editing mode, which allowed budding directors to clip their successful mission attempts into cool videos with a surprising amount of editing tools. With multiple camera angles, frame editing tools, and the ability to save the videos separately on memory cards, I am sure some people made brilliant videos that would have blown up if YouTube existed back in the day.
"God damn this shit, man, we got a rat!!"
Regardless of its legacy or brilliant mechanics, I admit I was a bit worried that its aged polygonal graphics would get in the way of the game. Thankfully, despite the technical limitations of the system, the game's graphics do not preclude enjoying Driver today. While the draw distance can lead to unfair challenges, it is not so bad that it renders the game unplayable.
Outside of the cars, though, the graphics are seriously ugly, which I guess was not rectified for the game's sequel, which disastrously decided to have gameplay sections outside of the car. Talk about not understanding your best strengths.
On the audio front, I was pleasantly surprised by Allister Brimble's retro-funky soundtrack, which perfectly captured the 70's style of the game while giving a brilliant drive to the action. Seriously, the game has some groovy tracks that encouraged me to tone down the excellent car sound effects a bit just to hear more of Brimble's music.
In Conclusion:
There is no doubt in my mind that Driver was a pioneer in both the driving and even the open-world genre. Mechanically, very few games could reach its level of control and finesse regarding the actual driving. To see that finesse applied in several "open" cities only added to the legacy of the game.
Surprisingly, the game still holds up today despite its blocky graphics and low-resolution textures, but the advances in the genre across the years mean that this prestigious game is left in the dust. Yet, no one can replace the hours kids spent trying (and failing) to beat its opening levels, and the legendary fame of the few who managed to beat it and cross into the "open" streets of Miami and beyond.
Final: 8/10 (Recommended)
Pros:
Cons:
Series:
For those reading one of my PS1 review blogs for the first time, here is the basic concept:
I already reviewed both major Generation 4 consoles and am now reviewing Generation 5 consoles. I already finished reviewing the Sega Saturn, so I am now reviewing the PS1. In these reviews, I take a top 100 games list and review the games that interest me in that list. This time, my review series is based on this list from Retro Sanctuary and other sources, since the PS1 can handle a list bigger than a top 100.
Next Game:
To my surprise, I realized that most people who played it (including myself) couldn't get over the opening tutorial stage, since it demanded near-perfect driving performance to clear. Nearly 25 years later, I managed to finish the tutorial stage for the first time and experienced the game as it was meant to be played.
#13: Driver:-
Year: 1999.
Genre: Driving, Action.
Publisher: GT Interactive.
Developer: Reflections Interactive.
Genre: Driving, Action.
Publisher: GT Interactive.
Developer: Reflections Interactive.
"Low-life rumble in Miami is that the hunt is on for a guy who can pump the gas. Big getaway, big job"
As a former racing driver turned, John Tanner, you are the perfect person to go undercover with a Miami-based crime syndicate that's all about making audacious crimes and quick getaways. This plotline provides ample reason for multiple police chases while still maintaining the morality of a heroic character, and it feels lifted right out of the 70's action movies whose car chases inspired this game.
With passable dialogue and voice acting and a story that escalates rather quickly towards the end, there isn't anything special about Driver's story other than as an excuse to drive fast and complete some missions. Still, it predates games like Grand Theft Auto in its attempt at cinematic storytelling and movie-like plots.
As a former racing driver turned, John Tanner, you are the perfect person to go undercover with a Miami-based crime syndicate that's all about making audacious crimes and quick getaways. This plotline provides ample reason for multiple police chases while still maintaining the morality of a heroic character, and it feels lifted right out of the 70's action movies whose car chases inspired this game.
With passable dialogue and voice acting and a story that escalates rather quickly towards the end, there isn't anything special about Driver's story other than as an excuse to drive fast and complete some missions. Still, it predates games like Grand Theft Auto in its attempt at cinematic storytelling and movie-like plots.
 |
| Although it never had much of a style to its story |
As such, even with a cheesy story culminating in the improbable and poorly designed final mission, and some ridiculously stereotypical dialogue, the game managed to push the boundaries of the action genre at the time. At its best, it may have emulated the car chase scenes of 70's movies, but its story was only an unintentionally funny parody of them.
"This guy has gasoline in his veins"
Now let's get to the good part. If you are playing a game called Driver, then you are bound to expect great driving mechanics, and it's no exaggeration to say that this game not only has the best traditional driving mechanics of its generation, but possibly in comparison to the PS2 as well. The car's handling feels weighty, and the multiple ways you can drift around corners and evade obstacles and other vehicles feel "realistic" for lack of a better word.
As an undercover cop, the majority of the game's missions need you to go from point A to point B within a short time limit while being chased by police cars trying to ram into you. Since you are driving in crowded streets, all while being chased around, and the rather narrow time limits mean you will need to use all the game's mechanics at your disposal to be successful.
 |
| Is that cop car trying to fly? |
Thankfully, besides the ridiculously difficult tutorial and final mission, the game is challenging but fair. If you fail a mission, it's easy to retry it without losing much time. Unfortunately, the biggest contributors to the game's difficulty are luck-based to a certain extent. With both street traffic and cop car spawning point being random, you could be forced into some super-human reactions to avoid obstacles that suddenly appear in front of you, thanks ot the technically mandated short draw distances. Still, if you manage to pull it off, it's just that much more exhilarating because of it.
"I've got some work and no room for second raters"
Besides the game's main story, there are two more ways to enjoy the game. First, in what I consider one of the earliest, if not the earliest, modern times "open world" sandbox, you can drive around the game's four cities randomly or chase to be chased around by the police. This "take a drive" mode predates Grand Theft Auto III by 2 years and is probably one of the main reasons this game is remembered so fondly.
Another reason was probably the more niche video editing mode, which allowed budding directors to clip their successful mission attempts into cool videos with a surprising amount of editing tools. With multiple camera angles, frame editing tools, and the ability to save the videos separately on memory cards, I am sure some people made brilliant videos that would have blown up if YouTube existed back in the day.
 |
| Check out this drift |
Yet, a mission scoring system feels strangely absent from the game. With the time limit of each mission being quite strict, I imagine a mission scoring system that gave points to better driving performance and/or timing would have increased the replayability factor of the game while giving incentives for mastery.
"God damn this shit, man, we got a rat!!"
Regardless of its legacy or brilliant mechanics, I admit I was a bit worried that its aged polygonal graphics would get in the way of the game. Thankfully, despite the technical limitations of the system, the game's graphics do not preclude enjoying Driver today. While the draw distance can lead to unfair challenges, it is not so bad that it renders the game unplayable.
Outside of the cars, though, the graphics are seriously ugly, which I guess was not rectified for the game's sequel, which disastrously decided to have gameplay sections outside of the car. Talk about not understanding your best strengths.
 |
| Even the night scenes look good |
On the audio front, I was pleasantly surprised by Allister Brimble's retro-funky soundtrack, which perfectly captured the 70's style of the game while giving a brilliant drive to the action. Seriously, the game has some groovy tracks that encouraged me to tone down the excellent car sound effects a bit just to hear more of Brimble's music.
In Conclusion:
There is no doubt in my mind that Driver was a pioneer in both the driving and even the open-world genre. Mechanically, very few games could reach its level of control and finesse regarding the actual driving. To see that finesse applied in several "open" cities only added to the legacy of the game.
Surprisingly, the game still holds up today despite its blocky graphics and low-resolution textures, but the advances in the genre across the years mean that this prestigious game is left in the dust. Yet, no one can replace the hours kids spent trying (and failing) to beat its opening levels, and the legendary fame of the few who managed to beat it and cross into the "open" streets of Miami and beyond.
Final: 8/10 (Recommended)
 |
| The solution to most things is to smash into them |
- Cool early attempts at story cinematics.
- Brilliant driving mechanics.
- Cars handling feels "realistic".
- Great innovation in open-world design.
- Rather good soundtrack.
- Interesting and distinctive character art and design.
Cons:
- Cheesy story and dialogue.
- Difficulty can feel unfair due to randomness in other cars' spawning points.
- The game lacks a performance scoring system.
- Short draw distance can be unfairly challenging.
Tips:
- Remove the auto hand-brake option for better control.
- Increase the music volume to listen to the excellent soundtrack.
- Sometimes, you need to lose the police tail chasing you to finish some levels.
- Be careful of damaging your car in multi-part missions, since the damage carries over.
- You can drift using the brake or the hand-brake, so make sure to know which choice to use for each occasion.
- The L1 button is your friend.
- Rain can really impact your driving.
 |
| I hope you recognize New York |
Series:
For those reading one of my PS1 review blogs for the first time, here is the basic concept: I already reviewed both major Generation 4 consoles and am now reviewing Generation 5 consoles. I already finished reviewing the Sega Saturn, so I am now reviewing the PS1. In these reviews, I take a top 100 games list and review the games that interest me in that list. This time, my review series is based on this list from Retro Sanctuary and other sources, since the PS1 can handle a list bigger than a top 100.
 |
| I am not sure these criminal activities are sanctioned for undercover cops |
Next Game:
I am mostly happy about finally clearing the tutorial level of the game after 25 years. The fact that I went on to both finish Driver and enjoy it was the only cherry on top.
The next game on the list is another one that I started as a kid but never finished. At #12, Resident Evil 2 is the only Resident Evil game on the list, and I am playing it despite the game having an excellent modern remake, since the remake was so massive that both games have their own style.
Stay tuned to find out.For Previous PS1 Game Reviews:
The next game on the list is another one that I started as a kid but never finished. At #12, Resident Evil 2 is the only Resident Evil game on the list, and I am playing it despite the game having an excellent modern remake, since the remake was so massive that both games have their own style.
Stay tuned to find out.
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