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Driver 3

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Driver 3
European cover art
Developer(s)Reflections Interactive[a]
Publisher(s)Atari
Sorrent (mobile version)
Director(s)Martin Edmondson
Designer(s)Steve Boland
Martin Edmondson
Craig Lawson
Mark Mainey
Programmer(s)Christopher Phillips
Christopher Jenner
Artist(s)Phil Baxter
Andreas Tawn
Writer(s)Maurice Suckling
Composer(s)Marc Canham
Richard Aitken
Richard Narco
SeriesDriver
Platform(s)
ReleasePS2, Xbox
  • NA: 21 June 2004
  • EU: 25 June 2004
Mobile
  • NA: 23 June 2004
  • EU: 23 June 2004
Windows
  • NA: 15 March 2005
  • EU: 18 March 2005
Game Boy Advance
  • EU: 14 October 2005
  • NA: 25 October 2005
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Driver 3 (stylized as DRIV3R) is a 2004 action-adventure game, the third installment in the Driver series. It was developed by Reflections Interactive, published by Atari, and released on PlayStation 2, Xbox and mobile phones in June 2004, Microsoft Windows in March 2005, and Game Boy Advance in October 2005. The game's story focuses on players assuming the role of John Tanner, an undercover FBI agent, as he investigates a car-smuggling ring across three countries, in order to identify and arrest its boss and learn who they are planning to sell a cache of stolen cars to. The game expanded upon its predecessors with on-foot sections, gun combat, and drive-by shooting, with virtual recreations of three major cities - Miami, Nice, and Istanbul - free-roam game mode, and an improvement to the series' film-making "director mode".

Although the game was a commercial success, the game received mixed reviews upon release, except for the PC edition which received negative feedback from critics. While the graphics, story and driving were praised, criticism was focused on the on foot controls, awkward shooting mechanics, and performance issues, with some critics accusing Atari of rushing the games release to avoid competing with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas later that year. Further ports for GameCube and N-Gage were planned, but later cancelled.[1][2] The game was succeeded by Driver: Parallel Lines (2006), before being followed up by a direct sequel, Driver: San Francisco, in 2011.

Gameplay

Driver 3 focuses on a mixture of open-world gameplay conducted through a third-person perspective, with it possible to change to different camera angles at any time. The game consists of primarily single-player modes of gameplay - "Undercover", the game's story mode; "Take A Ride", the game's free-roam mode, which allows players to explore one of the three cities at their own pace; and "Driving Games", a challenge mode consisting of three types of car-based games for players to try out, such as pursuing a fleeing criminal. As with previous installments, gameplay mostly focuses on driving around one of three settings, consisting of partial but faithful recreations of real-life cities, using a variety of vehicles based on real-life models, ranging from sedans and sportcars, to vans, trucks. Vehicles can be damaged over time, though players may freely leave their vehicle and switch to another within the current game world setting they are in at any time; the exception is vehicles that are mission critical to the game's story mode, as losing these constitutes automatic failure. A notoriety system keeps track of the player's actions - any unlawful action will raise this bar, with police pursuing the player if spotted by any, and the response to stopping them changing depending on the level of notoriety they have.

Driver 3 introduces new gameplay mechanics to existing ones including motorbikes and speedboats, swimming, a health bar, and gun combat. Alongside being arrested by the cops or failing objectives in story mode, players can also fail if they run out of health without finding first aid kits to recover it. Combat focuses on the use of guns, based on real-life models and featuring a mixture of pistols, shotguns, assault rifles and sub-machine guns, and grenade launchers, to take down enemies; all weapons have a limit on ammo except for the lead character's personal weapon, but more can be found from dealing with enemies, or around the game world setting being played in during Take A Ride.

In Undercover Mode, players conduct a series of missions in which they must complete objectives, dealing with tasks such as escaping pursuers, reaching locations, and taking down culprits. At times, the player must complete objectives within a specific condition, such as a time-limit, with failure resulting in the player having to restart the mission. In Take A Ride, players can freely explore either Miami, Nice or Istanbul, searching for secrets, which consist of special cars and a group of hostile NPCs based upon the character of Tommy Vercetti from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. If the player completes a mission of the story or leaves Take A Ride, they can freely choose to edit a replay footage from their game with different camera angles and film effects (i.e. slow-motion). The amount of footage they can edit is pre-determined and restricted in size.

Plot

Undercover FBI agents John Tanner (Michael Madsen) and Tobias Jones (Ving Rhames) are sent to Miami to investigate the "South Beach" cartel headed by Calita Martinez (Michelle Rodriguez), and her associates Lomaz and Bad Hand. When the agents notice the cartel’s recent acquisition of stolen cars, they suspect that they are working for someone else to fulfill a major order. To determine where the deal for the cars will take place, Tanner poses as a wheelman and infiltrates the cartel by recovering a car from a rival gang. After impressing Calita and earning her trust with a series of tasks, Tanner is assigned to assassinate "The Gator" for betraying the cartel.

South Beach relocate to Nice, France, after The Gator's presumed demise, to secure the remaining cars on their list. Tanner makes contact with Interpol agents Vauban and Dubois, who insist on arresting the cartel while in possession of the stolen cars. Tanner refuses, and Vauban orders Dubois to conduct surveillance on the cartel. Meanwhile, Tanner focuses on acquiring the cars for Calita while fending off attacks by a rival syndicate, eventually leading to a confrontation wherein he eliminates the gang's leader. Upon discovering that Dubois was captured by the cartel during his investigation, Tanner rushes to rescue him before he is executed. Following the rescue attempt, Tanner and Dubois break into a cartel boathouse to find out the location of the deal, which will take place in Istanbul, Turkey.

Shortly after, the two are captured by the cartel, and meet their employer, Charles Jericho (Mickey Rourke). After revealing Tanner's identity, Jericho takes Tanner's gun and uses it to murder Dubois, intending to frame him for the crime. Tanner manages to escape, and makes contact with Vauban about where the cars are being shipped to, but releases little detail on Dubois' death. They travel to Istanbul, where Tanner tails Jericho to a meeting with the Bagman, a middleman arranging the sale of the cars to Russian criminals. Overhearing that The Gator survived his assassination, Tanner asks Jones to collect him before he is killed by Jericho's people, and The Gator offers information on the deal in exchange for his safety.

After reuniting with Jones, Tanner is accused of murder by Vauban, after he receives word of Dubois’ death. Despite the threat of an Internal Affairs investigation, Tanner and Jones go rogue to continue investigating, and focus on tracking down Lomaz. In exchange for protection, Lomaz reveals that Calita and the Bagman are set to meet soon to exchange money for the stolen cars. Tanner and Jones monitor the meeting until Calita calls it off. While Jones attempts to pursue the Bagman, he is ambushed and forced to pull back; meanwhile, Tanner chases after Calita and captures her. After bringing her to Vauban to regain his trust, Tanner convinces Calita that Jericho is too dangerous to trust. Calita reveals that the cars have already been shipped to Russia, and that Jericho will not leave the city until he is paid.

With assistance from Istanbul's police, Tanner, Jones and Vauban stake out the arranged location of the exchange between Jericho and the Bagman. When the meeting takes place, Jericho murders the Bagman for providing him only half of the agreed money and fools police by using Bad Hand as a decoy, eventually leading to his death. Upon learning that Jericho will likely leave by train, Tanner cuts him off, forcing him to disembark and flee through the streets. When Jericho is cornered in an alleyway, Tanner critically wounds him, but eventually decides to have him arrested, only for Jericho to gun him down when he turns his back on him. Both men are taken to the hospital in critical condition, leaving their fate uncertain.

Development

The game had a development budget of $17 million and a marketing budget of $17 million.[3] The game was in development for around three and a half years. Special attention was paid in rendering the cities of Miami, Nice, and Istanbul. The in-game music was composed by Marc Canham, Rich Aitken, and Narco.

The game was originally announced by Infogrames on July 17, 2002 for a 2003 release.[4]

Atari also shot a short promotional video about Driver 3 called Run the Gauntlet.

Reception

Driver 3 received "mixed or average" reviews on all platforms except the PC version, which received "generally unfavorable reviews", according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[34][35][36]

The Times gave it all five stars, saying: "The graphics are divine, with vast urban locales and spectacular crashes. The cars handle well, and each vehicle has its own characteristics. Yet this is no easy driving game — one of the reasons why, subject matter aside, it carries a 16+ rating".[28] Playboy gave it an 88% and stated: "Your investigation jump-starts reckless car chases through more than 150 miles of highways and city streets in detailed re-creations of Miami, Nice, and Istanbul. Slam into any of the 30,000 buildings and your car crumbles realistically".[37] However, The Cincinnati Enquirer gave it three stars out of five and called its controls and animation "unresponsive and stiff".[27]

"DRIV3Rgate"

While Driver 3 received mostly mixed reviews, two outlets operated by Future plc, PSM2 and Xbox World, gave the game 9/10 scores.[35][36] This disparity led some gamers and journalists to claim that the early access Atari gave Future was contingent on receiving favorable ratings, but Atari and Future denied any wrongdoing.[38][39] The incident was dubbed "Driv3rgate".[39][40]

After the accusations of review fixing arose, the GamesRadar forums (also operated by Future) were filled with critical posts, many of which were deleted by moderators. Although the comments were said to be removed for being libelous, some users suspected a cover-up.[38][39][41] Some comments defending Driver 3 and Future were traced by forum moderators to Babel Media, a marketing company that made use of astroturfing.[41] The users admitted they worked for Babel, but said that they were posting on their own behalf, not for Babel.[41] The thread was eventually deleted in its entirety.[41]

Sales

The PlayStation 2 version of Driver 3 received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[42] indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[43] The game sold more than 3 million copies by December 2004.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Driv3r exclusive - creative director Martin Edmonson talks!". 16 February 2004. Archived from the original on 7 January 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  2. ^ | Infogrames Announces Driver 3 for Nintendo GameCube – News – Nintendo |
  3. ^ a b Prince, Marcelo (21 December 2004). "Go big or go broke". The Wall Street Journal. p. 43. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021 – via Ottawa Citizen.
  4. ^ "Infogrames - Corporate Information". www.gamenation.com. Archived from the original on 4 August 2002. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b Edge staff (August 2004). "DRIV3R (PS2, Xbox)". Edge. No. 139. p. 94.
  6. ^ a b EGM staff (August 2004). "Driv3r (PS2, Xbox)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 181. Archived from the original on 24 June 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  7. ^ Reed, Kristan (23 June 2004). "DRIV3R (Xbox)". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  8. ^ a b Helgeson, Matt (August 2004). "DRIV3R (PS2, Xbox)". Game Informer. No. 136. p. 94. Archived from the original on 5 January 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  9. ^ a b Air Hendrix (September 2004). "Driver 3 (PS2, Xbox)". GamePro. p. 81. Archived from the original on 8 February 2005. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  10. ^ a b Silverman, Ben (2 July 2004). "DRIV3R Review". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  11. ^ Palley, Stephen (22 June 2004). "DRIV3R Review (Mobile)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  12. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (28 March 2005). "DRIV3R Review (PC)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  13. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (23 June 2004). "DRIV3R Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  14. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (21 June 2004). "DRIV3R Review (Xbox)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  15. ^ Buchanan, Levi (28 June 2004). "GameSpy: DRIV3R (Cell)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  16. ^ Guzman, Hector (23 June 2004). "GameSpy: DRIV3R (Xbox)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 25 December 2005. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  17. ^ Tha Wiz (5 July 2004). "DRIV3R - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  18. ^ Valentino, Nick (4 July 2004). "DRIV3R - XB - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  19. ^ Buchanan, Levi (24 June 2004). "DRIV3R (Cell)". IGN. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  20. ^ McNamara, Tom (22 March 2005). "DRIV3R (PC)". IGN. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  21. ^ Perry, Douglass C. (21 June 2004). "DRIV3R (PS2)". IGN. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  22. ^ Perry, Douglass C. (21 June 2004). "DRIV3R (Xbox)". IGN. Archived from the original on 11 October 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  23. ^ "DRIV3R". Nintendo Power. Vol. 198. December 2005. p. 122.
  24. ^ Davison, John (August 2004). "DRIV3R". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Archived from the original on 28 June 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  25. ^ "DRIV3R". Official Xbox Magazine. September 2004. p. 80.
  26. ^ "DRIV3R". PC Gamer: 69. June 2005.
  27. ^ a b c Saltzman, Marc (8 July 2004). "Late-model Driv3r needs repair work". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  28. ^ a b c "Driver 3". The Times. 19 June 2004. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2014.(subscription required)
  29. ^ "DRIV3R for Game Boy Advance". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  30. ^ "DRIV3R for Mobile". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  31. ^ "DRIV3R for PC". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  32. ^ "DRIV3R for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  33. ^ "DRIV3R for Xbox". GameRankings. Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  34. ^ a b "DRIV3R for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  35. ^ a b c "DRIV3R for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 13 January 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  36. ^ a b c "DRIV3R for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 5 April 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  37. ^ "DRIV3R (PS2, Xbox)". Playboy: 38. April 2004.
  38. ^ a b Whitehead, Dan (3 May 2011). "Franchise Cheat Sheet: Driver". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  39. ^ a b c Lui, Spandas (30 March 2010). "A history of gaming's biggest scandals". PC World. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  40. ^ Fahey, Rob (6 December 2007). "A Question of Trust". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  41. ^ a b c d Campbell, Stuart. "Driv3r and corruption, continued". World of Stuart. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  42. ^ "ELSPA Sales Awards: Platinum". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 15 May 2009.
  43. ^ Caoili, Eric (26 November 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017.
  1. ^ Velez & Dubail developed the Game Boy Advance version.
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