Overall 9.6 Graphics 8 Sound 9 Addictive 9 Story 9.5 Depth 8 Difficulty 7
10
Driver arsenal1991
Hello to everyone and today I will be reviewing Driver a classic PS1 driving game
1st of all I never noticed this as I was fortunately a proud owner of the European version of Driver but it turns out America also had a slightly different title to this game known as Driver: You Are The Wheelman
This was a truly magnificent game to me as a childhood and they made such a good good good game out of this that they did decide to make a series but enough with that and its time to crack on with the review of Driver
GRAPHICS 7Unfortunately again the graphics for a PS1 game do not live up to their expectation and sadly Driver is disappointing when it comes to the graphics however credit is due some of city layouts which are to true form in some aspects are very well done and when driving around at night its great to see the nightlife and all the lights from buildings. They made a good job of the graphics though overall really but again as I said for a PS1 game at a time when games were rapidly improving this was slightly disappointing but nothing too much to worry about at all.
Sound 8The sound of a true car game of course any gamer addict would expect some decent noise and Driver is no different. The sound of a roaring V8 engine makes you know when its time to get serious and do business on the streets. Smashing cars breaking glass and sirens is your sign of time to make a dash and lose the cops in anyway shape or form just don't get wrecked. Obstacles in backstreets smashing over your windscreen and getting in the way of the cops all the expected sounds are there. The sound is amazingly brilliant in this game
Addictiveness 10If you are one of those odd people who don't really like driving games this I assure you is worth considering and taking a hurl at it. There's so many things you can do and the amount of missions there is this can entertain you for hours on end without getting bored and even the difficulty at times makes it just that much more addicting too.
Story 10The story for me is the best bit about the game and was one of the main reasons why this game became so popular for the PS1
You play as John Tanner who is part of the NYPD who is asked to go undercover and infiltrate a organised crime gang and find out what they are up to.
Now unfortunately because I think this game is that brilliant i'm not gonna say too much else than that on the story and let you find out as this is again a game worth playing till the end I assure you have my word.
Depth 7Again this is another area of the game where it just excels and just makes the game so good and enjoyable
To start things off you are not just going to drive in 2 cities of which are Miami and San Francisco there are 2 other locations that you must play through the undercover (campaign if you prefer that) to unlock and those 2 other cities are Los Angeles and to back up the storyline the game also takes part in the streets of New York.
Unfortunately the cars could of been better and this for me knocked the depth rating down by 2 as you can't get out of the vehicle meaning if you rolled it and was left rolled for a few moments it would be game over just like that and to make it worse there is no choosing and no real differency of cars and when there is its only in the Undercover mode.
The depth of the game did not even stop there either incredibly they decided for more advanced and technical drivers I assume added ''driving games'' which just added more hours of fun and the bit I like the most with the driving games is the survival mode. This was basically your Driver destruction derby where you have to survive from insanely fast cop cars who will just ram into you at no mercy like they have a death wish against you and the fun thing is even though its unrealistic your car can go flying in the air and even doing 60mph on your roof down the road. This game has so much depth its arguably the best depthed game on the PS1 for my liking
Difficulty 6The driving itself is relatively easy and should not cause you too many problems however the difficulty in the game certainly in the undercover mode is the time and at times the time (bit of a word twister there for you haha) can be hard and in some missions it is a case of you crash mission failed and I won't say much but the hardest level of them all in the game by a mile is the hardest.
The other difficult thing is ''felony'' this is of course if you commit a crime near a police car soon as the felony bar starts flashing your car is instantly a target for the police meaning they will get you anytime they see if you you are caught in their white radar on the map
Overall 10This is by a country mile one of the best driving games on PS1 there is a great story to it hours worth of gameplay and non stop fun
I would HUGELY recommend this to someone to try something a little new and a little different
There we have it that completes my review of the Driver: You Are The Wheelman PS1 game thanks to you for reading and I hope you enjoy playing this wonderful game
Graphics 7 Sound 8 Addictive 10 Story 10 Depth 7 Difficulty 6
Review Rating: 4.3/5
Submitted: 10-19-14
Review Replies: 2
8.8
You Are The Wheelman becerra95
It was 2006, been enjoying some decent games and gems on the PlayStation like “megaman 8”, “Tekken”, “Tony Hawk Pro Skater”, and “Twisted Metal III”. Name a few but we’re not talking about these games today (well Tony Hawk already done) but there was another game that was part of my small collection of PSX games. This particular game for today, which is called “Driver: You are the Wheelman” or simply put “Driver” for the PlayStation is the focal point of our interest. This was a classic for its time when released and helped paved way for sandbox car games in some way. I’ll try to be short and sweet as this car revving, police chasing, city exploration, President saving(?) mission based game is the one we are reviewing today.
Graphics: 9
The graphics are beautiful for the PlayStation hardware. It does suffer the same trope with pixelization, polygons, and draw distance… yet it doesn’t need no flashy gimmicks or models to make the cars and buildings look great. The scenery and how the sun glares to your screen is so vivid and the colors look natural for the surrounding area. Pedestrians, tho are 2-D pixels, react whenever you get close to them or about to crash them (you’ll never hit them. I tried). Trees and objects like street lights or trash can be interacted to either be crashed or run over by. Birds present flying around, rain, even glass breaking seem to be realistic for its time. The stop lights actually work turning red, yellow, or green. Another neat thing is that it offers night and day for the areas (more on that later) and helps create a more authentic experience when playing. One complaint is that sometimes the night driving might be too dark and must either rely on the brightness on your tv (adjusting it of course) or just get used to such a dark setting. Car damage look so good and detailed, although at times it can look a bit too jagged, especially when your nice vehicles at times look a bit blocky. Hun caps do fly out when your car is driving and goes to the air or sharp turns. Burnouts are a nice edition if you want a quick acceleration and skid marks on the road. With the draw distance being atrocious when driving, all you see is the 2-D background (which isn’t that bad) while the game loads the next set of roads and polygons while cruising around. Realism is what they aimed for and they did what they can with the hardware’s limitations and it’s not that bad. Flames and smoke look like the typical graphics the PlayStation output. Overall the graphics are pretty good for its time, the realism is great,
Sound: 10
BIASED! The music is such a great choice added into the game. Based on funky 70s car chase music, the use of synthesizers and piano makes the game feel like you’re in a chase itself or just taking a groovy stroll around the areas. Sirens and radios sound great and the car engine sounds decent. But can we talk about the music? I highly recommend listening to this if you’re into synthesizers and car chase music. One of the best soundtracks I heard in the PlayStation that aren’t licensed music.
Addictive: 8
Very simple game to drive around and explore around the areas. Though only one area is available at the beginning there are other modes (explained later) to help you squeeze out replay value and enjoy for hours on end. One neat feature can make you become a director making your own films. More on that later
Story and Depth: 9
This game offers a few game modes and some enjoyment to have when starting up the game. Loading though can be a hassle at times, taking from 10 seconds to a whole minute. While driving around, the HUD offers a mini map to know where you’re going, a damage bar where once full your car breaks down from all the damage accumulated. There’s also a felony bar where if it grows the cops become more aggressive and harder to escape. Also, regarding to cops, if you break a law or damage a vehicle, the cops will be alerted and come after you once you get seen by their cone of view. They will ram you over and over until your car breaks down and flames pop up. Never get your car upside down! It’ll cause a quick game over with your damage bar growing quickly until the wheels touch floor again or the bar fills up and the vehicle catches fire. Here are the game modes.
Undercover: Career mode of the game. You are an NYPD detection named Tanner. You went undercover as a chauffeur to investigate a crime syndicate and find out what they’re planning. As you prove your worth in the underground crime scene you become they’re getaway driver and help them with missions unraveling their plans. Would you disband the syndicate or will your cover be blown and become a victim? As you are the gateway driver you will travel throughout the United States in four cities. Note : these cities aren’t actual representations of real life and just be like what the PlayStation can handle.
Miami: the beginning of the game and the only city available to play unlocked. A beautiful scenery with roads in the middle of the water (with concrete railings as the boundaries) that leads to an “island” and Miami Beach. The cops aren’t as bad and the streets of course look clean and with a large area to explore. It offers a day or night mode.
San Francisco: Golden state bridge? China town? Claustrophobic buildings and a trolley? Count me in as San Francisco is quite a busy map with the narrow roads and streets going up and down the hills. Cops are smarter and the trolley can be your friend to use as a roadblock when chased. Overall not a much larger map but the scenery is beautiful and the day and night modes are available.
Los Angeles: a map that’s night only as you drive through small roads and “Beverly Hills” and other landmarks. I felt like it was one of the smallest maps in terms of driving but with highways and such it’s not a bad map overall. Cops aren’t a joke but AI is still predictable.
New York: the final city to unlock and one of the biggest. Highways and tunnels is what makes this city look nice and with the skyscrapers and sharp turns, it is one of the most difficult places to maneuver when chased by cops. It is notorious for the night setting like you’re driving blind in the darkness. No lights and you only rely on your headlights which aren’t that great. The final mission is also located in this map.
As you progress through the story you have a small hotel room as your menu. VCR tapes to save your game. An answering machine to hear what missions you have and choose to accept. Car keys for a Joy Ride without the need to play missions and be at your leisure at the current map you’re in. And a door to exit career mode and go back to the main menu.
Once you unlock all these maps you can replay them in the Take a Ride mode on the main menu. No missions, no worries. You can choose day or night and just enjoy the ride. Not much to say other than it’ll give you familiarity to each cities in the game.
Training: this is one thing that’ll help you hone your skills and learn how to drive your vehicle in a dirt road setting. Ghost car is present and you can set records in each training, though don’t hit the cones or you get penalized by the time.
Getaway: you evade from cops and try to escape from them and set a record time
Pursuit: you chase after a vehicle and damage them in order to complete this.
Checkpoint: race through checkpoints around the cities and try to beat the times
Quick replay and Director mode: now this is a juicy concept. Quick replay is basically a replay of your gaming session (I think up to five minutes? Starts at the latest point it recorded within those five minutes?) and Director mode makes your driving session feel like a movie. Different camera views, editing each time stamp to a specific camera and cutting. Able to make a simple car chase become a brilliant work of movie art and the best part? You can save your replay on to the memory card.
Difficulty: 20
Actually: 8
This is a 20 for a reason. The infamous training mission. The first mission you do is notoriously difficult for any new comer and honestly it took me two weeks to beat it when I first started. This really put people down and others gave up. Those who made it are rewarded to a great game and it’s worth it if you ever beat the first mission alone. I’m telling you this isn’t for the faint of heart… until the second mission.
Overall: this is a game worth playing, if you ever beat the first mission. It’s fun, it’s chaotic, it was a good fix for years until better games came in and made the formula a lot better (GTA III). This was another childhood game and I do own the disc. I still play it at time and it really never gets old to be honest. The music is a masterpiece and the whole 70s aesthetic in car chases makes this game something to come back for
Overall: 10.6 with that first mission difficulty. Kidding kidding
Actually: 8.8
My rating: 9
Graphics 9 Sound 10 Addictive 8 Story 9 Depth 9 Difficulty 8
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 07-07-22
Review Replies: 0
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