Driver 2

Driver 2: Back on the Streets ( in North America also Driver 2: The Wheelman is Back ) is the second part of the Driver series and the sequel to Driver. He was released in November 2000 for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance.

The basic structure of the game is that of the predecessor. There are four freely navigable cities, the visits of American undercover cop John Tanner in the context of a case. The focus again is driving and perform spectacular maneuvers. What is new is that the character leave his vehicle and the cities can explore on foot.

Gameplay

Generally

The basic principle has been taken over from the predecessor. Driver is mostly a racing and action game. The player assumes the role of undercover cop John Tanner. There are two modes, Undercover and Free ride. The Undercover mode told in 37 missions, the plot of the game. The missions are all very moving oriented and include tasks such as shadowing, the elimination of fugitives or fleeing from the police. In the open air, the player can ride the cities that he has already unlocked in undercover mode explore without duties or restrictions.

Innovations

The game environment now includes the four cities Chicago, Havana, Las Vegas and Rio de Janeiro. Leaving and change the vehicles while playing is possible by the character at any time opt out of a car, to walk through the town and can go into any civilian vehicle. During the missions plays the newly added ability to leave the car, not a big role. The Undercover mode follows a narrated by prerendered cutscenes history that includes 37 missions, however, it no longer gives the motel room with voicemail. Consequently, can not be selected from several jobs also, the gameplay is so linear. The missions have a time limit, however, the dichotomy has been removed. The AI ​​of the police has improved compared to the first part, it reduces the frequency of the patrol car.

Cities

The structure of the cities Chicago, Havana, Las Vegas and Rio de Janeiro follows the same principles as in the predecessor. The degree of abstraction was refined somewhat due to improved technical possibilities, so that no purely orthogonal street grid, but also oblique connections and winding road sections are available.

Action

Alvaro Vasquez, the only elusive leader of a criminal gang Brazilian from Rio, for the first time is expanding its operations on the American mainland. The gang war in America threatens to escalate, as the accountant of an American gangster boss a deal with Vasquez, makes its largest rivals. Together with his partner Tobias Jones John Tanner goes undercover again to the imminent outbreak of violence nor to change in time. From the northern Chicago, Castro's Havana, it leads Tanner to the glitz of Las Vegas, and finally to the final showdown on the Brazilian coast to Rio de Janeiro.

History of development

The game was released one and a half years after the release of Driver. It appeared first as a pure PlayStation game, it was later ported to the Game Boy Advance. The game was very extensive and included many elaborate cutscenes and graphics, so the game was released with two disks. On the first there are the first two cities, on the second the last two.