Driver Madness

Do you think if Driv3r would be released later the Driver franchise could be one of the most succesful game franchises now?

definetly yes

Yes, but i still think Driver would be the same. Right now driver is kinda big driver sf sold a lot more than expected. But i always think that the young 12 year old or casual teenage gamer would choose games such as cod or GTA over driver because they are talked about more. Even if driv3r had less glitches i highly doubt it would change very much...hell it would still get published by Atari

Wouldn't have made a difference. Sandbox games are much more defined now, this game would be criticized worse than it was before. I still love this game though.

Maybe it would be criticized but on the other hand Driver had a own identity which could differntiate it now from newer sanbdbox games. Also you've very polished driving and damage physics, a dark style storyline and iconic cars. Remember that Driv3r had 48 $ million budget (compared to other games of that era it doesn't look so dated now), i can't imangine what they could have done now with todays AAA budget standards.

Driver was VERY succesful until Driv3r came out. Even though the reviewers were kinda bad at reviewing it (only focusing on bugs than awesome soundtrack, car physics, car crashes and film director), it was and still is an unfinished game. If Driv3r would have came later with bug fixes, tweaks, better-looking cities (the draw distance and less-quality textures ruin them especially Nice) and improved cops' AI for better chases, it would have been one of the most amazing games ever made and the franchise would have still kept going strong.

So, I vote JA.

no, is not later the release driv3r

No, why would it be? You guys want to play a finished version of Driver 3? It already exists, it’s called Driver: Parallel Lines

Is it revolutionary? I don’t think so But it has all the stuff that Driver 3 was meant to have. The proper on-foot, the shooting out of the window (I believe it was planed to be in Driver 3 as we can see Tanner shooting out of a car in one of those famous wallpapers and we can shoot from cars with a passenger and from boats, but without aiming anywhere), less glitches and other things.

YES, the story is another one. But nobody cares, because the gameplay is what counts. As if we played story mode every day

So no, the Driver series would definitely not be the most successful game franchise if Driver 3 was released later, it would have gotten a bit better reviews (like DPL) and that’s it.

TheEngiGuy: The series went down the day Driver 2 came out.

No, I think there was no way to fix the mess that was Driv3r, they just desperately released it and hoped people might not notice how bad it was. I read that there were rumors of the company paying some reviewers to give the game a high rating lol.
Well, actually, of course they could have kept working on it for a few more years and fix the glitches and stuff, but it would have looked outdated with its old graphics and more money would have been wasted. Driv3r is one of those games that makes me wonder what the game testers told the company after playing it or if their opinion was actually considered.
On a side note, if Driv3r had been cancelled, I would have gone nuts after watching the screenshots, but the game was released and it didn't live up to my expectations at all.

It shouldn’t have been announced at all in the first place, Driver 2 was a mistake as well. Driver 3 should have been Driver 2 and Driver SF should have been Driver 3. Then everything would have gone right

Coyote wrote:It shouldn’t have been announced at all in the first place, Driver 2 was a mistake as well. Driver 3 should have been Driver 2 and Driver SF should have been Driver 3. Then everything would have gone right

k9Underdogg wrote:I read that there were rumors of the company paying some reviewers to give the game a high rating lol.

Don't blame Reflections, blame Infogrames/Atari. And in my opinion this isn't exclusive, i think this exist since ages in stuff like film,music or game industry but it is kept in secret.

Coyote wrote:It shouldn’t have been announced at all in the first place, Driver 2 was a mistake as well. Driver 3 should have been Driver 2 and Driver SF should have been Driver 3. Then everything would have gone right

Where did this whole Driver 2 hate come from? It seems like it popped out of nowhere. Still, judging from the forum polls, they're just a very vocal minority.

As for the topic's question, no. The critics were clearly biased towards GTA. Even if the glitches weren't a problem, they would've given it a lower score for no reason, like with any game in the PS2 era that was remotely similar to GTA.

GTA 3 was pretty revolutionary at the time compared to Driver 2. Especially considering a game like it had been already released, Driver 1.

That being said, I don't hate Driver 2. I think it's a relatively good game with the problems put aside.

Yes, I too love Driver 2 of course. It was still a mistake

Olanov wrote:GTA 3 was pretty revolutionary at the time compared to Driver 2. Especially considering a game like it had been already released, Driver 1.

That being said, I don't hate Driver 2. I think it's a relatively good game with the problems put aside.

That's because they only had 1 year of development for Driver 2 (tight deadlines courtesy of Atari looking for more $) and taking PS1 to the limit, imagine if Atari would let them to make the game instead for PS2, it would be 2 years of development and release on par with GTA III. Things surely would be different.

That’s why I said Driver 3 should have been Driver 2!

and Driver PL should have been Driver 3 (i mean fixed D3)
and then DPL and the rest

max.thunder wrote:

Olanov wrote:GTA 3 was pretty revolutionary at the time compared to Driver 2. Especially considering a game like it had been already released, Driver 1.

That being said, I don't hate Driver 2. I think it's a relatively good game with the problems put aside.

That's because they only had 1 year of development for Driver 2 (tight deadlines courtesy of Atari looking for more $) and taking PS1 to the limit, imagine if Atari would let them to make the game instead for PS2, it would be 2 years of development and release on par with GTA III. Things surely would be different.

Pretty much. Stupid of them to do that.

max.thunder wrote:and Driver PL should have been Driver 3 (i mean fixed D3)
and then DPL and the rest

Well yes, DPL is already some kind of Driver 3. If Driver 3 was finished properly, then it would, from a strict gameplay point of view, be like DPL.

Could be if they did it correctly

Yes, IMO I think Driver 3 was a bit rushed..............When I first played it a few years ago. I was impressed with the graphics, but the storyline / controls lost my interest. If Driv3r had more time to smooth over things, I think it would've been a hit

max.thunder wrote:

Olanov wrote:it would be 2 years of development and release on par with GTA III. Things surely would be different.

PC Gaming wasn't as big back then but I reckon it would have been awesome for them to work on a PC version. It would still work today on most configurations and they could still generate revenue from the game even though it's been 14 years since it's original release. I guess not if they sold it to Ubisoft. But it would be good to see it in the steam store. I never got a full chance to play it all since I've never owned a PS1.

Duh!!!! I'm such a genius why did I never try it for ps2 backwards compatibility. haha

I would have loved to see what they could do if Driver 2 had more development time and released on PS1 and PS2 remaster or just PS2 and PC. I dunno there is so much they could have done to earn a bit more revenue. I would have also loved to see Stuntman on PC. I guess porting a genuine version that doesn't appear as a direct port is a big and costly job. But PC's life cycle is pretty much forever. Going onto the GTA side as a good demonstration GTA 1 is available on Steam and works great on PC.

Would've been cool if there was a way to fix the issues with the game like the GTA modders that made fixes for the GTA PC ports

madness wrote:I would have loved to see what they could do if Driver 2 had more development time and released on PS1 and PS2.

Even if they had time there's little they could've done to fix Driver 2 for PS1, unless it would've came with 4 discs for each city and nobody wants that. If they would have had the chance, they should've just postponed the release and go for a PS2 and/or PC release.

The only thing that killed Driver 2 for me is the cop AI. Dammit.

Driver 2 was so rushed that there's beta cars in the multiplayer

helkensinken wrote:no, is not later the release driv3r

What the f**k?

helegad wrote:

helkensinken wrote:no, is not later the release driv3r

What the f**k?

He's a 12 year old Brazilian, what do you expect?

I believe Driv3r could have been great, as Driver 2 could have been if they were given more time. The cash train that these publishers love so much is really detrimental to game quality. I can understand wanting a return on your investment, but critical acclaim in the gaming industry is so much more profitable than churning out average games each year. You bet your ass people are still buying the earlier Grand Theft Autos; they will never go out of style because the ideas they were built on were thoroughly fleshed-out and refined. I bet each and every person who worked on GTA III stood back with an immense sense of pride after seeing and, much more importantly, playing the final product. So what if sh*t gets cut out? The focus should be on what IS in the game, what IS present and interactive and what it brings to the table in terms of gameplay or just adding to the experience via ambiance or immersive environment.

Also, a single magazine preview IS NOT proof that D2 was destined for PS2. Everything mentioned in that article made it into the final PS1 version.