From high-speed police chases to a coma dream: the evolution of the Driver series
In short: Since 1999, the Driver video game series has defined open-world driving, evolving from cinematic car chases inspired by 1970s films to a surreal, coma-induced dreamscape. While it sold over 20 million units, the franchise’s history is marked by cancelled film adaptations and a legacy that eventually birthed Watch Dogs.
The Driver series began in 1999 as a tribute to car-chase cinema, specifically films like Bullitt and The Driver. Players controlled John Tanner, an undercover detective navigating real-world cities like Miami and San Francisco. The original game set a benchmark for urban exploration, influencing the genre by offering players unprecedented freedom within a city environment. Over the next decade, the series experimented with new mechanics, such as the ability to exit vehicles in Driver 2 and the introduction of firearms in the third installment, though the latter received mixed reviews.
The franchise took a sharp turn with Driver: Parallel Lines in 2006, which shifted the focus back to driving and introduced a criminal protagonist named TK. By 2011, the series reached its fifth main entry, Driver: San Francisco. In a departure from traditional realism, the game featured a 'Shift' mechanic that allowed players to jump between cars instantly, reflecting the protagonist's state of being in a coma. Despite positive critical reception, the commercial performance of the series became inconsistent, leading to the cancellation of various projects, including a live-action series announced for the Binge platform in 2021.
The legacy of Driver extends beyond its own titles. During the development of Driver: San Francisco, Ubisoft Montreal was working on a separate, unreleased Driver sequel that featured environmental hacking. When the series faced commercial headwinds, these concepts were folded into the development of the first Watch Dogs game. Ubisoft Reflections, the original creators of Driver, ultimately assisted in building the driving mechanics for Watch Dogs, ensuring that the DNA of the classic police-chase series survived within a new, tech-focused franchise. Meanwhile, attempts to bring Driver to the big screen—including a $50 million production slated for 2002—repeatedly stalled due to studio shifts and script leaks.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Driver (series)
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