DRIV3R Crosses the Finish Line

Atari, Inc. and Reflections Interactive have announced that development is complete on DRIV3R, the highly anticipated driving action game for the Xbox and the PlayStation 2.

“The Wheelman is back…and in a big way,” said Wim Stocks, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Atari. “Everything that was great about the previous two games – the awesome driving, deep storyline, film-like cinematics and the feeling of ultimate cool – has been amped to the next level in DRIV3R. With amazing new technology, Reflections has blown away every other game in the genre in terms of driving physics, graphics, and vehicle destruction to create the ultimate movie-like action game.”

Developed by Reflections Interactive (an Atari studio) (the masterminds behind Driver and Driver 2) DRIV3R stays true to its roots, incorporating the cinematic gameplay and gritty street crime of its predecessors with ground breaking graphics and three mammoth, wide-open city environments. Players will once again take the role of Tanner, an undercover police officer. Alongside his longtime partner, Tobias Jones, must infiltrate a global car theft ring in tire squealing chases and fierce on-foot firefights while tailing gangsters, chasing witnesses, stealing cars and unloading massive clips of ammo to bring the criminals to justice.

DRIV3R features include:

•Blockbuster voice-over and scriptwriting talent, including Michael Madsen as Tanner, Mickey Rourke as the sinister Jericho, Michelle Rodriguez as the sexy Calita, and Ving Rhames as Tanner’s partner, Tobias Jones

•Three gigantic and true-to-life cities, including Miami, Nice and Istanbul, with more than 35,000 buildings, over 150 miles of major highways and city streets, countless uncharted open areas, alleys, dirt roads and smaller byways to explore

•A stunning graphics engine creating massive photorealistic environments – both indoor and outdoor – filled with hundreds of destructible objects to be smashed and blasted both in vehicles and on foot

•Complete destruction models allowing vehicles to crumble realistically as they are bashed, smashed and driven to the limits of their design

•Multiple solutions to missions allowing players to plan strategically before they move in on the crooks and choose between a full frontal assault or a more surreptitious alternative, depending on gameplay tastes

•Driver’s signature “Film Director” function, which records every move made in the game, allowing gamers to place cameras anywhere, edit and direct a sequence and save their own Hollywood car chase to memory card to share with friends; on Xbox, players can upload their films to Xbox for other fans to download and view

•More than 70 controllable vehicles, including motorcycles, boats, police cars, vans, mopeds, muscle cars and fully articulated 18 wheelers

DRIV3R will be available in North America on June 21 and in Europe and Australia on June 22.