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Driv3r
Gone Gold
PS2/Xbox
(Press
Release)
June
7, 2004
Atari, Inc. and Reflections Interactive are pleased to announce
that development is complete on DRIV3R, the highly anticipated driving action game for the Xbox(TM) video game system from Microsoft and the
PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system. DRIV3R will be available in North America on June 21 and in Europe and Australia on
June 22.
"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."
The next evolution of Driver, one of the most successful franchises in video game history, DRIV3R is an action-packed driving
adventure game that recreates the excitement of a Hollywood blockbuster car chase and plays like an interactive movie. Developed
by Reflections Interactive (an Atari studio), the masterminds behind Driver and Driver 2 - which have sold more than 12 million copies
worldwide - 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.
Featuring Hollywood-level production values and a gripping, narrative story line, DRIV3R casts players once again as Tanner, a jaw
breaking, no-holds-barred undercover cop who does whatever it takes to bring the bad guys down. In DRIV3R, Tanner, 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 involved from the ground up in the creation, production and performance of
DRIV3R, 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 hand-placed and
decorated for intricate detail and ultimate immersion
-- More than 150 miles of major highways and city streets to explore plus countless uncharted open areas, alleys, dirt
roads and smaller byways
-- 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
-- Unmatched driving and physics engine creating the most realistic vehicle performance in any game and the most
exciting chases ever seen
-- A deep, narrative storyline that plays like an interactive movie, recreating the attitude, action and car chase sequences
of modern gangster films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking
Barrels, Snatch and Pulp Fiction; nearly an hour of CGI video fleshing out the plot with dramatic scenes of sinister crime
syndicate dealings
-- 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 is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and is expected to release in North America on June 21 and in Europe and Australia on
June 22. For more information on DRIV3R, please visit the game's official Web site at http://www.DRIV3R.com.
About Atari
New York-based Atari, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATAR) develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party
publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The
Company's 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining games such as Driver(TM), Enter the Matrix(TM), Neverwinter
Nights(TM), Stuntman(TM), Test Drive(R), Unreal(R) Tournament 2003, and
Unreal(R) Championship; and mass-market and children's games such as Backyard
Sports(TM), Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues(TM) and Dora the Explorer(TM),
Civilization(R), Dragon Ball Z(R) and RollerCoaster Tycoon(R). Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames
Entertainment SA (Euronext 5257), the largest interactive games
publisher in Europe. For more information, visit http://www.atari.com.