Driver is a 1999 driving game from the British studio Reflections Interactive, published by GT Interactive and released first on the PlayStation. In Europe it was simply Driver; in North America it carried the subtitle You Are the Wheelman. Versions for Windows, Mac and Game Boy Color followed, later joined by a mobile edition from Gameloft and a PlayStation Network re-release on PS3.
Series creator Martin Edmondson was inspired by the 1978 film The Driver, and the game's tutorial is taken directly from a scene in that movie. To record the crash sounds, the team hired a JCB excavator at a wrecker's yard and dropped cars onto other cars.
Driver sold well: it passed one million units by early August 1999 and more than 4 million worldwide by 2000, and it won Best Racing Game at the 1999 E3 Game Critics Awards. It is also remembered for its difficulty — the opening car-park tutorial and the final mission were widely criticized.1
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Driver: You Are the Wheelman | PlayStation | Jul 8, 1999 | GT Interactive | 1 |
| NA | DriverEnglish Wikipedia gives 1 October 1999 (NA/UK); Spanish Wikipedia gives 30 September 1999. | Windows | October 1999 | GT Interactive | 1 |
| NA | DriverTop-down remake by Crawfish Interactive. | Game Boy Color | May 10, 2000 | Infogrames | 1 |
| NA | DriverPort by Abersoft; Spanish Wikipedia gives 15 December 1999. | Mac | Dec 12, 2000 | MacSoft | 1 |
| NA | DriverPlayStation Network re-release; English Wikipedia gives 14 October 2008, Spanish Wikipedia 14 August 2008. Region not stated in sources. | PlayStation 3 | 2008 | — | 1 |
| EU | DriverRussian and Spanish Wikipedia give 30 June 1999. | PlayStation | Jun 25, 1999 | GT Interactive | 1 |
| WW | DriverAlso released on Palm Pre. | iOS | Dec 8, 2009 | Gameloft | 1 |
Also known as: Driver: You Are the Wheelman NA1
Box art by region
NA Driver: You Are the Wheelman 
EU Driver
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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GraphicsPC
The Windows version is largely the PlayStation game carried over, with sharper graphics at 800x600 and higher; reviewers felt it barely used PC hardware.1
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GameplayGame Boy Color
On Game Boy Color, Driver is a separate remake by Crawfish Interactive, with an overhead camera and fewer missions.1
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AudioiOSPalm Pre
Gameloft's mobile version (iOS and Palm Pre) has upgraded graphics, re-recorded cutscene voices and a new soundtrack split across three in-game radio stations in place of the original music.1
Translations
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Polish Official
—Windows · PC versionReleased
An official Polish localization with dubbed voices, available only in the Polish retail release.2
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Russian Pirate
Фаргус, 7 Wolf, Наша Марка, Процедура 2000, City, Эксклюзив, FireCross, Golden Leon, Студия Оригинал, RGR Studio, VectorWindowsReleased
PCGamingWiki lists many unofficial Russian translations of the PC version from pirate studios, including Fargus, 7 Wolf, Nasha Marka, Protsedura 2000, Golden Leon and RGR Studio.2
How to run it today
Driver is not on Steam or GOG, so the PC version needs an original disc. Its SafeDisc copy protection does not work on Windows Vista or later. For crashes or broken 3D acceleration, PCGamingWiki recommends dgVoodoo 2 set up as a virtual 3D card with 64 MB of VRAM. CD music may stay silent unless the drive letter is D:, and on Windows XP and later it does not loop; the fix is to rip the CD audio and use a patched _inmm.dll.
- Driver on PCGamingWiki pcgamingwiki.com
Reception
Driver sold over one million units by early August 1999 and over 4 million worldwide by 2000, grossing about $150 million. The PlayStation version holds 87/100 on Metacritic, and the game won Best Racing Game at the 1999 E3 Game Critics Awards.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
Spotted a mistake? Write to atlas@old-games.net.