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Driver 76 for PlayStation Portable
Driver 76 for PlayStation Portable takes place in New York in 1976. You follow Ray, a driver who, together with Slink, becomes increasingly involved in the local criminal underworld. Chases, escapes and armed assignments form the basis of this action and driving game. You drive through an open city, get out of vehicles and also confront enemies on foot. The twenty-seven story missions are divided into six chapters and linked by comic-style cutscenes.
You select assignments directly on the map, so you do not have to drive to every starting point first. Between story missions, separate jobs earn you extra money. You use it to improve cars in your garage, for example with a more powerful engine, different brakes or adjusted suspension. You try out the settings on the test track. The police can recognise both Ray and his vehicle; taking another car helps when it is mainly the car you used that is wanted. The vehicles, clothing and music give the city its 1970s appearance.
You play the story campaign alone. Through local Ad Hoc, two players can race or destroy each other's car in Carnage. With your own game copies on two PSP systems with wireless networking, you can play together within range of one another. In Pink Slip, you stake a car from your garage: the winner receives the loser's vehicle. These matches are not a cooperative campaign and do not use an internet connection.
Region and language
Our PlayStation Portable games are European editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
You receive the physical UMD edition. You need a PSP with a UMD drive to play it; a PSP Go cannot play this disc.
Manual
Driver 76 for PlayStation Portable includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Driver 76
Ubisoft released Driver 76 for PlayStation Portable in 2007. Sumo Digital handled development, with support and additional development work from Reflections. The publisher had acquired the Driver series and Reflections from Atari in 2006. This made the handheld title one of the first new projects under Ubisoft. Its name refers to the year in which the story takes place: 1976, two years before the first time period in Driver: Parallel Lines.
During development, producer Graeme Jennings explained that the team had designed the assignments for short play sessions from the outset. A menu therefore provides direct access to available missions. Anyone wanting to play for longer can also keep exploring the city. Sumo used existing Driver technology and added its own graphics expertise. The studio already had experience with PSP racing games, including OutRun and TOCA. According to Jennings, the controls without a second analogue stick required particularly careful tuning.
Driver 76 tells a separate story about Ray and Slink rather than simply reproducing the campaign from Parallel Lines. Its comic-style presentation replaces much more elaborate cinematic scenes, while the 1970s city remains the setting for chases and gunfights. Vehicle upgrades, collectibles and local matches were also added alongside the main assignments. The finished game was released in May 2007, later than the March schedule Ubisoft had announced with the game in January.
Similar games for PlayStation Portable
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for PlayStation Portable also combines an open crime-filled city with driving and shooting. Toni Cipriani works for different employers and travels to many mission starting points himself. Driver 76 lets you select assignments directly from the map and places more emphasis on the car and its tuning. Both offer activities outside the story, but Liberty City gives its criminal world a greater variety of activities and vehicles.
Like Driver 76, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on PlayStation Portable uses a recognisable period cityscape and music from a particular era. However, Vic Vance lives in the Miami-like Vice City of 1984 and can take over businesses. Ray drives through New York in 1976 and invests his earnings mainly in his vehicles. Free exploration is what they have in common; Driver 76 does not have the business system from Vice City Stories.
Pursuit Force for PlayStation Portable turns chases even more explicitly into separate action assignments. You play an officer who leaps onto other cars and boats while moving to take them over. Driver 76 has Ray enter and leave vehicles normally and gives you an open city between assignments. Both are action games featuring shooting and vehicles, but Pursuit Force builds its combat around jumping onto a moving target.
Gun Showdown on PlayStation Portable also connects a violent story with free travel and paid side missions. Colton White travels through Western towns and uses horses, revolvers and rifles. Driver 76 replaces that setting with cars, city traffic and a garage offering upgrades. In both games, you can earn money outside the main assignments, but Gun Showdown devotes more attention to fighting on foot and horseback than to tuning vehicles.
Chili Con Carnage for PlayStation Portable shares Driver 76's exaggerated movie action and criminal enemies. However, Ramiro Cruz mainly earns points through shooting leaps, explosions and long combinations in self-contained assignments. Ray drives through the city between gunfights and collects money for cars and parts. Chili does not offer comparable free city exploration; replaying is mainly about achieving a higher score rather than building up a larger garage.
