Driver 2 : Back on the Streets (Platinum) Beginner Guide

Driver 2 : Back on the Streets (Platinum) is the PAL PlayStation Platinum version of Driver 2, the Reflections Interactive sequel about undercover driving, pursuit work, and cinematic car chases. This guide is for that PlayStation version. It is not for the first Driver, the Game Boy Advance version, Driv3r, or any later Driver game.

The most important beginner adjustment is that Driver 2 adds on-foot movement and car commandeering to the original game’s mission driving. You still spend most of your time behind the wheel, but leaving the car changes how you recover from damage, unlock hidden vehicles, and handle certain mission objectives. Learn when the game allows you to switch cars, when it locks you into a chase, and how each city asks you to read roads under pressure.

Essential Tips

1. Treat the Map as Your Co-Driver

Driver 2 missions often send you through unfamiliar routes while traffic, police, or target cars punish hesitation. Before accelerating, glance at the map and commit to a broad path. You do not need a perfect route on the first attempt, but you do need to know the next major turn, bridge, or open road. In timed missions, a short planning pause is usually cheaper than missing a corner and fighting the whole city grid.

2. Protect the Car Before the Finish

Many failures come from reaching the final stretch with a vehicle that is already falling apart. Avoid extra side impacts, heavy traffic hits, and decorative shortcuts that cost more damage than they save. When a mission is about escape or delivery, speed matters only if the car survives long enough to complete the objective.

3. Use Vehicle Swaps When the Chase Allows It

Driver 2 lets Tanner get out and take another vehicle, but not whenever you want. If police are actively chasing you, expect the game to keep you in the current car. When you are not under direct pursuit, switching vehicles can rescue a damaged run or reduce pressure before the next drive.

4. Practice in Take-a-Ride

Take-a-Ride is useful because it lets you learn each city’s road shape without a story timer. Use it to practice cornering, traffic spacing, long straights, and exits from dense areas. The faster you recognize landmarks and road patterns, the less you have to stare at the map during Undercover missions.

5. Know When to Cut Corners

Corner cutting helps in Driver 2, especially during long chases, but it is not free. Grass, alleys, medians, and tight openings can save time when the car is stable and the angle is clean. They can also flip your rhythm if you clip scenery or meet traffic at a bad angle. Use cuts as planned tools, not panic moves.

6. Slow Down Before Hard Turns

The game rewards controlled entries more than constant full throttle. If you enter a corner too fast, you lose time correcting the slide and may give pursuers an easy ram. Brake early, rotate the car, and accelerate once the exit is clear. This is especially important when driving heavier or weaker-handling vehicles.

7. Keep Police Pressure Predictable

Police and hostile cars become dangerous when they pin you into traffic or force repeated side hits. If they are behind you, choose wider roads and avoid weaving through clutter. If they are beside you, brake or turn decisively instead of letting them grind damage into the car. A clean escape line beats a dramatic one.

8. Use On-Foot Actions Deliberately

On-foot movement is not a full action-game layer. It is mainly for reaching vehicles, pressing switches, opening access points, and completing certain mission steps. Stop fully, get out only when it is safe, and return to a car quickly. Walking across open space during a timed objective wastes more time than beginners expect.

9. Save Hidden-Car Progress

Secret cars are tied to city exploration and interaction points. When you unlock one, make sure the game keeps that unlock through the options flow before moving on. A hidden car is only useful later if the unlock actually persists.

10. Separate PS1 Habits From Later Driver Games

Later entries changed the series. Do not bring expectations from Driv3r, Parallel Lines, or San Francisco into this version. Driver 2 is still a PlayStation-era driving game with mission timers, strict pursuit logic, limited on-foot use, and city knowledge as a major skill.

Scope and Version

This guide covers Driver 2 : Back on the Streets in its PAL PlayStation Platinum form. The North American title is commonly styled as The Wheelman Is Back, but the core PlayStation game is the same target here. The Platinum label is a PAL budget-line version, not a separate sequel with new mission rules.

The boundary matters because Driver 2 Advance is a different handheld adaptation. It has fewer cities and simplified presentation compared with the PlayStation version. The later console sequels also change how walking, combat, missions, and open-world structure work. For this beginner guide, use only the PlayStation four-city structure: Chicago, Havana, Las Vegas, and Rio de Janeiro.

Mission Survival

Undercover missions are built around driving tasks: tailing, ramming, escaping, stealing, delivering, and reaching targets under pressure. The safest habit is to identify what the mission actually wants before driving aggressively. A tailing mission punishes reckless contact. A ramming mission demands controlled impacts. An escape mission rewards route knowledge and damage management.

Use the map whenever the target is distant or the road layout bends around itself. In city driving, a wrong turn can cost more time than a cautious start. When the objective marker is moving, watch both the road and the mini-map so you do not blindly follow a target into bad traffic.

Damage management should shape every route. If you are halfway through a mission and the car is nearly wrecked, stop taking optional risks. Choose wider turns, avoid traffic clusters, and let pursuers overshoot where possible. Many missions are easier after you learn that finishing with a battered car is still a finish.

On-Foot and Vehicle Swapping

Driver 2’s new walking feature is powerful because it gives you a way to abandon a bad car, open secret areas, and interact with mission objects. It is also limited. Tanner generally needs a safe moment, and active police pursuit blocks car exiting. Plan swaps before things become desperate.

When your car is badly damaged and the mission does not forbid a swap, look for a nearby civilian vehicle or parked option. Stop cleanly, exit, enter the replacement, and resume the route. Do not treat this as instant invulnerability. You can lose time during the transition, and a poor replacement may handle worse than the damaged car you left.

Walking is also useful for hidden areas. Some secret vehicles require you to leave the car and interact with switches, gates, booths, or doors. These discoveries are worth doing in free exploration rather than during a mission attempt, because timed objectives leave little room for sightseeing.

City Progression

Driver 2 starts with Chicago and Havana available for early free driving, then opens later city play as you clear mission progress. Las Vegas and Rio add new road shapes, longer routes, and more complex driving rhythm. Treat each new city like a fresh handling lesson.

Chicago is the best place to build basic pursuit habits: route reading, traffic spacing, and controlled ramming. Havana asks you to adapt to different roads and use on-foot access points more confidently. Las Vegas emphasizes longer roads and mission routing under pressure. Rio pushes corner cutting, traffic awareness, and survival through faster, more demanding objectives.

Hidden cars give each city an extra exploration goal. Look for landmarks, unusual access points, and places where getting out on foot reveals an interaction. These cars are not required for learning the campaign, but hunting them teaches the city layouts and gives you more reason to practice outside Undercover missions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Do not use first Driver assumptions - Driver 2 adds leaving the car, vehicle switching, larger city layouts, and different mission pacing.

2. Do not expect Driver 2 Advance rules - The handheld version has a different city set and should not guide PlayStation route choices.

3. Do not try to exit during an active police chase - Plan car swaps before police pressure locks you in.

4. Do not ignore vehicle damage - A fast route still fails if the car breaks before the objective clears.

5. Do not chase every shortcut - Bad angles and scenery hits can erase any time saved.

6. Do not tail targets too closely - Give yourself room to react when traffic or turns interrupt the line.

7. Do not ram without setup - Controlled impacts beat wild crashes, especially when your own car must survive afterward.

8. Do not learn cities only during missions - Take-a-Ride practice makes timers and pursuits less chaotic.

9. Do not forget to keep hidden-car unlocks - After finding a secret vehicle, make sure your settings are saved.

10. Do not import later sequel habits - This PlayStation game has stricter, older mission logic than later Driver entries.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Version	Use PAL PlayStation Platinum scope only
Missions	Identify the task before driving hard
Map Use	Plan the next major turn early
Damage	Finish cleanly before chasing speed
Police	Swap cars only outside active pursuit
Practice	Learn roads in Take-a-Ride
Turns	Brake before heavy corners
Shortcuts	Cut only when the angle is safe
Hidden Cars	Explore on foot and keep unlocks
Series Scope	Avoid later Driver assumptions