Setting The setting focuses on a fictionalized representation of
San Francisco, along with the surrounding regions of
Marin County and
Oakland, recreating the geography, generalized layout of the city, and notable landmarks including the
San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the
Golden Gate Bridge. The recreation features around of roads, though the amount of roads and territory in the setting is reduced in the Wii edition, as the main bridges of the city are blocked. It take place six months after the events of
Driver 3; a mini-comic series provides background on events during the six-month period. On the other hand, the plot of the Wii version differs from the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles, Windows and Mac versions; it serves as a prequel to the original
Driver. Story . After he and
FBI agent John Tanner (
Demetri Goritsas) undergo successful surgery, criminal Charles Jericho (
Michael Dobson) escapes from a Turkish hospital and flees back to the United States. Following this, Tanner and his partner Tobias Jones (Peter Benson) manage to locate and arrest him in San Francisco. On the day of his trial, Jericho stages a breakout from his prison convoy, overpowering his guards and eliminating the police escort. While monitoring the convoy's route, Tanner and Jones witness the breakout and pursue him after he takes control of the prison van. As Jericho ambushes them and attempts to run them down with the van, Tanner escapes into a street with heavy traffic that results in a devastating crash, putting him in a
coma. Moments later, Tanner awakens in his car with Jones, with things seemingly normal; Tanner however finds himself hearing voices in his head regarding an accident. When the pair track down the prison van, Tanner finds himself suddenly disappearing from his car and reappearing in the driver's seat of an ambulance carrying a critically injured patient. To his shock, he learns he is actually inhabiting the body of the ambulance's driver, and is confused by the event. Tanner soon discovers he has an ability that lets him "Shift" into another person's body, taking on their appearance but retaining his own memories and skills. Deciding to use this ability to his advantage, Tanner begins helping people across the city while continuing to investigate Jericho. Tanner discovers that Jericho intends to construct a
chemical bomb, with which he plans to hold the city ransom. Tanner then inhabits the body of a small-time crook to infiltrate the organization, but is immediately discovered by Jericho, who also possesses the ability to Shift. As things around him begin to grow more bizarre, Tanner eventually discovers that he has been in a dream world since the crash, with the events influenced by his subconscious hearing the TV broadcast. As Tanner combats the dream Jericho in order to regain control and end his coma, he realizes that Jericho's plan goes against his character, and suspects that he is plotting something else. Upon finally awakening from his coma, Tanner informs Jones that Jericho is hoaxing a bomb threat to conceal a major crime. Jones reluctantly trusts his partner, and hands the key to his car, allowing him to go after Jericho. Tanner's deduction proves correct when an explosion that seems chemical is in reality a large-scale smokescreen; Jericho's actual plan was to conceal the breakout of another inmate from the prison he was held in. Tanner then pursues Jericho, leading to a confrontation between the two at a warehouse. As Tanner prepares to hit Jericho with a head-on collision, Jones suddenly arrives and rams Jericho from the side, incapacitating him, before suggesting to Tanner that they go for a drink after.
Wii version Tanner and his partner Alvarez chase gangster Solomon Caine, but eventually get into a car crash; Alvarez is killed and Tanner goes undercover, where he meets his new partner, Tobias Jones. Tanner gains the trust of Caine and his gang by doing various jobs, including setting two rival gangs up against each other to create a market for military-grade arms. Later, Tanner assists a member of Caine's gang, known as "the Geek", to help steal back confiscated weapons. Tanner's identity is revealed when the Geek recognizes him as the officer who arrested him, and alerts the others, leading to Tanner's capture by the gang. Meanwhile, Jones and other officers believe Tanner to be dead until they get a tip about his location, and Jones goes to rescue Tanner. To get to Caine, the two interrogate one of his men and a witness about a weapons drop, and they set up a fake drop to arrest Caine. Tanner and Jones then take down a convoy of weapons trucks before they reach their buyers. When they return to the drop, Caine manages to escape but Tanner tracks him down and arrests him. However, Caine's gang break him out after he is taken to the precinct. As Tanner and Jones use a police helicopter to give chase, Caine is finally captured when his own helicopter crashes on
Alcatraz Island. Caine is eventually convicted of murder and arms-dealing, and is sentenced to life in prison,
but manages to escape to Chicago. == Development, release, and marketing ==