And things continued to roll downhill from there, with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto III trumping Reflections' efforts on next-gen hardware, and taking the edge off the Driver series. In the same year, Reflections released Stuntman, its "don't forget about us" PS2 gesture, which combined dangerous driving with little margin for error, and only made people want Driver 3... that is, until it turned up. It was infamously awful; bugged to hell and almost unplayable, offering nothing to GTA aficionados other than the ability to swim (a definite middle-finger salute to Rockstar, that one).
With Reflections' (and Atari's) reputation tarnished almost beyond repair, they now present Driver: Parallel Lines. The question is, with four 3D GTA titles offering the market virtually everything it could want from a free-roaming crime-em-up, is there a place for Driver anymore?Wisely leaving the series' former protagonist Tanner in a lay-by, Driver: PL takes a different approach to its predecessors - in terms of style, at least. You take control of 'The Kid', a small town crook trying to make it in the Big Apple of the late 70s (at least for the first half of the game; the second half relocates to the present day). Living above a garage and running errands for the owner, TK quickly becomes involved with some of New York's more shady characters.
You are expected to play through the usual 'drive this here/follow that there/steal this from here' missions you expect from this type of game. Sadly, there is little more to it than that. For the first couple of hours, it feels dull, as if little effort has been put into the design of these missions. Things do gradually pick up: when TK has made more contacts in the underworld, the story spurs you on, with the usual heady mix of gang warfare, robbery and taking people out. Obviously, the jobs you undertake are going to attract the attention of the NYPD. In fact, almost anything you do will attract the cops.Parallel Lines aims for more authenticity as opposed to the comic book violence of GTA, so driving carelessly around the city is usually followed by flashing red and blue lights and a wailing siren. Gamestyle was mildly impressed at being chased by the fuzz after driving through a red light, but after a while it became incredibly annoying, due to the excessive force used by the police and flawed AI. Your radar is handy for watching out for cop cars, but fails when showing their field of vision. Having avoided them (with some amazing driving, naturally), Gamestyle hid in an alley, monitoring their positions. They were looking in the right direction, but weren't even on the same road. Gamestyle was safe. Suddenly, sirens wailed and we were on the run again. It seems these policemen can see through walls! It's a flaw which really shouldn't be there, and is one of the main factors in taking away some of the enjoyment of the game.
There is enjoyment to be had. The on foot action is implemented well, with a decent targeting system and solid combat, and the car handling is pitched just right. Damage affects your steering, speed and so on, making you think about what you're about to do instead of just ploughing through traffic. When mastered, it feels as if you're in a chase scene from a movie - something the series hasn't really managed since the first game. Driver also pleases the eyes, and has a distinctive look for both time periods (the seventies have a summery hue, present day is cool blue) and has few graphical glitches - pedestrians may occasionally end up walking on top of your car after you run into them, but that's about it. With a decent licensed soundtrack to top it off (although not as well integrated as GTA's radio stations), Driver: PL is a vast improvement over the past two games.Parallel Lines may be better than Drivers 2 and 3, but this is just one step in the right direction. What Reflections should be doing is trying to make Driver a strong competitor for GTA, or at least differentiate it enough to stand on its own. There is no longevity here, not enough variety in missions and not enough to do in between missions. Gamestyle also misses 'Director Mode', a replay movie-making feature which could have added hours to the game. Without these features, it just doesn't feel fresh anymore. It's very much like meeting an old friend you haven't seen for years. They're not quite as you remember them, and your new friends are so much more interesting. Maybe we'll bump into each other in the future.
