Driver: Parallel Lines aka "We promise that this one won't suck."

The question that Reflections should be asking themselves is - is there really a market for this game, or are we retreading old ground long since pioneered by other games (namely GTA, True Crime, etc.). This is where the studio needs to focus on what made the original great - not by hybridizing the 'free-roam' or 'open-ended' crime fantasy (as in fantastic - not hobbit or Sci Fi), but by sticking to what could make (and has made) the game series a relevant property in the contemporary gaming spectrum.

The 'Driver' intellectual property is solid. A lot of us established gamers have fond PSX memories of the series. Driv3r (Driver 3) fell by the wayside, not for a lack of effort (voice credits Michael Madsen and Michelle Rodriguez); personally, ever since Grand Theft Auto III, I haven't cared about the series afterwards.

Here are three things that they can do to restore the Driver series to its former glory:

1) Level Design - Realistic to the city, yet technicially challenging coursework for the sake of the level.

2) Physics Engine - The original had laughably bad physics; I can't casually remember how hard I laughed watching the replay on the last level when, almost clipping a building at a sharp 'X' intersection, the pursuant AI car slammed into the corner, was hit from behind by another AI vehicle, and popped straight up in the air, at a velocity that suggested orbital launch. Fun, yes. Now, no.

3) The Driver Doesn't Leave The Car - One of the major turnoffs for me was this ability in the second Driver game. It was rushed, movement was horrible, and it just didn't make sense. Why would the Driver of a pursuit/escape/getaway leave the car, ever? (Unless it was on fire) By the time you've found a suitable replacement - namely, the closest vehicle - the flow of the game has been derailed.

Who knows, maybe if Reflections has done their homework, we may yet see a rennissance period for this title. Just look at how DMA and Rockstar turned their 'legacy' IP Grand Theft Auto into the Trademark that it is now.

There's nothing in that trailer that doesn't look at least four years out of date.

The founder of Reflections quit after Driver 3, and the studio is a one-trick pony - they do car physics, and that's pretty much it.

Driver 2 was supposed to be a PS2 launch title, but Atari (or Infogrames as they were then) insisted it be brought forwards and released on PSOne. Hence the on-foot sections were shit, because the PSOne couldn't cope with a driving game switching to an action adventure on the fly.

Then GTA beat them to the punch on PS2, so by the time Driver 3 came out Reflections were playing catch up - and failing, because they were still working from a PSOne gameplay framework, while GTA had been completely reinvented.

Stuntman bombed, so they're doing Parallel Lines because it's all they've got. No Driver games, no Reflections. They'll either be sold/go bust in the next year, I reckon.

Judging by the quality of the Driver series, I'd say we can do without Reflections.

I bought Driver 3 for ten bucks brand new and the replay/director stuff in freeroam mode made it money well spent. I made a bunch of cool little clips using that. Unfortunately that was the only good thing about that game. Anytime there was a shootout, it was unplayable. I have no fond memories of the other Driver games either, so I wouldn't exactly be sad if Reflections did go under. Survival of the fittest.

Holy crap, this is actually decent. Love the feel of the cars -- pressure sensitive buttons on the PS2 make for excellent acceleration. There's still some wonky physics, but I haven't enjoyed cruising this much since Al Pacino.

Also like the dual wanted levels, and the way that you'll get ID'd for a moving violation if your windows are broken.

It's still a shameless GTA clone, but it's probably the best one I've played. So far, at least.

Cool. Good to hear it came together pretty well. I was going to pick it up as a birthday present for a friend, and this helps me feel like I made agood choice.

Just played the demo recently from OPM and it was pretty good. Though you just lose some cops while driving a car, and then the demo lets you cruise around. You don't get to try out combat (or at least I didn't figure it out if you could), which really sucked in the last one.

It seems like they have finally just given up and copied GTA, which could be a good thing.

The demo is set in the 70's (half the game takes place there, I guess, and the other half takes place in current times), and the 70's music was awesome. The driving physics are great. I stole some other cars and had fun driving them around.

Is the game worth buying? Probably not, but if it gets good reviews I'll rent it or buy it after a while maybe.

I haven't been in any huge combat situations -- mostly facing off against one guy, a couple cops, or chasing a dude in a car, but it's night and day from Driv3r. Which is to say, you can target and shoot without getting destroyed, tripping, or accidentally inventing a new dance.

So far it's no worse than GTA's on foot combat model, and shooting from the car might actually be better.

I played the same demo you did, only on the new OXM disc, and I must say, not too shabby, other than some odd glitches here and there(one guy got stuck standing in the middle of a car, some bullet-holes "on" my car that were floating behind it). Still though, the city feel more "alive", the car handling is much improved, and the running around felt a lot better(although I couldn't find a "run" button, took me long enough to figure out how to throw a punch). I'll give it a rent for sure.

*edit- I'm a shitty typist.