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Driver Parallel Lines: Progress Report
Reflections' newest takes a page or two from the movies Goodfellas and Kill Bill. New details.

January 12, 2006 - English developer Reflections whisked through the IGN offices to demo the latest build of Driver: Parallel Lines and in its encompassing demo we got a sense of the game's slick presentation and more than one borrowed idea from the movies.

The storyline no longer follows the exploits of undercover cop Tanner, but starts fresh with a young 18-year-old kid whose name is "The Kid." He's got mutton chops, a long-haired mullet, suede jacket and a young, rough attitude. He's the new wheelman, and he's ready for the danger, the women, the drugs, and everything else involved. You'll hear him explain the game in the economically told CG intro movie, which looks and feels in style like the intro to Martin's Scorsese's Goodfellas, narrated by Ray Liotta.

In this demo, however, we didn't just witness the slick, cocaine-drenched days of the 1979 in a video montage. Executive Producer Gareth Edmondson revealed a nice new twist to the game. Your wheelman, who's capable of following the main story as well as built-in mini-games while in the car or on foot (the split is 90/10 in-car/on-foot), gets caught and thrown in jail, only to be released 27 years later. When he's shut in the can, New York looks like it did in the 1970s. The twin towers exist, the cars are all heavy and long, the people are skinny, there are no SUVs; in short, the world is a different place.

When your man is released in 2006, New York has drastically changed. SUVs rule, the twin towers are gone, and the entire game takes on a different look, including The Kid. You're now heavier, older, and in different clothes. You're also about to experience a change in the gameplay as well -- As the more mature Kid, you'll identify and hunt down all of the rat bastards who were involved in your incarceration. As Edmondson says, you commence on a Kill Bill rampage of vengeance. Sounds like fun to me.

Players can drive any car on the street, from sedans to trucks, tractors, busses, or motorcycles, but Driver 3's boats have been killed off. You'll also have two kinds of meters besides the standard health meter and when in a car, the speedometer. The two additional meters measure your personal felony rating and the other measures your vehicle felony rating. Switching out of your car usually eliminates your car felony rating, while ditching the cops usually erases your personal felony rating. You can jump from the car at any time and jack any other car as long as they're driving slow enough to catch.

As the game progresses, you'll also notice how the cars get faster and the traffic increases in density too. Meanwhile, the cops will increase in aggression and use different tactics to take you down. Parallel Lines doesn't follow the same trend at previous Driver games, which comprised a story mode, and outside of that a bunch of mini-games from Survival to Director Mode. This fourth version incorporates all the mini-games into one story mode, which loads up once and never loads again.

The movie concepts infused into the game story make getting into Parallel Lines a lot easier to swallow. Given the rough and unfortunate state of Driver 3, which put a sour taste in our mouths, this counts for a lot. They CG feels familiar but simultaneously likeable and fresh. You'll easily feel like you're being introduced into a cool, hip scene when you start. The clincher, however, in acclimatizing you to the late 1970s is the potentially phenomenal soundtrack. While deals are still being negotiated on all songs, Reflections and Atari are gunning for a set of songs from the likes of James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Blondie, David Bowie, Tower of Power, and many more. Edmondson said he's rather spend the money on great music than voice acting and we agree. Since this isn't an RPG or adventure game, voice isn't all that important, but the actual voice acting is compelling all the same.

The biggest change in Parallel Lines since our last preview comes in the form of multiplayer options. Reflections cut the ambitious online mode, citing its determination to make a compelling single-player game as its central focus. The online portion exists and has been tested, but the team felt it wasn't as strong as the single-player game, so it's ditched the online portion.

After a terrible third iteration of a franchise that's remained compelling and brought in high revenues for Atari, Driver: Parallel Lines renascent state is a relief. Not only that, it but provides something for action-racing gamers in general to get excited about. While there is still draw-in and pop-up, and the overall visuals aren't anything to write home about, the newly designed game shows Reflections desire to make up for Driver 3 in a big way. With a major focus on driving, chases, fantastic car crashes and Reflections trademark physics engine, it's hard to go wrong.

BY: IGN
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