Driver: Parallel Lines
What, no DrIVer? Hey, at least the series is back on track.
Published: April 10, 2006
On-foot controls are markedly better too, not just because they no longer feel like you're skating around on a sheet of ice with overly sensitive reactions, but because the targeting allows you to lock onto an enemy and circle strafe them, pop into a precision aim for headshots and to take out tires, or just whip out the gun and fire away - this includes firing from cars during chases, which is a nice touch.
Despite these improvements, there are still issues with the core game. Most of the story and characters seem throwaway, which they obviously weren't intended to be if the absolutely gorgeous pre-rendered cutscenes are any indication. Some of the side missions are fun, but races just feel worthless with the physics engine in place. Playing repo man is more fun, and regardless of how you earn cash, the idea that you can trick out a ride and then store it in a garage to pull out at any time is a welcome addition.
The biggest problem is that, despite offering two time periods to compare and contrast New York and it's cars and people, the game just doesn't have any oomph. There are no alleyways to explore, varied terrain to set up some jumps on, no interesting side stuff to accomplish. You're basically locked into the story, and that's not terribly appealing. At least when playing story missions, if you die, you can pop right back into the missions, and checkpointing on longer missions keeps unnecessary aggravation down.
The biggest change between decades comes down to the cars, and with Reflections' work on their modeling, this is where the game looks most impressive. It's not just in the shift from muscle to sports cars from the 70s to today, it's in seeing how well the cars react to getting pummeled or side-swiped. Bumpers fall off, chassis crumple, windows shatter, head and tail lights break. This isn't anything new to the series, but it's still impressive to see it all in motion, and to see it all running fairly smoothly and consistently. Little touches like seeing how TK moves and how the HUD changes before and after prison give things a bit of pop too.
Aurally, things are just as good. You can slight the game for painting most of the characters with a heavily stereotypical brush, but at least the performances are solid. TK ends up sounding a lot better after his time out of prison, and it makes a nice difference, but most of the players deliver their lines with enough emotion that they work - even if you're laughing at how predictable a lot of it is. The engine noises, not surprisingly, are throaty and, well, masculine. They all sound like high-performance machines, even if they don't necessarily look it, and the sheer variety of vehicles and sounds for said vehicles. Hitting other cars at high speed not only sends the screen into a bit of white-out overdrive, but matches things with a huge explosion of metal and glass splashing across the speakers. It's great stuff.
Oh, and then there's the soundtrack, which is easily one of the best ever assembled for a video game - particularly the 70s stuff. Hearing Blondie, Bowie, War, Parliament, Iggy Pop, Public Enemy, Paul Oakenfold, Grand Master Flash and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs while you haul ass around the city is awesome, though I will absolutely give the nod to the 70s soundtrack as being the better fit for things. It's not the Superfly-themed stuff from the first game, but it'll do.
So the Driver series has come back from the brink. I'd honestly written it off after Driv3r failed to not only fix Driver 2's issues, but actually flushed the series ever further down the crapper. Parallel Lines fixes every problem the previous games had, and the games are good again. Unfortunately, so much was spent on making them competent that there isn't anything terribly new or exciting here.
The storyline is pedestrian, and the gameplay solid, but familiar. Sure, the improvements to the heat level are fantastic, and it's great to have a game that has really solid handling and physics, but it would have been nice to see the series break a little more new ground. Regardless, this is a game worth checking out, particularly if you've given up on the series. It might only be a rental for most, but it's certainly worth that look.
