DRIVER: PARALLEL LINES

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Reflections Interactive

Publisher : Atari And Ubisoft

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Third-Person Shooter and Driving

Release Date : June 26 , 2007

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : Intel Pentium 4 Processor / AMD Athlon64 3000+

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compatible Video Card with Memory 128 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 6600 Series
ATI : Radeon X1300 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 5 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The game follows 18-year-old "TK" (The Kid), a skilled driver who works as a getaway driver for a New York crime ring. Following the kidnapping and murder of a prominent Colombian drug lord named Rafael Martinez, TK is set up and charged with the murder and sent to Sing-Sing Prison for 28 years. While at Sing-Sing, TK hatches plans to kill each of the men who helped to frame him. When he is released in 2006 (Now aged 46), he sets out to kill his former associates, one of whom is now the Police Chief of the New York City Police Department. TK is aided by childhood friend Ray and the daughter of the drug lord that was killed. This fast-forwards the game to present day. TK gets out of the joint in 2006 with revenge on his mind, and the story picks up from there. It's a potentially interesting premise that falls apart because none of the individual characters are very compelling or likeable in either era. The gameplay in Driver puts you in a big, open city that's broken up into three areas by bridges. There are a few side missions, such as races and repo-man jobs, that you can use to earn money, which in turn can be spent on car upgrades. But considering the cars in the game are as disposable as you'd expect from a game like this, spending money on engine upgrades seems like a waste of time, so earning money usually isn't your goal. Instead, you'll follow the story path by taking on a variety of missions. Most of them are, as you might expect from a game called "Driver," focused on operating a motor vehicle. You'll get into races, collect packages, and even steal a car, which you'll fit with a bomb then drive back to where you found it so the owner can get an explosive surprise.

There are a few minor police-response systems in the game that stand out because the other games in this genre handle things a little differently. Police cars drive around the world, and you can see them on your minimap, complete with Metal Gear Solid-style vision cones. Doing stuff like speeding, running a red light, or causing a collision while in a cop's vision cone activates the cops and raises your heat level. Normally, cops just see your car, and the heat meter for your current vehicle rises as you speed away. But if the cops see you get out of that car, the heat is all on you, and they'll chase you regardless of which vehicle you're driving. But the cops really aren't very difficult to avoid, and they aren't very smart. Usually, turning down an alley in plain view is enough to completely confuse them and cause them to give up the chase. And stopping off at one of your safe havens totally resets your personal heat level too. Cops occasionally turn up in missions to potentially give you a harder time, but just as often, it seems as though you simply can't find any cops on the streets when in a mission. Overall, the police presence is more of a hassle than anything else because it forces you to drive slowly, stop at stop signs, and do other "realistic" stuff that isn't entertaining in the least.

On the sound side, the game doesn't sound very good. There's a noticeable audio quality difference between the cutscenes and the in-game action, with the in-game voices just sounding much lower in fidelity. Of course, it isn't really worth listening to most of the voice acting. Music plays when you're in a vehicle, and there's a decent array of licensed tunes here. But as you might expect, the '70s music is a little more entertaining than the also-ran and out-of-date-sounding stuff you hear in the game's 2006 setting. As far as sound effects go, the only one that really stands out is the pick-up noise that's made when you grab things like health kits. Driver is a very by-the-numbers GTA clone. While stuff like having to obey speed laws and stop at red lights arguably makes the game more realistic, it certainly doesn't make it any more entertaining. With unexciting driving physics and lackluster on-foot control, playing Driver: Parallel Lines isn't very satisfying. The game's monochromatic storyline isn't strong enough to make the trip worthwhile either. Sure, it's better than Driver 3, but that doesn't make it a success. Driver: Parallel Lines looks seriously outdated on the PC. Its dull story and gameplay prevent it from being recommendable.

GAME REVIEW :-

5.5/10

Driver: Parallel Lines Trailer :-