![]() ![]() Apart from some iffy compression, the pre-rendered cutscenes are very well constructed (which shouldn’t be all that surprising, given that the pre-rendered sequences in DRIV3R were probably the best things about that game). All that said, the 2006 era does pack a superior narrative, partially because you no longer feel the need to punch the protagonist (named The Kid, or TK) in the face for being such a dork, and partially because our hero finally stops serving as a passive component of the plot, actually taking matters into his own hands in his quest for revenge. The newer music is also something of a mixed bag - some of the techno and rock was catchy, but I often found myself furiously punching the “next track” key (even during the middle of an intense car chase) because some unbearable piece of rap had just come on. Minus some details (like Ubisoft’s trademark in-game advertising and the WTC), the layout of the modern-day NYC is virtually identical to the 70’s one, but with cold blue lighting (reminiscent of a CSI episode) and less distinctive cars that make the newer era seem less inviting than before. Via some plot twists near the midpoint (all of which were spoiled by the trailers), the latter half of Parallel Lines takes place in 2006 (hence the title). It would be difficult to overestimate how much the 70’s tunes add to the first half of the game - I often found myself just cruising around New York, listening to the music. Parallel Lines’s vision of New York in 1978 is very atmospheric, with great licensed music, heavy muscle cars and a warm orange glow combining to make for a pleasant environment. In other words, at least on the surface, Parallel Lines seems to draw more inspiration from the GTA games than its namesake. Also gone are multiple cities (although Parallel Lines’s depiction of New York City is larger than all DRIV3R’s environments combined) and, unfortunately, the awesome Film Director feature. Undercover cop Tanner has taken a game off, as have the awful on-foot controls, rubber-banding cops and mystifyingly invincible lamp posts. Released for the PS2 and Xbox in 2006 (and ported to the PC by Ubisoft one year later), Driver: Parallel Lines represents something of an apology for its disastrous predecessor. Developer Reflections Interactive almost seemed to be going out of their way to kill their golden goose, even as Rockstar was refining the genre with their 3D Grand Theft Auto games. It all seemed to go downhill from there, though, with the somewhat disappointing Driver 2 hitting Sony’s first console in 2000 and the hideous broken mess that was DRIV3R arriving in 2004. I played through a bit of that game again on my PC recently, and (PS1 graphics and dumb cop AI aside) I found it had aged pretty well. The original game was a smash hit on the PlayStation in 1999, providing a ridiculously challenging throwback to the 70’s car chase flicks. To say the Driver franchise has had its ups and downs would be an understatement. I'll kick things off with the last post of the old thread (as with many of my longer posts, I happened to have it on my hard drive): Given that the equivalent movie thread was rebooting itself every three hundred pages or so, I suppose this one was close to qualifying for a second edition anyway. ![]() Seems we lost the two hundred-something page "Last Video Game You Played?" thread during the move over to the new forums. ![]()
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