Post by Destiny on Oct 21, 2005 4:18:36 GMT -5
First Look at Driver: Parallel Lines
Reflections Interactive keeps its eyes on the road.
by David Clayman @ IGN.com
September 7, 2005 - One could say that the creators of Driver: Parallel Lines have a tough road ahead of them. The reception to Driv3r was less than warm due to a number of technical issues and a turn that changed the series into an awkwardly presented GTA clone. The development team is aware of the past complaints and is looking to reinvent the series with the fourth installment. At Atari's recent press event, we laid our eyes on an early build of the game that was rapidly approaching Alpha stages of development. While the current version of the game is far from complete, it did give us a feel for Reflections Interactive's new approach to their biggest franchise.
Perhaps Driv3r's primary flaw was the premise. Gamers took on the role of an undercover cop who was continuously put in situations that saw him murdering his coworkers. It's one thing to play the role of an outlaw - killing innocents just comes with the territory. But an officer who willingly mows down his own men to stay under cover is outlandish even for a videogame. This central problem has been remedied by introducing a completely new story in Parallel Lines. The action fittingly takes place in Manhattan during the swinging 70s. It was an era of drugs, bell bottoms, and opportunity for a young punk with an attraction to quick cash.
The main character is known as "The Kid," and he's arrived at the Big Apple looking to make a name for himself by any means possible. It turns out he's an ace behind the wheel, so after taking a few jobs as a wheel man he begins to work his way up through the city's criminal hierarchy. The Kid has the long hair, aviator glasses, and bad attitude one would expect from a thug growing up on the mean streets of New York.
Like the other Driver titles, the city is a more stylized version of NYC that favors track design over a direct representation of the geographic layout. The game's environment includes the island of Manhattan and a few of the surrounding landmarks. For example, no portrayal of the city would be complete without a trip to Coney Island, which was still under construction, but already had a recognizable boardwalk and Ferris Wheel.
The key to Driver's gameplay is fluidity between the different game modes. The developers were quick to point out that the game will never load even after failing a mission. If an objective is missed, the mission simply ends and players can choose to go back and restart the challenge, or just move on to something else. This mechanic is complemented by the fact that not every mission must be completed to advance the storyline. So, if a challenge proves too difficult, players can simply speed off to a more attractive venture.
While Driver 3 tried to incorporate on-foot gameplay, it lost track of what makes a car chase appealing in the first place. The Kid is capable of leaving his vehicle, jacking other rides, and engaging in some very simple lock-on and shoot gunplay. One early area we witnessed saw him breaking into Rikers and battling some prison guards to free an inmate. However, we've been promised that the vast majority of Parallel Lines is about putting the pedal to the metal and burning rubber.
Technically, Parallel Lines should be far superior to Driv3r. The engine has been improved to allow for faster streaming and the feeling of speed should dramatically increase. We experienced a few examples of just how fast the muscle cars can tear through the city and it was definitely an improvement from the last game. We were also happy to find out that telephone poles are easily smashed out of the way when The Kid decides to roll up onto the sidewalk. The developers have stated that they have crammed enough cars on the screen to create traffic dense enough to bring a car chase to a standing halt. In some instances they even had to remove cars from street to make evading traffic slightly easier.
The wide selection of transportation options includes over 80 drivable vehicles. There are obvious choices like muscle cars and motorcycles and fun oddities like cranes, motorcycles, and delivery vans. The Kid has a garage where one can store and modify as many cars as a player desires. While any car can be jacked, it takes time and money to tune a vehicle into something special.
Making bank is accomplished by completing the normal missions as well as the mini-games scattered around the city. The events are integrated seamlessly into the gameplay, so if players want to partake in some destruction derby they simply drive to the arena located in downtown Manhattan and start the carnage. A police chase is initiated when a car is smashed into one of the many donut stands on the side of the road. The same in-game transitions are used for multiplayer engagements which support up to eight players in citywide race events. Players just drive to a specific location in the single player game and pick an online opponent.
The cinematic view has also returned and it presents every car chase as a fully edited action experience. The mode can be activated in real time and it fully highlights the proprietary damage system that sends particles and car parts flying whenever two vehicles collide.
Reflections Interactive is planning on giving the newest Driver all of the bells and whistles offered by the current generation. Besides the integrated online play, the Xbox version of the game will run in widescreen and progressive scan with 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. The PS2 version will fully support Pro Logic. Driver: Parallel Lines is scheduled for a March 2006 release. Stay tuned for more information on Driver as it becomes available.
Reflections Interactive keeps its eyes on the road.
by David Clayman @ IGN.com
September 7, 2005 - One could say that the creators of Driver: Parallel Lines have a tough road ahead of them. The reception to Driv3r was less than warm due to a number of technical issues and a turn that changed the series into an awkwardly presented GTA clone. The development team is aware of the past complaints and is looking to reinvent the series with the fourth installment. At Atari's recent press event, we laid our eyes on an early build of the game that was rapidly approaching Alpha stages of development. While the current version of the game is far from complete, it did give us a feel for Reflections Interactive's new approach to their biggest franchise.
Perhaps Driv3r's primary flaw was the premise. Gamers took on the role of an undercover cop who was continuously put in situations that saw him murdering his coworkers. It's one thing to play the role of an outlaw - killing innocents just comes with the territory. But an officer who willingly mows down his own men to stay under cover is outlandish even for a videogame. This central problem has been remedied by introducing a completely new story in Parallel Lines. The action fittingly takes place in Manhattan during the swinging 70s. It was an era of drugs, bell bottoms, and opportunity for a young punk with an attraction to quick cash.
The main character is known as "The Kid," and he's arrived at the Big Apple looking to make a name for himself by any means possible. It turns out he's an ace behind the wheel, so after taking a few jobs as a wheel man he begins to work his way up through the city's criminal hierarchy. The Kid has the long hair, aviator glasses, and bad attitude one would expect from a thug growing up on the mean streets of New York.
Like the other Driver titles, the city is a more stylized version of NYC that favors track design over a direct representation of the geographic layout. The game's environment includes the island of Manhattan and a few of the surrounding landmarks. For example, no portrayal of the city would be complete without a trip to Coney Island, which was still under construction, but already had a recognizable boardwalk and Ferris Wheel.
The key to Driver's gameplay is fluidity between the different game modes. The developers were quick to point out that the game will never load even after failing a mission. If an objective is missed, the mission simply ends and players can choose to go back and restart the challenge, or just move on to something else. This mechanic is complemented by the fact that not every mission must be completed to advance the storyline. So, if a challenge proves too difficult, players can simply speed off to a more attractive venture.
While Driver 3 tried to incorporate on-foot gameplay, it lost track of what makes a car chase appealing in the first place. The Kid is capable of leaving his vehicle, jacking other rides, and engaging in some very simple lock-on and shoot gunplay. One early area we witnessed saw him breaking into Rikers and battling some prison guards to free an inmate. However, we've been promised that the vast majority of Parallel Lines is about putting the pedal to the metal and burning rubber.
Technically, Parallel Lines should be far superior to Driv3r. The engine has been improved to allow for faster streaming and the feeling of speed should dramatically increase. We experienced a few examples of just how fast the muscle cars can tear through the city and it was definitely an improvement from the last game. We were also happy to find out that telephone poles are easily smashed out of the way when The Kid decides to roll up onto the sidewalk. The developers have stated that they have crammed enough cars on the screen to create traffic dense enough to bring a car chase to a standing halt. In some instances they even had to remove cars from street to make evading traffic slightly easier.
The wide selection of transportation options includes over 80 drivable vehicles. There are obvious choices like muscle cars and motorcycles and fun oddities like cranes, motorcycles, and delivery vans. The Kid has a garage where one can store and modify as many cars as a player desires. While any car can be jacked, it takes time and money to tune a vehicle into something special.
Making bank is accomplished by completing the normal missions as well as the mini-games scattered around the city. The events are integrated seamlessly into the gameplay, so if players want to partake in some destruction derby they simply drive to the arena located in downtown Manhattan and start the carnage. A police chase is initiated when a car is smashed into one of the many donut stands on the side of the road. The same in-game transitions are used for multiplayer engagements which support up to eight players in citywide race events. Players just drive to a specific location in the single player game and pick an online opponent.
The cinematic view has also returned and it presents every car chase as a fully edited action experience. The mode can be activated in real time and it fully highlights the proprietary damage system that sends particles and car parts flying whenever two vehicles collide.
Reflections Interactive is planning on giving the newest Driver all of the bells and whistles offered by the current generation. Besides the integrated online play, the Xbox version of the game will run in widescreen and progressive scan with 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. The PS2 version will fully support Pro Logic. Driver: Parallel Lines is scheduled for a March 2006 release. Stay tuned for more information on Driver as it becomes available.
