Driver - Parallel Lines

[cohen205]

Im surprised there isn't a first play thread for this.

I thought someone would have bought this and shared their initial impressions with it.

So i'll start....

I picked this up rather reluctantly after the travesty that was DRIV3R, but i have to say first impressions are rather good.

The game is a big improvement on driv3r, the game seems to run better, the out of car gameplay is actually quite decent, and the speed of the cars seems to be nice and fast (even slow cars like taxis)

Im not saying its a masterpiece, but at the moment im having a LOT of fun with it.

I'd say after GTA, this is the best 'gta clone'. Im enjoying it a lot more than true crime, the getaway etc.

Anyone else played it.

BTW - only about 5-6 missions in, so if things go t*ts up then i'll happily take back my praise.

[markgreyam]

I've been really interested in this and have to say it's definitely looking a lot better than 3. Not that that is a huge feat.

I've picked up this months Official PS2 mag because it has a demo on it ("See how it out-performs San Andreas" I'm not kidding, they have that on the front cover) to try tonight after work.

What I find amusing is that after the travesty that was Driver 3, they are hoping the sequel will do well, but after looking up prices online, it's still listed as a full price games. If any game ever screamed for a 'were sorry the last one sucked, here is a decent game at budget price to get you to love us again', it's Driver 4.

Also, someone please tell me why console game demos are timed. Quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever seen.

[Yoshimax]

Yep - They've certainly lost face - I heard some ill-informed types in game the other day on observing a video running :

"It's that new Driver"

"Aye it's ****e"

Gotta love it


As mentioned perhaps a non time-limited demo could have sold them on it - missed a trick there Atari but then I guess that's why you're about to go down the ****ter again.

[Concept]

t is a huge feat.

I've picked up this months Official PS2 mag because it has a demo on it ("See how it out-performs San Andreas" I'm not kidding, they have that on the front cover)

Bless 'em.

[cohen205]

I've played it a little bit more (only about 4 or 5 missions) and im still enjoying it. i find the driving a lot more fun than san andreas as it seems a bit more realistic (like driver always has)

The cars have more weight to them and it feels satisfying to handbrake around the streets. You have to give it to reflections/Atari aswell - the on foot sections are 100 times better than they were in DRIV3R

[Gradius]

Does this have the survival mode from the first game where you are just hunted down by tons of police cars until you are totalled. That was great fun.

[cohen205]

Nope unfortunately it hasnt. All it has is the main story mode (kinda like san andreas)

There is a similar kind of thing within the story mode though. There are donut huts spread around the city, and as soon as you hit one down, the police are all over you.

[Bassman]

Bought this Saturday (the Limited Edition in a tin with the Soundtrack CD) from HMV which are selling it (well my local one in Aylesbury was) for ?24.99.

I must say I am enjoying it so far. I never ventured anywhere near the last one. This certainly seems play well and looks pretty reasonable as well.

Is anyone else still playing it? Are you still liking it?

[markgreyam]

I've rented the full version since the demo and I have to say I'm really enjoying it. The car chases feel like real life car chases unlike GTAs "lets spawn a cop car on the next corner for a nearly unavoidable accident"*, and the driving is so well done I honestly almost never get irritated if I fail a mission cause being able to do it again just means I get to do more of that fantastic driving gameplay again. Sometimes it feels slightly strange where you feel like you have to keep constantly micro-adjusting the steering, which can piss me off occasionally but otherwise it's amazing. This is the ps2 version, I don't know if that's an issue in the xbox version.

Shooting from cars is really well done, shooting on foot is competent, if not good, and overall it's just highly enjoyable.

And after it being worth little more than a glitch recorder in the last game, I'm distraught that there is no replay option in this one. So many amazing things have happened that I can't view ever again.

So all in all I have to say it's an excellent game. Definitely a future purchase over Tomb Raider Legend. Although given I've started a PAL save with a local rental I'm not sure I want to start from scratch on a NTSC save by getting it cheaper from OS, so maybe I'll be waiting for a price drop. I still can't believe they expect people to drop AUS$100 on part four of a franchise when part 3 was so very very bad. Hopefully it will keep people away and encourage a price drop sooner rather than later

*disclaimer : I'm a huge GTA fanboy. I'm not having a go at the game at all. In fact I'm such a fanboy I feel the need to write this disclaimer in case anyone puts me in the "doesnt like GTA' pile.