Seeing as how Driv3r is one of the biggest commercial disasters of all time, I wasn't exactly thrilled to review the fourth installment, Parallel Lines. But thankfully, developer Reflections Interactive stepped up and created an immensely enjoyable videogame that not only breathes new life into the tarnished Driver franchise, but stands out as one March's best games.

Despite Reflections insistence that its game is not a GTA clone, it clearly borrows concepts from Rockstar's now classic series. You can steal any vehicle that you want, accept various missions that usually involve killing people, take part in races (which are just as annoying as they are in the GTA games), run from the law, and murder thousands upon thousands of people, so if you've played these types of crime simulators before, then Parallel Lines is going to look and feel extremely familiar, but you know what, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It may be a clone, but it's a damn good one, and even though it plays a lot like the aforementioned series, there are some key elements that set it apart from the competition beginning with the time periods. Unlike the Grand Theft Autos, Driver has one leg in 1978 and the other in 2006. Basically, you begin the game in 1978, then after chillin in that era for a little while the main character, TK, is set up and thrown in jail, and two plus decades pass before he's released, so when he gets out a lot has changed. It's an interesting dynamic and one that Reflections pulled off nicely, yet at the same time it's bitter sweet because the 70s are a lot more fascinating. I totally dig riding around in the modern era, but since I don't remember 1978 (the year I was born), I'm far more interested in exploring it. However, I really like how both time periods are drastically different. The cars, music, and the changing scenery make Parallel Lines feel like two different games.

Much like in the previous Drivers, you play as a wheelman, except this time you're 18 and a crook. You'll take on all sorts of missions, some asking you to drive someone from point A to point B, others where you'll need to hit certain speed limits or gun someone down. You can also kill as many pedestrians as you want, but the focus is the driving. You're not going to splat anyone's head or run over a body and watch blood squirt onto the pavement. You can barrel into people and shoot at them, but it's the cars that take the worst beatings. The crashes, while not as intense as the ones found in Criterion's Burnout games, are quite impressive. Bits and pieces fly out all over the place, and if you smack into something at a high speed the game temporarily slows down to give you a real good look at the carnage. Of course, the best part about driving the plethora of vehicles is that they all control extremely well. Some handle better than others and that's to be expected, but as far as the physics go, everything feels just right.

It's also worth noting how the developers programmed the police. Basically, they took the formula from Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear titles and inserted it into Parallel Lines, and the result is a marvelous system that Rockstar should copy. Just like in GTA, if you do something stupid the cops are going to be all over you, and similar to Metal Gear, the bad guys are displayed on your mini map and you can actually see their field of vision, so the object is to lose them. If you've got three cops on your tail, make a sharp turn down an alley, then hide inside of a garage or a parking lot for several moments. You'll actually see the police blow right by you, and if you lay low for several moments they'll lose your scent and go back to their normal patrols. Again, not the most original of ideas, but something like this hasn't been seen in a driving game and it works remarkably well.

Then there's the vehicle customization. If you just can't shake the police you can park your car in a garage and change the paint color, but you can also give its engine a tune up as well as install bullet proof glass and/or tires, among other things. It's not a very technical system but it does add an extra dimension to the gameplay.

Graphically, the game's not especially outstanding. I dig the crashes and all of the debris that I smash into whenever I'm blazing down a back alley, but by and large, Parallel Lines isn't a remarkable visual achievement in terms of eye candy. However, Reflections deserves some serious kudos for creating such a huge game world without the threat of load times. I drove from NYC to Queens and back without being stopped by a loading screen and that's just phenomenal considering the hardware that this game's running on.

Driver: Parallel Lines isn't an amazing videogame, but it is pretty good. The visuals are solid, the narrative's entertaining, and the gameplay is spot on. It's a big step in the right direction, and worth at least a rental if this kind of game interests you in the least. Atari and Reflections have done a great job, and I hope the game finds its audience.