Driver: Parallel Lines

Driver: Parallel Lines Review

Seeing as how Rockstar felt the DS deserved a GTA game (which has become another in the list of excellent games released on Nintendo consoles that hasn't sold as well as it should), they may eventually take a chance and release a game on the Wii, or its successor. Until then, we have Driver: Parallel Lines. The story is split up into two overall chapters, one in the 1970's, where you're a young getaway driver, ***SPOILER ALERT*** and the other in modern times after you, now a middle-aged man, get out of jail for being set up three decades ago by your crew. ***END SPOILER ALERT*** If you take your time to explore, collect all 50 hard to reach/hard to find gold stars (every ten you collect, you get a permanent effect, such as increased NOS tank size or increased armor), and complete the story this game will last you a decent length.

One of my criticisms of Driv3r on the original Xbox was that the cars were simply too loose, and slid all over the place, resulting in many annoying crashes and retries. In this game, the cars handle much better, and some of them are actually quite fun to drive. There are three race tracks (off-road-esque, traditional track, and demolition derby) and two Grand Prix races in the world, in addition to various other "Hey pal, you think you can beat my record?" checkpoint ones, and they're all fun and can be completed over and over, as many times as you like, with any car (and I mean ANY) you want to use. The selection of cars is pretty good (you can take race cars you win onto the street), most seem to handle uniquely, and nearly all can be customized and upgraded. One thing I definitely am glad was put in this game is the ability to "save" any car you have to your garage, so if it's your baby, you don't have to worry about it getting blown up and lost out in the world because it'll just get sent back to your garage where you can pay to repair it (the same is true if you simply leave it somewhere and drive back with another). There are also motorcycles in this game, the Ducati-esque sport bike ***SPOILER ALERT*** you can get in modern times ***END SPOILER ALERT*** being both fun and one of the quickest vehicles in the game if you upgrade it. As far as I can tell, every single vehicle in the game is rear wheel drive, which makes them all fun to use on the off-road racers.

In the typical shooting game on the Wii, if you move your reticle all the way to, and beyond the side of, the screen, your character will turn the appropriate direction until you move it back in the center. This usually occurs in driver, but sometimes if you point too far off-screen, the character will stop turning, and you'll have to re-center the reticle to get it to respond. Another gripe is the function that the programmers gave to the Nunchuck's motion sensing capibility: a secondary steering wheel. This is a problem because you can't turn it off, so you'll find that you ALWAYS have to hold the Nunchuck in the proper straight-up position if you don't want your car to go veering off to the side. They thumbstick on the Nunchuck is already assigned to steering, so why couldn't they just have left it at that?

Lastly, the guns. You get your selection of a two handguns, two SMG's, one assault rifle, and one shotgun, ***SPOILER ALERT*** as well as a (entirely too fun to use) grenade launcher in the 1970's era, which is replaced with a (unguided) rocket launcher + minigun in the modern era. ***END SPOILER ALERT*** Oddly, no grenades or C4.

Overall, considering how the Wii doesn't have a GTA game, this is a decent alternative. It's also not as controversial, there being no prostitution, FAR less foul language, and no way to obtain/consume drugs. Aside from the annoying Nunchuck steering issue, my biggest complaint is that there simply isn't much depth to the game beyond driving, shooting, and racing. There are some "side jobs" you can take, but they add zero to the story and can be repeated as many times as you like.

My verdict: buy it if you want something for - to keep you occupied for a while.

Driver: Parallel Lines Feature

• Authentic Hollywood-style action racing
• Race in open environments, providing multiple paths to completing over 35 missions
• Play against others in 8-person multiplayer
• Control 80 drivable, customizable vehicles including cars, bikes and trucks with unmatched vehicle damage system
• Experience 2 distinct time periods of a photorealistic NYC

Driver: Parallel Lines Overview

Driver: Parallel Lines defined action-driving as a genre. It's one of the first action games to incorporate online gaming and it epitomized Hollywood-style car chases is back. Discover TK, a driver for hire and free from conscience. Take part in an adrenaline-pumping story line of double-cross and revenge set in the New York underworld. Massive improvements in everything from Character control to AI to weapon selection effects

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 25, 2010 05:50:12

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