NY RealWheelman
09-01-2005, 11:31 PM
Here, I typed the article page by page, :)
(PAGE ONE):
PIC ON TOP CAPTION READS: Multitasking main character The Kid can drive and shoot at the same time.
DRIVER:
PARALLEL LINES
The Driver series looks to it's roots to save itself
Former Driver series hero Tanner has turned in histurnished badge. The conflicted undercover cop who slaughtered hundreads of innocents and lawmen alike just to bring down some two-bit car thieves is gone, replaced by a new wheelman known as The Kid. And after the sloppy, bug-ridden, frustrating experience that was Driv3r, The Kid definitely has his work cut out for him.
"Its New York, 1978," says Gareth Edmondson, production manager at developer Reflections. "Tanner's no more. You're a driver for hire, so you're not an undercover cop---we got rid of all those obscure conscience-type issues. He's doing work in New York City for the mob, small time building up to bigger time. [And] there is a big twist that we're not revealing yet, a big twist that affects all aspects of the gameplay."
But that's not all that's new with Driver: Parallel lines. Driv3r sold like crazy, but Reflections knows it was seriously flawed---to avoid a Tomb Raider-esque meltdown for the franchise, some things need to change. "There were quite a lot of issues with Driv3r, and we had a very in-depth postmortum," says Edmondson. A revamped mission progression is one of (PAGE TWO CONTINUES.....) the results of that good hard look. "We've changed it from sort of a very linear 'do the mission, retry, do the mission, retry' to much more open gameplay," explains Edmondson. "So the mission structure is a branching one, but you don't necessarily have to do every mission."
Reflections is also going back to Driver fundametals, like concentrating on driving instead of running around on foot, although The Kid will climb out of the car now and then---otherwise, you'd never see his kickin' bell-bottoms.You'll be able to not only save cars in your garage as usual, but also spend money on performance and cosmetic upgrades."The idea is that when you're playing through the missions, we want people to be a bit smarter and...choose the right car for the right mission," says Edmondson. That armored AMC Pacer look-alike might be just the ticket if you're planning to get shot at, while a highly tuned sports car will leave the cops in the dust.
One of Driv3r's strengths is it's sprawling, detailed cities, and Parallel lines looks to build on that with it's version of NYC. It won't be a street-by-street re-creation like The Getaway's London, but a more stylized, game friendly New York that includes parts of New Jersey and Staten Island along with the usual borough's and landmarks, including the Twin Towers and Coney Island (Complete with roller coasters), and even Studio 54 if all the legal wrangling work's out. It'll also be a lot more alive---expect to see random events like fire trucks tearing through the streets or a garbage truck running it's route.
PIC ON TOP CAPTION READS: Developer Reflections' wish feature: downloadable missions, which would be small enough to fit on a memory card. This may not make the final game, though.
(PAGE THREE)
PIC ON TOP CAPTION READS: Atari won't tell us if It's planning a next-gen version...but we're hoping.
Driv3r's directer mode gets the ax---sorry amateur moviemakers---but the good news is you'll be able to see much further ahead as a result (directer mode put a magor strain on the hardware), so dangerous oncoming traffic won't suddenly pop into existence half a block up the road. Driv3r can handle 8 to 10 cars in your vicinity, while Parallel Lines is more on the order of 20 to 30, and you can drive at a much higher speed while dodgeing all those damm taxis.
Faster, better, stronger...every sequel makes similar Six-Million-Dollar Man promises. We hope, for the sake of a good game, that Reflections comes through this time.
(END BUT THERE'S 1 BOX ON EACH PAGE WITH TEXT TO COVER)
PAGE ONE BOX:
Righting the Wrongs of Driv3r: Hey kid get back in the car!
Many of Driv3r's worst moments happen when the wheelman gets out from behind the wheel. Shoddy targeting is the worst problem, and often-idiotic level design doesn't help. But Parallel Lines is primarily a four-wheeled affair. "There's a very heavy focus on driving," says Reflections' Gareth Edmondson. "There is on-foot stuff---we have completely overhauled that---but it's back to Driver's roots of being heavily driving focused. I'd say 20 percent of the mission would be on foot."
PAGE TWO BOX:
Righting the Wrongs of Driv3r: #$%@ this #$%@ing #$%@!!!
Driv3r was just a liiiiiitle frustrating. Hit a light post or tree five minutes into a long chase mission and prepare controllers for entry into near-Earth orbit. Edmondson says you'll have bit more leeway to catch up to your target, and the A.I.-controlled cars will sometimes make mistakes too, but if a mission's giving you fits, you can save it for later and do a different one. We have to take his word on that, but the immovable light-post problem is definitely fixed---smack one at speed and you'll knock it down and keep on going.
PAGE THREE BOX:
Righting the Wrongs of Driv3r: Big city, nothing to do.
Tooling around Miami, Nice, Istanbul in Driv3r was fun for five minutes, until you realize there is really nothing going on aside from the missions. In Parallel lines, there's more to see and do---you'll notice random events, like cops chasing other cars, or stumble into a shoot-out between two street gangs. "We've got a guy sitting on top of a building [threatening to jump], a few cops [parked below]. You can stop and kill him if you want to and drive off," says Edmondson. Traditional Driver minigames such as Survival, Trailblazer, Quick Chase offer fun diversions, along with track races (oval, dirt, and street) and a destruction derby. "For Survival, you ram doughnut stands to piss off the cops, and they all come chasing after you. If you survive, you win some money," says Edmondson.
As with minigames, you can also access online multiplayer directly from hot spot on the map. Online modes include cops and robbers(one player tries to outrun five others), circuit racing, and team based carjacking competitions that work like capture the flag.(IM DONE)
More info on 9/6/05 on the EGM website so watch out for that. They say it's an "extended version of the article" the stuff that did not make the issue but don't get your hope's up too much. And if it took to long for me to finish its that i had to eat and attend to others things at the same time. Alright peace.
P.S.- I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!! And dont be to sad about no replays because no replays=less glitches.
(PAGE ONE):
PIC ON TOP CAPTION READS: Multitasking main character The Kid can drive and shoot at the same time.
DRIVER:
PARALLEL LINES
The Driver series looks to it's roots to save itself
Former Driver series hero Tanner has turned in histurnished badge. The conflicted undercover cop who slaughtered hundreads of innocents and lawmen alike just to bring down some two-bit car thieves is gone, replaced by a new wheelman known as The Kid. And after the sloppy, bug-ridden, frustrating experience that was Driv3r, The Kid definitely has his work cut out for him.
"Its New York, 1978," says Gareth Edmondson, production manager at developer Reflections. "Tanner's no more. You're a driver for hire, so you're not an undercover cop---we got rid of all those obscure conscience-type issues. He's doing work in New York City for the mob, small time building up to bigger time. [And] there is a big twist that we're not revealing yet, a big twist that affects all aspects of the gameplay."
But that's not all that's new with Driver: Parallel lines. Driv3r sold like crazy, but Reflections knows it was seriously flawed---to avoid a Tomb Raider-esque meltdown for the franchise, some things need to change. "There were quite a lot of issues with Driv3r, and we had a very in-depth postmortum," says Edmondson. A revamped mission progression is one of (PAGE TWO CONTINUES.....) the results of that good hard look. "We've changed it from sort of a very linear 'do the mission, retry, do the mission, retry' to much more open gameplay," explains Edmondson. "So the mission structure is a branching one, but you don't necessarily have to do every mission."
Reflections is also going back to Driver fundametals, like concentrating on driving instead of running around on foot, although The Kid will climb out of the car now and then---otherwise, you'd never see his kickin' bell-bottoms.You'll be able to not only save cars in your garage as usual, but also spend money on performance and cosmetic upgrades."The idea is that when you're playing through the missions, we want people to be a bit smarter and...choose the right car for the right mission," says Edmondson. That armored AMC Pacer look-alike might be just the ticket if you're planning to get shot at, while a highly tuned sports car will leave the cops in the dust.
One of Driv3r's strengths is it's sprawling, detailed cities, and Parallel lines looks to build on that with it's version of NYC. It won't be a street-by-street re-creation like The Getaway's London, but a more stylized, game friendly New York that includes parts of New Jersey and Staten Island along with the usual borough's and landmarks, including the Twin Towers and Coney Island (Complete with roller coasters), and even Studio 54 if all the legal wrangling work's out. It'll also be a lot more alive---expect to see random events like fire trucks tearing through the streets or a garbage truck running it's route.
PIC ON TOP CAPTION READS: Developer Reflections' wish feature: downloadable missions, which would be small enough to fit on a memory card. This may not make the final game, though.
(PAGE THREE)
PIC ON TOP CAPTION READS: Atari won't tell us if It's planning a next-gen version...but we're hoping.
Driv3r's directer mode gets the ax---sorry amateur moviemakers---but the good news is you'll be able to see much further ahead as a result (directer mode put a magor strain on the hardware), so dangerous oncoming traffic won't suddenly pop into existence half a block up the road. Driv3r can handle 8 to 10 cars in your vicinity, while Parallel Lines is more on the order of 20 to 30, and you can drive at a much higher speed while dodgeing all those damm taxis.
Faster, better, stronger...every sequel makes similar Six-Million-Dollar Man promises. We hope, for the sake of a good game, that Reflections comes through this time.
(END BUT THERE'S 1 BOX ON EACH PAGE WITH TEXT TO COVER)
PAGE ONE BOX:
Righting the Wrongs of Driv3r: Hey kid get back in the car!
Many of Driv3r's worst moments happen when the wheelman gets out from behind the wheel. Shoddy targeting is the worst problem, and often-idiotic level design doesn't help. But Parallel Lines is primarily a four-wheeled affair. "There's a very heavy focus on driving," says Reflections' Gareth Edmondson. "There is on-foot stuff---we have completely overhauled that---but it's back to Driver's roots of being heavily driving focused. I'd say 20 percent of the mission would be on foot."
PAGE TWO BOX:
Righting the Wrongs of Driv3r: #$%@ this #$%@ing #$%@!!!
Driv3r was just a liiiiiitle frustrating. Hit a light post or tree five minutes into a long chase mission and prepare controllers for entry into near-Earth orbit. Edmondson says you'll have bit more leeway to catch up to your target, and the A.I.-controlled cars will sometimes make mistakes too, but if a mission's giving you fits, you can save it for later and do a different one. We have to take his word on that, but the immovable light-post problem is definitely fixed---smack one at speed and you'll knock it down and keep on going.
PAGE THREE BOX:
Righting the Wrongs of Driv3r: Big city, nothing to do.
Tooling around Miami, Nice, Istanbul in Driv3r was fun for five minutes, until you realize there is really nothing going on aside from the missions. In Parallel lines, there's more to see and do---you'll notice random events, like cops chasing other cars, or stumble into a shoot-out between two street gangs. "We've got a guy sitting on top of a building [threatening to jump], a few cops [parked below]. You can stop and kill him if you want to and drive off," says Edmondson. Traditional Driver minigames such as Survival, Trailblazer, Quick Chase offer fun diversions, along with track races (oval, dirt, and street) and a destruction derby. "For Survival, you ram doughnut stands to piss off the cops, and they all come chasing after you. If you survive, you win some money," says Edmondson.
As with minigames, you can also access online multiplayer directly from hot spot on the map. Online modes include cops and robbers(one player tries to outrun five others), circuit racing, and team based carjacking competitions that work like capture the flag.(IM DONE)
More info on 9/6/05 on the EGM website so watch out for that. They say it's an "extended version of the article" the stuff that did not make the issue but don't get your hope's up too much. And if it took to long for me to finish its that i had to eat and attend to others things at the same time. Alright peace.
P.S.- I LOVE THIS GAME!!!!! And dont be to sad about no replays because no replays=less glitches.