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===Story===
===Story===


The game follows 18-year-old "TK" (The Kid), a skilled driver who works as a getaway driver for a [[New York City|New York]] crime ring. Following the [[kidnapping]] and [[murder]] of a prominent [[Colombia]]n [[drug lord]], TK is [[Frameup|set up]] and charged with the murder and sent to [[Sing-Sing Prison]] for 28 years. While at Sing-Sing, TK hatches plans to kill each of the men who helped to frame him. When he is released in 2006, he sets out to kill his former associates, one of whom is now the Police Chief of the New York City Police Department. TK is aided by childhood friend Ray and the daughter of the druglord that was killed.<ref>[http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/driver-4-working-title/690272p1.html The Characters of Driver: Parallel Lines], ''[[GameSpy]]'', February 21,2006</ref>
The game follows 18-year-old "TK" (The Kid), a skilled driver who works as a getaway driver for a [[New York City|New York]] crime ring. Following the [[kidnapping]] and [[murder]] of a prominent [[Colombia]]n [[drug lord]] named Rafael Martinez, TK is [[Frameup|set up]] and charged with the murder and sent to [[Sing-Sing Prison]] for 28 years. While at Sing-Sing, TK hatches plans to kill each of the men who helped to frame him. When he is released in 2006 (Now Age 46), he sets out to kill his former associates, one of whom is now the Police Chief of the New York City Police Department. TK is aided by childhood friend Ray and the daughter of the druglord that was killed.<ref>[http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/driver-4-working-title/690272p1.html The Characters of Driver: Parallel Lines], ''[[GameSpy]]'', February 21,2006</ref>


===Characters===
===Characters===

Revision as of 19:55, 4 January 2009

Driver: Parallel Lines
File:Driver - Parallel Lines Coverart.png
Developer(s)Reflections Interactive
Publisher(s)Atari (PS2, Xbox), Ubisoft (Wii, PC)
Designer(s)Gareth Edmondson (Reflections Interactive)
Ken Allen (Atari)
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox, PC
ReleasePlayStation 2 & Xbox
  • NA: March 14, 2006

  • PAL: March 17, 2006

  • JPN: October 12, 2006
(PS2 only)
PC & Wii
  • NA: June 26, 2007

  • PAL: June 28, 2007
Genre(s)Racing, Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player

Driver: Parallel Lines is the fourth video game in the Driver series. The game was released on March 14 (March 17 in Europe), 2006 on the Xbox and PlayStation 2 consoles by Atari, Wii[1] and PC on June 26 2007 (June 28 2007 in Europe) by Ubisoft.[2].

Overview

Diverging from previous Driver games, Parallel Lines takes place in just one city, New York, instead of multiple cities, but in the middle of the story you change to different eras of the city. Due to the underwhelming performance of DRIV3R, particularly the often-derided on-foot sections, Parallel Lines returns to the formula used in earlier games in the series, focusing on driving, although shooting remains in the game. The game was received better by critics than DRIV3R, but still was criticized, including its simple gameplay, hit-or-miss controls, and derivative storyline[3]. This is the first game of the Driver series that does not follow undercover cop Tanner. TK, the new main character, received Game Informer's "Biggest Dork of 2006" award.

Gameplay

Driver: Parallel Lines takes place in an entirely open world environment. Instead of choosing minigames from a menu as in previous Driver titles, minigames are now accessed from the in-game world. Many changes have been made from DRIV3R, including visible blood when someone is shot, a money system, fully modifiable vehicles, environment destruction (i.e., lamp posts can now be run over and fire hydrants can break, spewing water into the air), and a new felony system that differentiates between personal felony and felony "attached" to vehicles the player has used. If the player attracts police attention on foot or in a certain vehicle and then loses the police and enters a "clean" car, their wanted level will be suspended. It can be reactivated, though, by spending too much time in the sight of a police officer, who will eventually recognize the player as "wanted". The same principle applies to out-of-car activities, such as weapon use, and allows the player to holster a weapon in order to lose police attention until spotted committing illegal acts again. For the Wii version, the felony bar has been replaced with Grand Theft Auto-esque "stars" which light up when the player attracts police attention. Jumping is also disabled.

The game was originally intended to include online multiplayer, but this was scrapped when it became apparent to the developers that they could not deliver a strong multiplayer mode[4] and wanted to focus entirely on the single-player portion of the game. The instant replay film director mode of previous Driver games was removed from Parallel Lines. Instead, the only available cinematic mode is the fixed-perspective slow-motion "Thrill Camera".

Story

The game follows 18-year-old "TK" (The Kid), a skilled driver who works as a getaway driver for a New York crime ring. Following the kidnapping and murder of a prominent Colombian drug lord named Rafael Martinez, TK is set up and charged with the murder and sent to Sing-Sing Prison for 28 years. While at Sing-Sing, TK hatches plans to kill each of the men who helped to frame him. When he is released in 2006 (Now Age 46), he sets out to kill his former associates, one of whom is now the Police Chief of the New York City Police Department. TK is aided by childhood friend Ray and the daughter of the druglord that was killed.[5]

Characters

TK - Voiced by Brian Bloom: TK came to New York City from out West. Home was too slow and too dull to hold him. He loves cars, girls, risks, music and speed. He hates people who can't take a joke. He's fearless, optimistic, loyal, and rock-steady with a sense of humor that gets him into trouble and a grin that gets him out. At 18 years old, he chose New York to make his fortune using the one marketable skill he's got - driving. When he first arrived, he stayed with Ray in the apartment above the repair shop. He got work fast - some from friends, low-grade snoops, peddlers, bail bondsmen and villains on the up. The work took him across the City which, within a few weeks, he knew like the dash of the car back home he learned to drive in. He didn't mind working as long as it involved driving, money and no unnecessary violence. TK made friends very easily and liked to talk about all the things that made his new home great. It didn't take him long to get his own apartment and his first hard-core driving dids: Slink gave him a few test jobs and he did well enough to get more. He's fun to be with, optimistic and packed full of ambition.

Ray - Voiced by David Walsh : TK's hero - his idol. It was Ray who first taught TK to drive, back home on the farm. It was Ray - good-looking, good-natured Ray - who always had the girls after him. Ray's five years older than TK; he came to New York as soon as he could afford the gas to get there and set up a repair shop in Queens as cover for a car-ringing outfit.

Slink - Voiced by Geoff Brown: Slink was a 23-year old smooth superfly man who talked the talk and walked the walk, and could get anything for the right price. He loved to party, be the center of attention, buy all the drinks, tell all the stories, make everyone laugh. He wanted men to respect him and women to want him. At the center of his world was Slinks, a club/disco where anything goes: Slink thought of it as a place to get drugs and get laid. Slink was always good at providing clients with whatever they wanted - hot ladies, good booze, great sounds - but he also developed a capacity to find other things too: guns, explosives, cars. He saw himself as going up in the world. Slink's gleaming future was full of international yachts, jets and teched-up apartments. Slink was first member of the gang to make contact with TK and the one who persuaded the others that TK had what it took to go all the way.

The Mexican - Voiced by Nolan North: Mendazo is his real name. The Mexican was the name Slink gave him. The Mexican was big in every sense. He loved life, partying, girls, drinks and cars. The Mexican grew up in a family of nine in Mexico City. He ran errands for dealers before he was old enough to go to school and by the time he left was running "security" for local deliveries. At twenty-five he was in charge of the guns on big operations with fifty-strong crews running coke and heroin up to Florida and New Mexico. He just loved getting his fingers dirty -- the only way he knew how to live was to dive right in and make as much noise as possible. The Mexican was tired of the small-time and saw New York as the place to be if you wanted to strike it big-surf the tidal wave of drug money.

Bishop - Voiced by Rodney Saulsberry: Bishop was hard, professional, greedy and cunning -- a loner who had trouble trusting anyone other than himself. After three tours in 'Name, he came home with new attitudes about his mind and body. Bishop is a guy who natured a carefully controlled ambition, together with a passion for killing and destruction. He used his highly developed skills to satisfy this urge and amass as much money and power as possible. Bishop despised the out-of-control night life that Slink represented. In fact, the only thing he hated more than disco or funk was someone assuming he must love them because he's black. He looked down a little on The Mexican's training as it was non-military, though secretly enjoyed trading the odd grumbled insult with him. Bishop was often quiet because he was thinking; thinking and planning.

Candy - Voiced by Michael Cornacchia: Candy was a misserable bastard. He was a fat 28-year-old guy who had to get his wallet out whenever he wanted to get laid. He thought the world had it in for him, so he did his best to control it. Candy was the best planner in the business. He was obsessed with details. He worked night and day fighting out the stats, the timings, the people, the weights, the distances. He thought of everything. His plans were flawless. With Candy you got the best...but you also got the worst. Apart from the body odor, Candy never stopped moaning. It didn't matter if it was world politics, baseball, coffee or hairstyles -- nothing's what it used to be, everything was going downhill, the whole world was falling apart and nobody gave a damn. Even NYC crime was a mess with the Colombians flooding the place with their low-grade drugs, not to mention music, good and movie stars. Candy had theories about why and how things could be better. He was miserable, yes, but entertainingly so -- even if it's inadvertent. Candy secretly hungered to be popular. He envied the easy banter of Slink, the quiet confidence of Bishop; and he hated the good looks and style of TK.

Corrigan - Voiced by Ian Gregory: Corrigan always wore well-cut suits and perfectly knotted ties. He had a great smile that allowed people to trust him from the word go. Relaxed, upbeat, super-confident and charming - people just couldn't help opening up to Corrigan, telling him more than they should. Behind that smile was a man evaluating people's strengths, weaknesses, needs - and how to deal with them if he has to. Seductive and intimate, he usually got what he wanted through guilt. It that didn't work he used violence without flinching. Corrigan grew up in Brooklyn and learned first hand when to act nice and when to use a hard fist. He is amoral, ruthless, and murderous. If someone has to die he'll shrug: "It's just business. Nothing personal." He rarely lost control and always had the respect of those who followed him. "If you bring me problems you better bring their solutions." Corrigan's signet ring, Italian shoes and Ray-Bans are just hints of the man he aims to be in twenty years. He has impeccable manners, drinks scotch with a side of water and never gets drunk. He can blend in at any social level - he'll breakfast with a pimp and have dinner with a government official. Corrigan's weakness is his vanity; his sense of his own importance and superiority. On the rare occasions it's challenged, he has trouble holding his temper, which can be frightening to behold.

Rafael - Rafael is a Colombian that is wanted by Corrigan. Replaced by TK for the frame of visiting Sing-Sing prison. Raphael has a daughter "Maria" that seeks revenge in 2006.

Maria - Voiced by Claudia Catalina: Works for Candy in 2006, keeps things running smoothly; keeps the money coming in and, as a trained marksman, keeps the street gangs off his back. But there's more to her beneath the surface. Candy is just a stepping stone on her way to exacting the revenge of her father Raphael that she's spent her life preparing for.

New York City

The major features of New York's skyline, such as the Empire State Building, are always visible, even from the other boroughs across the river.

The interpretation of New York City in Parallel Lines is not GPS street-accurate like True Crime: New York City's Manhattan. Instead, the game presents a smaller but more stylistic version of the city that includes all the boroughs except Staten Island and parts of the New Jersey shore. The game's Manhattan, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and New Jersey consists of 222.5 miles of roadway, larger than the combined total of all three cities (Miami, Nice, and Istanbul) from DRIV3R. The game's New York City is also more "life-like" compared to previous games in the series: vendors sell donuts, NPC pedestrians talk rather than simply grunting and screaming, and numerous side jobs (such as taxi driving and car towing) are available. Several things have changed in the game from real-life New York, for example, New York Police Department has simply been dubbed into "City Police". However, the game completely lacks any kind of weather. The only atmospheric changes are the day-to-night cycle.

In 1978, the twin towers of the World Trade Center are present, along with New York City's many other landmarks such as the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Times Square, Central Park, and Flatiron Building in Manhattan. In Brooklyn, the player can visit Coney Island. The game features all of New York City's major bridges except the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the Whitestone Bridge, the Hell Gate Bridge, and the Throgs Neck Bridge. The player can traverse these bridges freely from the start. An elevated portion of the New York City Subway that runs from Manhattan to Coney Island is part of the game world, but the subway system is not accessible to the player as a means of transportation, unlike True Crime: New York City you can access the subway. Trains do run on the above ground railway system.

In the 2006 era, when T.K. goes to his safehouse, there is graffiti on the wall that says "Tanner Lives". This is a nod towards Tanner, the protagonist in the previous three Driver games. It is also a possible solution to the cliffhanger ending of DRIV3R, where it is unclear if Tanner or the antagonist Jericho flatlines in a hospital following a shootout in Istanbul. There is also a dumpster in the game which contains copies of "Driv3r", alluding to the poor reception of the previous Driver game. Also in the 1978 bachelor pad, there is a poster for Stuntman, another game by Reflections.

Vehicles

Both eras included in the game have distinct styles of vehicles, although a few of the 1978-era cars do show up in 2006, and the cars from 2006 can show up in 1978 by using the all cars cheat code, however all cars in from 1978 are all accessible in shop in 2006. Although based on real automobiles, all vehicles in the game are fictitious, and are given fictitious names.

New to the Driver franchise is the ability to customize, or mod, the player's vehicle. Each vehicle can be upgraded numerous ways in Ray's Garage. Upgrades include custom body and paint jobs, although they are preset, increased engine power, nitrous boosters, bulletproof glass, window film and tunable springs, shocks, ride height, brakes, neon lighting, and downforce. A test track is available to "try out" the upgraded vehicles and making any necessary adjustments.

In addition, a Pimp Wagon and Antilli VO3 look-alike can be made within the game by using the Montara and Antilli VO3 respectively. Simply add the Body Kit 1 to make both vehicles look like their rare counterparts. Also, if players look closely on the sports motorcycle from Driv3r, they can see it reads Antilli VO6, suggesting TK's adventure takes place before Tanner's.

Development

The game was intentionally set apart from the other Driver games. [6]

Soundtrack

Driver: Parallel Lines features an entirely licensed soundtrack consisting of over 70 songs, ranging from 1970s-era rock and funk to modern alternative rock and rap songs. The songs play while the player is in a vehicle, as if they were on the radio. Notable groups featured on the soundtrack include Funkadelic, Can, Suicide, The Stranglers, War, Iggy Pop, Blondie, David Bowie, Parliament, The Temptations, Average White Band, Public Enemy, The Roots, TV on the Radio, The Secret Machines, Kaiser Chiefs, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and LCD Soundsystem.

It also must be noted that the Wii and PC version features completely different songs, probably due these versions being released by Ubisoft.

The list above refers to the PS2 and Xbox versions of the game.

1978 music

The 1978 era music consists of:

2006 music

Much of the 2006 era music is a collection of songs from mostly lesser known artists. Much of the songs are of the rock, rap, or electronica genres. It should be noted that lots of the songs are from UK artists, as it is where Reflections is based.

Limited Edition soundtrack

  1. "Smack the Bird" by The Nimrod Express
  2. "Mango Man" by The Fabulous Bongo Brothers
  3. "Want what I got" by The Sliders
  4. "Come and Get it" by Prince of Brooklyn
  5. "New York Pity" by Monthieu Star
  6. "Monkey Nuts" by Tribal Funk Stars
  7. "Vertical Flip" by Vox (Featuring Chopper)
  8. "Now What You Gon Due" by Chuck D and Professor Griff of Public Enemy
  9. "Reverberate" by Arthur Baker
  10. "You Will Pay" by DJ Grandmaster Flash
  11. "Big City Streets" by Vox

Limited Edition

A limited edition version of the game was released along with the regular version. The special edition, costing $10 more, includes an extra DVD containing information about the production of Parallel Lines as well as in-game videos and character profiles. Also included with the limited edition is the official soundtrack, including twelve tracks from the game. The UK version is dubbed "Collectors Edition", and does not contain the DVD, instead only providing the soundtrack CD and a metal case.

References

  1. ^ IGN: Driver Skids to Wii
  2. ^ Ubisoft Third Quarter Sales Report, Ubisoft Corporate Website, January 23, 2007
  3. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/driverparallellines?q=driver%20parallel%20lines Metacritic score: 69
  4. ^ Douglas C. Perry, Driver Parallel Lines: Progress Report, IGN, January 12, 2006
  5. ^ The Characters of Driver: Parallel Lines, GameSpy, February 21,2006
  6. ^ Driver: Parallel Lines is not Driver 41UP video interview with production manager Gareth Edmondson in which he tells us that Driver: Parallel Lines is not Driver 4.
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