[This month is officially Driver Month here on Gamer Limit. Join us as we embark on an exhaustive road trip in a series of retrospectives for the Driver franchise in the run-up to Driver: San Francisco.]

As the dust settled after the carnage that ensued from the colossal car crash that was Driv3r, the announcement of a new Driver game was met with tepid trepidation in contrast to the days where it would have been tremendously exciting news. I was naturally predicting that the next game would be called DrIVer however, so the news that it would carry the Parallel Lines subtitle instead created a lot of intrigue about the possible direction the series was heading in.

Things became even more interesting upon the knowledge that everyone’s favourite wheelman Tanner, the long-standing protagonist who was previously left for dead during the climax of Driv3r, had been replaced with an anonymous hippy youth donning a pair of slick sun glasses. It was all a sign that the franchise was about to undergo a significant overhaul: drastic repairs were needed if it was to be ever taken seriously again.

Founder Martin Edmonson subsequently left Reflections following the relentless backlash that Driv3r suffered, leading to the company being reformed in a deal with Ubisoft thus creating Ubisoft Reflections under the new leadership of Martin’s brother, Gareth Edmondson. But was the damage already done?

Well, for a start Reflections presumably hired more competent quality control personnel, as Parallel Lines was thankfully devoid of the long list of bugs and glitches that made Driv3r such an unnecessary hassle to play at times. Mercifully, those pesky lamp posts could also finally be dismembered.

Parallel Lines rightfully attempted to go back to the roots of the original game by placing the emphasis back on what has always mattered most: the driving. Retaining the renowned rigid handling model with a few new tweaks, this saw a rapid decrease of tedious on-foot action, which was a huge blessing for those who laughed at Tanner’s crab characteristics in Driv3r, although in saying that the animations in Parallel Lines were only marginally better at times.

Still, the on-foot sections were far less embarrassing than Tanner’s plodding performance, benefiting from improvements made to the AI and shooting dynamics by giving players a choice of lock-on and precision aiming. In fact, TK could also shoot and drive simultaneously, a feat that Tanner didn’t manage to pull off despite Driv3r’s misleading cover art.

The ability to shoot at your fleeing target added a new dimension to the game’s abundant car chases, making them all the more pulsating, but the auto-targeting system was sadly not as sharp as it could have been. The car chases were also further improved by a new felony system that based your traffic crimes on the vehicle you were seen in at the time, meaning your felony level would disappear as long as you abandoned your car once you lost sight of the fuzz.

The entire cast of characters we had grown accustomed to over the years were nowhere to be seen. Instead, you played as a rookie 18 year old crook simply known as The Kid who, predictably, worked as a getaway driver for bands of hoodlums with tall hair. While TK was certainly no substitute for Tanner, it brought an entirely new tone to the series as you were playing as a criminal rather than an undercover cop.

In keeping with the franchise’s origins, Parallel Lines was set in a 1970’s rendition of New York, a location that was last seen in the first Driver game back in 1999. Reflections has always had a knack for replicating real-life cities in video games, but they surely outdid themselves here – the towering scale of the Big Apple was rendered with astounding realism.

The only drawback was that the geography of Parallel Lines was restricted to just one city throughout its duration when previous Driver games typically included three or four cities, but this allowed them to focus on the finer details. The traffic, for example, saw a noticeable increase in density in order to accurately portray the grid-locked streets of the bustling New York traffic and the draw distance (a consistent blemish in Driver’s otherwise polished graphics engine) was refined so that no unwanted pop-up was evident. Until GTA IV, this was hands down the best portrayal of NYC you could find in a game.

In an unexpected and game changing twist, the semantics behind the Parallel Lines suffix suddenly became clear at the mid-point of the game. As TK becomes framed for kidnapping and remanded in prison, the plot abruptly fast forwarded from 1978 to his eventual release in 2006, evolving into a grisly tale of revenge. It soon becomes clear that the world is a very different place 28 years onwards – a scene in which TK struggles to grasp the remote of a modern widescreen TV is almost moving.

The transition was superbly executed and really helped to make the otherwise insipid plot and mission set much more invigorating. What’s more, the shift in decades had a profound effect on the gameplay aesthetics, as the once orange tinted scenery was replaced in favour of a more garish grey to depict the modern age.

Vehicles transformed from monstrous muscle cars to luxury saloons, the pedestrian’s sense of fashion became less eccentric and even TK’s walking animation visibly changed from a hippy groove to a more subdued stroll. Parallel Lines was also the first Driver game to feature a licensed soundtrack that played like a radio station during gameplay – to reflect the changing times, the likes of David Bowie were replaced by the monotone mumblings of the Kaiser Chiefs. If nothing else, it served as a depressing reminder of how much the music industry has slumped in so little time.

Despite the improvements however, to me Parallel Lines didn’t feel like a true Driver game for the most part. Of course the absence of Tanner was a primary factor, but the tweaks made to the gameplay in an effort to revitalise the franchise consequently diminished Driver’s soul.

This was most evident in the adopting of a new free roaming mechanic that was largely akin to GTA. Whereas before missions were solely undertaken in the Undercover mode leaving leisurely drives to Take a Ride, here everything was implemented into a seamless open world. On paper it may have sounded promising, but in practice it just didn’t fit into the established Driver world and felt distinctly out of place.

Additional mini games could also be found scattered around the expansive map, but they again lacked the convenience of the instant access found in previous Driver games. Speaking of feeling out of place, one mini game revolved around dedicated track racing which was previously uncharted territory for the Wheelman. It was easy to see why though, since Driver’s city driving physics felt considerably unsuitable when placed in a track racing scenario.

But that wasn’t the biggest crime that Parallel Lines committed, because it removed my most cherished Driver trademark that always kept me playing for hours: the Film Director. Being able to cobble together your own rendition of Hollywood car chase films has always been a hallmark of the series, so it was a massive disappointment for hardcore fans to see it omitted. It was reportedly removed in order to improve the performance of the game however, which turned out to be a profitable sacrifice considering how much better the frame rate was.

All in all, Parallel Lines made a good conscious effort to revitalise the stuttering series, but the end result amounted to a game that lost some of its personality in the process by trying too hard to mimic GTA’s conventions, consequently adding itself to the piling list of failed GTA clones. Martin Edmondson had nothing to do with the project following his departure, and it showed. Then again, you could say that this direction was a natural and necessary evolution.

Parallel Lines also spawned a PSP prequel known as Driver 76, which essentially ran on the engine from Parallel Lines with a new storyline set in 1976. For a PSP game it was technically proficient, but as a new entry in the Driver series it was lacking in innovation if you had already played Parallel Lines.

And so, after following the trail of tyre marks engraved by the Wheelman across the globe, we have reached the end of our road trip right back where we started in San Francisco. Driver: San Francisco is currently set for release early next year after an unfortunate delay, marking the first entry for the series on next generation consoles. Martin Edmondson is now firmly back in the driving seat as well, meaning you can forget that Parallel Lines ever existed – move along TK, Tanner is back in town.

Since its debut at E3 2010, San Francisco has already made a name for itself thanks largely to its innovative Shift mechanic that allows you to switch instantaneously between cars without ever leaving your vehicle on-foot. It seems to have divided the fans however, with some scathing at the removal of out of the car action while others have applauded Shift’s execution and ease of use.

The fact remains that the original Driver was never about being out of the car and excelled in what it set out to do. The series went into decline as soon as they introduced the on-foot mechanic which made it lose focus, so it’s natural that Reflections want to revert back to the glory days. Shift therefore sounds like a fair compromise, but my only reservation is the way in which it has been woven into the plot concerning Tanner’s coma. It just sounds too supernatural and preposterous, but its full context remains to be seen.

From the gameplay footage seen so far, my personal gripe lies with the vehicle selection, which now includes licensed cars for the first time. For a game set in San Francisco, there is a strange abundance of European cars populating the streets including Abaths and Alfa Romeos, along with rare supercars such as the McLaren SLR and Pagina Zonda Cinque – only five of these were made in reality so its placement as a civilian car is glaringly unrealistic. So far, the car list would seem more appropriate in Test Drive Unlimited than Driver, but I can only hope for a better balance in the final game, particularly as Reflections has always ensured the car selection is spot-on in accordance to the location before.

With the Wheelman now hopefully on the road to recovery, the anticipation for this belated series reboot is mounting. I wholeheartedly cannot wait for Driver‘s next generation revival – let’s just hope history doesn’t repeat itself from the bleaker days of the past. My only worry is that, due to the level of competition over the years, the expectations for a game of this genre are far higher than they were 10 years ago, meaning that the back to basics approach may not cut it in today’s industry.

Driver: San Francsco will therefore be an important milestone in the series history, as no Driver sequel has managed to fully capture the spark of the original so far. This is your last chance for redemption, Reflections.

That’s it for Driver Month! I hope you have enjoyed the ride. Drive recklessly.

[This month is officially Driver Month here on Gamer Limit. Join us as we embark on an exhaustive road trip in a series of retrospectives for the Driver franchise in the run-up to Driver: San Francisco.]

It would take four long years before another Driver game would burst onto the scene in an intoxicating cloud of smoke, ready to serve its pining fans after Driver 2. To help quench this thirst, Reflections introduced Stuntman in 2002, a game that that played on Driver’s affinity with cinematic car chases by starring you as a charmless Hollywood stunt driver on fictional film sets. In Stuntman, you were required to perform death-defying car stunts in a series of stringently timed scenes for some upcoming action movies.

While the obvious film parodies were fun to watch, the game ultimately pushed the limits of trial and error by constantly demanding precision driving and was, above all else, infuriatingly difficult. As Reflections’ debut for the next generation of consoles however, it served as an effective appetiser that showed great promise for what was to come in the Wheelman’s next outing.

With the avalanche success of Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City, it’s fair to say that the next generation of Driver had an awful lot of catching up to do. Expectations were running high, especially with the impending release of San Andreas the same year just to add to the pressure. As a result, many were hoping that the third instalment would be everything that Driver 2 should have been, given the advantage of the extra graphical muscle thanks to next generation hardware. Instead, what we were given is widely regarded as one of the most disappointing game sequels in the whole of video game history.

Suspicions of the game’s fate were aroused by merely reading the title. It would have been logical, you would have thought, to simply name the third Driver game as “Driver 3,” perhaps including a subtitle for added effect, but instead the developers went down a ruined road and came up with the most unforgiveable of gimmicks. “I know!” someone in a last minute meeting exclaimed excitedly, “let’s jazz it up a bit by replacing the ‘e’ with a ‘3.’” “Mmm,” the boss responded, “what a splendid idea. Driv3r! It appeals to the current l33t speaking youths, so they’ll love it. If Wip3out can do it then so can we!”

This decision was met with significantly less enthusiasm on my part. What were they thinking? Driv3r. Go on, try to say it. “Driv-three-er” – that is how I always pronounce it, and I still loathe that name to this day. And yet initial promotional material referred to the game as “Driver 3,” so the late name change was hard to fathom. This tragic typography coupled with the woeful box art depicting Tanner shooting out of a car window (a false statement considering this was not possible in the final game) set amidst a yellow sea of empty space set the tone for the game. Something was radically wrong.

Now don’t get me wrong – as a devoted Driver fan there was plenty to admire, as Driv3r did a lot of things right even if elementary spelling wasn’t one of them. Watching the initial announcement trailer back in 2003 made me tingle with the same childish excitement that I felt with the original video for the first game.

The said trailer commenced with a huge semi-trailer truck filling the screen, which for the time was a captivating prospect because no sandbox game had allowed you to drive a truck with trailer before. This theme of showing the game’s newfound vehicle variety continued with a brief glimpse of Tanner riding a motorcycle: unfamiliar territory for Driver but common ground for GTA: Vice City. Even boats were featured.

Fears that Driver had forgotten its roots soon subsided after the belated arrival of a Mustang-esque muscle car taking center stage and sliding about all over the place, reinforcing the franchise’s flair for exaggerated cinematic handling. Mercifully, this remained true in the final game, resulting in the largest roster of vehicles to date that were a joy to drive with distinctly different handling characteristics. It simply wouldn’t be a Driver game without the trademark soggy suspension and heavy handling.

The punishment you could subject your car to saw similar advancements, with improved damage effects including visible crumple zones, shattering windows, and detachable bumpers, doors and bonnets. Impressively, bullet holes would remain precisely indented on the bodywork for the first time in a game, and vehicles would now explode after too much abuse, with the frame of the car splitting into several fragments rather than a solid burnt-out shell.

The choice of locations was also spot-on once again, this time reverting back to the beaches of Miami from the original game along with the previously unexplored locales of Nice and Istanbul. Each city shone with new lighting techniques that provided unique and distinctive colour palettes, along with intricately detailed architecture and the usual array of destructible scenery. Oh, and you could finally run over the pedestrians, thankfully.

Driv3r certainly wasn’t without ambition, either. In keeping with its reliance on Hollywood finesse, a lengthy advertising campaign in the form of a short live-action promotional film was launched in the run-up to the game’s release. Directed by Sean Mullens and airing exclusively on the Driv3r website in weekly parts, the project was known as Run the Gauntlet, which revolved around Tanner’s pledge to deliver a car that results in, you guessed it, a high speed car chase loaded with spectacular stunts.

For fans like myself of Hollywood car chase sequences, the three-minute short was marvelous to watch despite the god-awful dialogue, although you couldn’t help but wish they would produce a feature length Driver movie – such a project has been teased since 2003 but has since been put on hold, sadly. Renowned Hollywood talent such as Michael Madsen and Iggy Pop also joined the voice cast, with Madsen taking the leading role of Tanner, and the soundtrack was similarly graced with note-worthy artists.

All of this amounted to a solid driving experience that would lead you to think that Driv3r was a terrific triumph. And indeed it was, right up until the moment you stepped out of the car. Wait, we’ve been here before, haven’t we?

While Driver 2’s poorly executed on-foot controls were almost forgivable due to the fact that they were used sparingly, Driv3r made the mistake of making it a central component of the gameplay that led to the mass critical backlash that the game was subsequently subjected to.

In a concerted effort to match GTA’s popularity, Tanner was suddenly equipped with weaponry, but the shooting mechanics were shockingly dire beyond belief. Admittedly, the grenade launcher was at least fun in its ability to cause havoc, but gunning down enemies felt forced and rather awkward thanks to the lack of a cover system. Meanwhile, stilted animations made Tanner amble around with all the dexterity of a constipated crab crippled with arthritis.

Then there was the lousy AI, which often led to enemies standing still until you approached them at close range – it’s hard to recall a game that featured worse enemy AI for its time. And then when you finally shot them, the brainless foes didn’t shed a single trace of blood. It was stark confirmation that while Reflections were exceptionally talented at creating exuberant car models and driving characteristics, they were not only incapable of spelling their own game correctly but also evidently inexperienced with programming third-person shooters.

The advent of weapons made the game severely lose focus since it felt as if mission objectives carried just as much shooting as they did driving. More often than not, the missions that made up the game’s undercover mode were an absolute chore to trawl through with each uninspired shootout becoming identical. The driving portions didn’t fare much better, either, owing to some fiendishly timed objectives and scripted traffic events that were solely designed to make you swear very loudly at the screen. Mind you, this was nothing compared to the immovable lamp posts of death that could single-handedly prevent you from completing a mission should you plough into them.

Still, there were at least some fleeting glimpses of brilliance in the mission design. The Speed-inspired Booby Trap whereby you had to maintain your speed above 50 MPH in order to avoid an explosive surprise was suitably enthralling and reminiscent of the Hollywood thrills the series strives to replicate, and the trashing of a Miami shopping mall made it impossible not to imagine you were driving the legendary Bluesmobile whilst wearing dark sun glasses.

Sadly, the plot was largely uninteresting; amounting to a string of nonsensical, though polished, cut scenes that illustrated Tanner’s latest mission to infiltrate a notorious rig of car thieves. What was interesting, however, was that the game’s intro acted as a flashback of Tanner’s final showdown with Jericho, concluding with Tanner being rushed to hospital after a gunshot wound. As the staff desperately try to revive our hero, Tanner’s fate is left uncertain when the EMG machine flat lines and the game begins six months earlier before ending with the same scene.

Driv3r was also notoriously plagued with a host of unfortunate bugs and glitches to the point that I could easily write an entire article listing every last one. Featuring everything from sinking vehicles to flying pedestrians, it’s staggering to think that this game managed to pass quality control. Even the film director, one of my favourite features of the Driver series, wasn’t let off, often playing entirely different footage to the sessions you had just played. The fact remains that Driv3r was fundamentally broken as a result of being rushed to a deadline.

Reflections has always had a bit of a rivalry with Rockstar Games and GTA, but this feud fully blossomed with Driv3r. The case in point was of course the hidden enemies known as Timmy Vermicelli, an obvious jab at Tommy Vercetti from Vice City. Humorously, Timmy was shown to be wearing arm-bands in a joke aimed at the fact he would instantly drown when introduced to water, in comparison to Tanner who now had the ability to swim.

Rockstar would have the last laugh however, as CJ in San Andreas could not only swim but dive underwater. What’s more, a cut scene in the game deliberately poked fun at Driv3r’s failings by having characters subliminally hurl abuse at the game during a cut scene, asking how “Refractions could screw up so badly.” In fact, you could say it was Rockstar that started the whole feud in GTA III – a mission entitled “Two faced Tanner” started with a clear message to Reflections about a “strangely animated undercover cop“ who was “useless out of the car.” So true Rockstar, so true.

And herein lies the problem: Driver was playing catch-up to GTA instead of focusing on what it did best. Truth be told, the market had seemingly moved on from the simple days of 1999 where Driver was a revelation, so it’s easy to see why the pressure was on to compete after Rockstar stole the spotlight. Nevertheless, Driv3r remains a potent and infamous example of the hype train becoming derailed, and it ultimately suffered the consequences of its rushed upbringing with a strong and unforgivable wave of negative press and disappointed fans. As Tanner was left for dead at the end of the game, sadly so was the once untouchable series.

Pull over next week for a look back at Driver: Parallel Lines as Driver Month concludes on Gamer Limit.

[This month is officially Driver Month here on Gamer Limit. Join us as we embark on an exhaustive road trip in a series of retrospectives for the Driver franchise in the run-up to Driver: San Francisco.]

After the gargantuan success of Driver, the inevitable announcement of a sequel in 2000 came as no surprise, and with the dawn of the PlayStation 2 fast approaching, the anticipation for the Wheelman’s second and final lap on the PlayStation couldn’t have been higher. Likewise, my hopes for a worthy sequel were just as astronomical having enjoyed its predecessor like nothing else.

Reflections also had similar hopes for their sequel to be the most successful driving game of a generation, with ambitions of expanding the series to heights many couldn’t have foreseen.

Join me as we shift into the second gear of Driver Month.

Driver 2 (known as ‘Driver 2: Back on the Streets’ in Europe and ‘The Wheelman is Back’ in the US) reprises Tanner, the leading undercover cop who landed himself as a getaway driver affectionately known as the Wheelman from the first game. However, right from the outset you could tell he was no longer the faceless protagonist seen last time around.

The introductory cinematic not only showcased a montage of clips from the central plot, but also served as a pertinent example of the new shiny graphics engine – gone were the distant shots of shadowy unknowns, replaced with a cast of lavishly detailed central characters. To say the least, the cut scenes were a vast improvement, benefiting from enhanced animation and realistic character models that made Tanner more human and the story all the more invigorating to watch. It went a long way in bolstering Driver’s aspirations of cinematic flair.

The plot of Driver 2’s new Undercover mode saw Tanner, now joined by partner in crime Tobias Jones, on a quest to defuse a violent gang war after a US crime lord’s bookkeeper, the podgy Pink Lenny, double-crosses him by securing a lucrative deal with a rival Brazilian gangster. Overall, the plot was much more refined than Driver’s somewhat sketchy story, which made the missions more concurrent when put in context with the unfolding storyline.

Undercover also introduced several recurring villains to the Driver universe, namely the ruthless crime lord Solomon Caine and his callous henchman Jericho, characterised by his black trench coat, a pair of sawed off shotguns, and such friendly wisecracks as “I’m gonna pop your neck with my hands!” and “It’s ok! I’m gonna shoot you in the head.” It suffices to say that the voice acting didn’t quite match the aesthetic quality of the cut scenes.

The mission structure was linear compared to Driver’s flexible answering machine approach, ditching the elaborate motel menu navigation in favour of a conventional textual menu that required you to play through each mission in a set order in accordance to the plot.

While Driver’s difficulty was utterly punishing in places (some players forfeited playing Undercover entirely after failing to complete the initial car park training mission), Driver 2 also had its fair share of challenging, yet memorable, missions. Notable examples include The French Connection-inspired Train Pursuit, in which you chased after an elevated train, and the screamingly unforgiving Chase the Gunman, a car chase that required you to ram the target car into submission across winding cliff edges. Momentarily losing control of your car at any point during these missions was a given, and a restart was almost a certainty. Sure, there was a sense of familiarity in the mission design, mainly revolving around chasing targets down or evading pursers since it is, afterall, a car chase game, but they somehow felt more inventive overall.

While Driver focused its attention exclusively on the US with four available cities, Driver 2 ventured outside the States into the exotic locales of  Havana and Rio de Janeiro. Don’t take this to mean that the muscle car territory of America is outrightly ignored however, as both Las Vegas and Chicago (presumably influenced by The Blues Brothers’ comedic car chase setting) are included.

Each environment had a better sense of distinction, with neat touches such as the differing police car markings and foreign dialogue, which added a greater depth of realism to the surroundings. This realism continued with the applaudable design work, as each city was fitted with properly curved roads: something that stands in stark comparison to Driver’s strict grid of right-angled corners. Add in the intricate freeway systems complete with off-ramps and a fully functioning swing bridge that dared you to make a leap of faith, and it’s easy to see why Driver 2‘s city designs were so commendably awe-inspiring for the time.

Of course, the cars are always the stars of a Driver game, and Driver 2 was no exception. The variety of drivable vehicles offered was plentiful, meaning you would now see more than just two different car models dithering about, and you could now also drive buses, trucks and fire engines in addition to tail-happy muscle cars. Best of all, the city of Havana was overrun with a wealth of heavy weight jalopies from the 1950′s that were immense fun to slide around corners and subsequently destroy. Fortunately, the handling was just as lively as before, further establishing Driver as the benchmark for cinematic car control.

Driver 2 even included split-screen multiplayer, an attribute that has sadly not been revisited in recent instalments. It incorporated the myriad of mini games bundled with the original Driver, which made playing cops and robbers with a friend terrific fun indeed. The classic film director also made a comeback, once again allowing you to play the part of Michael Bay and edit replays in order to create your very own Oscar-worthy car chase film.

However, there was one crucial factor that clearly differentiated Driver 2 from the original: you could now get out of the car. The announcement that you were no longer restricted to the confines of your vehicle and were able to walk freely around the city stealing cars may sound primitive by today’s standards, but back then it was something of a revelation. As a result, many had built up expectations of it being the next stride into a 3d version of Grand Theft Auto.

In practice however, it was simply embarrassing. The glitchy stick figure representing Tanner tottered about with very little finesse and commandeering other vehicles never looked right – Tanner didn’t even have to open doors, he simply went through them. What’s more, the pedestrians that populated the pavements had seemingly experienced a miraculous growth spurt: stand next to one of them and you’ll soon realise what I mean.

The on-foot mechanics were also put to use in some of the mission objectives, requiring you to perform limited actions such as detonating explosives or opening doors. Let’s also not forget the fact that you could inexplicably make Tanner sit down on nearby chairs (or thin air, in some cases), which, to me, always looked as if he was squatting down ready to squeeze out a freshly baked turbulent turd.

Fortunately, the on-foot mechanics were used sparingly, and as an early attempt at vitalising seamless transitions of driving and on-foot action, it served its purpose. And yet it was still restrictive, as you couldn’t exit your car during a pursuit, meaning you could still fail a mission if the police wrecked your car.

Such stifling ambition came at a cost, however. Whereas Driver pushed the console to its limit, Driver 2 stretched the capabilities of the geriatric hardware a trifle too much, going far beyond its rev limiter. The result was a graphics engine that, while finely detailed, significantly paled in comparison to that of the original game. At times, it was such a disfigured mess, that entire landscapes would frequently pop out of nowhere, making for a truly dreadful draw distance that was worse than its predecessor’s.

This in turn had a profound and detrimental effect on the performance of the game – the frame rate was, more often than not, unforgivably sluggish, which took away the fluid sense of speed that made Driver such a unique joy to play in the first place. In fact, Driver 2 was so intensive that it had to be released on two separate discs, but even this didn’t prevent the severe performance issues.

There was worse to come, too, as Driver 2‘s innovations and achievements were all but forgotten after the launch of a game that completely set the genre, and indeed the games industry as a whole, ablaze in a hail of gunfire and flamethrowers. I’m talking, of course, about the legendary Grand Theft Auto III.

Previously, GTA was nothing but a juvenile 2D romp that Driver blissfully sneered at with its revolutionary 3D bells and whistles, but with the power of the PS2 creating gameplay scenarios previously not possible, the masses flocked back over to GTA. Here was a game that expanded on Driver’s established free roaming foundations and completely overwrote them, consequently overshadowing the franchise and making Driver 2 seem horribly dated.

There’s certainly no doubting GTA III’s ground-breaking influence on the industry today. I respect it enormously and many credit it for popularising the 3D sandbox genre. Just don’t forget the underdog that did it first.

Driver 2 retained the established emphasis on wild car handling and high speed chases, once again drawing on many movie inspirations and leaving the glowing spirit of Driver that I fell in love with mostly intact, but it was sadly weighed down by its own audacity. Nevertheless, the game still sold well despite receiving mixed reviews, and many fans still regard it as their favourite Driver game in the series. To me, however, it didn’t quite match the majesty that made the first game so compelling.

Still, could be worse. At least they got the spelling right…

Pull over next week for a look back at Driv3r as Driver Month continues on Gamer Limit.

[This month is officially Driver Month here on Gamer Limit. Join us as we embark on an exhaustive road trip in a series of retrospectives for the Driver franchise in the run-up to Driver: San Francisco.]

Have you ever felt like a game was made solely for you? Well, this is exactly how I felt when a soon-to-be-revolutionary driving game sped onto the PlayStation completely out of nowhere back in 1999.

For as long as I can remember, I have always had an unrelenting admiration for cars, with a particular love of seeing them being bashed about and pushed to their very limits in high speed car chases from Hollywood movies. You could therefore stipulate that I’m a self-confessed fanatic of this particular genre of film, a fact that is testified by my mammoth machinima project Collateral Collision. Apparently I wasn’t alone in my enthusiasm either, seeing that there was another soul who happened to share my passion.

His name was Martin Edmondson (see, we even share the same name: coincidence? I think not), founder and Creative Director of Reflections Interactive who were previously responsible for the Destruction Derby series. If I were to ever meet the man, it’s abundantly clear we would end up spending an endless amount of time nattering away about our favourite car chases. Because just like me, Martin wanted to pay tribute to his infantile fantasy and developed a project of his very own – that project turned out to be not only the ultimate homage to cinematic chases but one of the most influential driving games of the generation; one that is still deeply cherished by its loyal fanbase.

Take a ride with me as we uncover the Wheelman’s untold legacy.

I fondly remember the moment of realisation that my driving dreams had seemingly come true. Since the internet was in its infancy and certainly wasn’t capable of the luxury of streaming videos, I had to rely on magazine demo discs for my monthly fix of nutritious game trailers and demos, and it was here I first stumbled across an intriguing video filed under the name of “Driver.” At the time, I was accustomed with experiencing car chases in pitiful 2D on a little game known as Grand Theft Auto – nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to witness.

Upon playing the video, the camera panned across a stunningly rendered 3D city before introducing a yellow muscle car that looked suspiciously like a Buick GSX (which was curiously absent from the final game but later reprised in Driver 2) cautiously coming into view with a fleet of flashing black and whites creeping up behind its tail.

After briefly coming to a halt just to knowingly tease you and its pursuers, the driver slammed on the accelerator (as a humble Briton I refuse to label it as the ‘gas’), the tortured tyres screeched in protest in a cloud of smoke, and the chase was on. By this point I was instantly hooked and hopelessly besotted to a point I felt guilty about wanting to immediately abandon the now obsolete GTA.

The ensuing chase sequence defined all that Driver was about: squealing tyres, wailing sirens, near misses with traffic and pedestrians, darting through narrow alleyways, ploughing through conveniently placed cones and boxes, performing preposterous jumps and causing wincing wrecks with innocent road users. In essence, Driver perfectly encapsulated the intoxicating thrill of the 1970’s car chase, a feat that no game had ever begun to attempt before.

And just for my beloved Driver devotees, I took the liberty of retrieving the very video I have spent the last few paragraphs blathering on about from my dusty demo for your viewing pleasure:

What you have to understand is that until Driver emerged, a true 3D city driving game was something of a nine year old’s vivid imagination, let alone one that let you run rampant without constraint. It was the Take a Ride mode that made this possible, allowing you to freely tear across any of the game’s four sprawling cities at your leisure – this sense of freedom was of course matched only by GTA, but Driver was in a league of its own thanks to the innovation of 3D. It was as if the bird operating GTA’s camera suddenly saw sense and swooped down to ground level to gain a better view of the action.

Also unlike GTA, Driver was situated in real-life locations renowned for their car chase fame, from the sun-soaked streets of Miami and the dominating hills of San Francisco made famous by Bullitt, to night time freeways of Los Angeles and the hustle and bustle of New York, complete with the World Trade Center in plain view. A bonus level set in the developers’ hometown of Newcastle was also available, providing you had a cheat cartridge to unlock it.

Stop your car for a second and you could watch the world go by to marvel at the fact that each city was populated with law-abiding civilian drivers and immortal, pixellated pedestrians that could never be run over no matter how hard you tried. This sense of realism effectively brought the locations to life and graphically the game was second to none – it was truly staggering how the PlayStation could handle so much activity with its limited supply of RAM. There were some small sacrifices however, such as the terrible pop-up and the same traffic car models would crop up time and time again to preserve precious memory. But then you were having so much fun, you simply didn’t care.

Where Driver really came into its own was the way in which the cars handled, as unlike GTA the focus was firmly on the driving. In an effort to mimic Hollywood as authentically as possible, each of the game’s roster of vehicles was equipped with the soggy suspension that graced lumbering American muscle cars of the ‘70s, meaning you could really feel every jolt after a hard landing from a hill jump. Likewise, careen around a 90-degree corner and the car would perform an all-important tail slide, which is an essential movie car chase staple and mighty thrilling when the police were on your tail while you weaved skilfully through oncoming traffic.

No detail was overlooked, right down to the detaching hubcaps flying off the wheels after sliding around corners. A separate button was even assigned purely for initiating tyre treading burnouts, creating a smoking spectacle all for the good cause of a slick getaway.

Driver’s crash physics were just as revolutionary, expanding on Destruction Derby’s early efforts. Slam into an innocent motorist and the physics were positively devastating: both cars would ricochet convincingly on impact in a shower of debris with an unprecedented sense of consequence. The resulting damage modelling was used to shimmering effect, too, as your pristine car visually transformed into a battered, smouldering wreck. Delicious.

Then there was one of the game’s most surprising, innovative and sublime features: the Film Director. This brilliant tool allowed you to not only replay any chase but create your own rendition of your favourite Hollywood car chases by manually adjusting the camera angles, editing the timeline and saving the resulting sequence.

While operating it was somewhat time consuming with a controller, the results were often awe-inspiring. Personally, I am sorely hoping that Driver: San Francisco will incorporate some community sharing facilities and more advanced editing features, because you could only edit the last game you played. Trying to orchestrate a scripted film in the vein of Collateral Collision was therefore difficult since you had to gather all of your material in a single take.

Driver took many of its cues from notable car chase films of the era such as Bullitt, Gone in 60 Seconds and The French Connection, but none was more apparent than Walter Hill’s 1978 film The Driver. Starring Ryan O’Neil, The Driver was a gritty crime thriller with a penchant for harrowing car chases that undoubtedly inspired the Driver game. Listen closely and you can even recognise the sound effects used for the collisions and police sirens lifted from the film in the game.

In one standout scene, O‘Neil must demonstrate his mastery behind the wheel by thrashing a poor Mercedes-Benz to the breaking point in a secluded car park. Sound familiar? It should, because this was the same premise of the game’s testing opening mission, whereby you had to perform a set of driving manoeuvres within a tight time limit in a similar setting. It suffices to say that many players were initially turned off by the stark difficulty of the game’s opening.

The seedy ‘70s tone of The Driver was also apparent in Undercover, the game’s main mission mode that introduced the leading protagonist of the series, Tanner; what an introduction it was. As a dripping pipe set the scene of the introductory cinematic, Tanner was seen exiting a lift before approaching a lonely Ford Mustang, each individual step amplified by the confined car park. The outcome? You guessed it: another pulsating car chase.

The plot saw maverick detective Tanner go undercover in an attempt to infiltrate a crime syndicate by posing as a ‘driver for hire.’ More often than not this equated to the role of a getaway driver, though in practice many of the missions were linear in design in that they had you continuously drive from A to B while avoiding the attention of the law. Some missions such as one where you had to scare a client by deliberately driving recklessly or another that, conversely, required you to drive reservedly so as not to detonate a bomb hooked to your pickup truck broke the mould however, right up to the hectic conclusion that was The President’s Run.

While you laid low in a sleazy motel, jobs were undertaken by listening to briefs from colourful characters via your on-screen answer phone. The beauty was that you didn’t necessarily have to complete a mission if you didn’t like the sound of a particular task, often leaving you with a choice of several missions at once. In fact, it was possible to skip some entirely and only complete 22 out of the 44 missions on offer.

Completing the package was a series of mini games designed to provide the player with a quick dose of high-octane action. Along with Take a Ride, Quick Chase and Quick Getaway put you right into the foray either chasing after a felon or escaping the clutches of the cops. Trailblazer required you to drive through cones in order to sustain the countdown timer, and fan favourite Survival seemingly pitted you against the entire police force in a challenge to see how long you could survive constant, gruelling punishment.

Driver was a game that was ahead of its time and miles ahead of the competition, instantly becoming a triumphant critical and commercial success. It currently stands as a respected cultural monument having pioneered the 3D city driving genre, securing a mass following of dedicated drivers. To Martin and the Reflections team, I hereby salute you.

But after disturbing the tranquillity of Miami and climbing the hills of San Francisco, the mounting mileage was about to take its toll on the series: it was all downhill from here.

Pull over next week for a look back at Driver 2 as Driver Month continues on Gamer Limit.

Some dismiss it as mere myth; others believe it was part of an elaborate conspiracy fabricated by Sony to improve the credibility of its inaugural console. Well, allow me to let you in on a little secret, friend: the Sega Saturn did exist. And it was good!

Yes, it may have been the ginger kid of the console world, but the unpopular system saw some fantastic exclusives that have sadly been relegated to the dusty space beneath our memories along with the console itself. Well, I’m here to grant one such title a final encore before the curtain closes on it for good: allow me to introduce Mr. Bones (stop giggling in the back).

Mr. Bones places you in the shoes – or rather the fleshless feet – of the eponymous skeleton, resurrected to join the ranks of the dastardly DaGoulian’s skeletal army. Due to his general awesomeness, however, Mr. Bones retains his free will, his eyes glowing blue instead of red. So, it’s up to him to convert the malevolent red-eyed skeletons into benevolent blue-eyed ones in each of the multitude of circumstances our size zero protagonist finds himself.

Following its 1996 release, the game achieved almost cult status amongst ardent Saturn fans (all three of them), praised for its originality and playability, with most levels featuring unique controls, angles and game mechanics. The format of Mr. Bones is essentially a myriad of mini-games that range from the Absurd to the Zany, most of which are trippier than a spliff rolled in an M.C. Escher Rizla.

One such wacky level has you playing keepy-ups with a partial skeleton on top of an immense skull, with the camera then zooming out to reveal a slightly more complete skeleton atop an even larger skull, effectively suggesting a seemingly endless chain of skeletons of ever-increasing size bouncing on top of one another.

Another, and perhaps the most memorable, of the 22 levels sees you playing an electric guitar to a mob of angry skeletons. Each button on the pad represents a riff, and it’s your job to freestyle these riffs into a passable tune, converting the red eyes to blue.

Other levels in the rarer-than-rocking-horse-turd game include platform stages, breakout-style puzzlers, revamped adaptations of games like defender and tempest, as well as original levels that require you to assemble jokes, fly a skeletal pterodactyl or play a set of drums, to name a few.

As well as its originality, Mr. Bones boasts a blend of live action and FMV sequences the quality of which was hitherto unseen, and is embellished with a brand of quirky darkness that wouldn’t look out of place in a Tim Burton movie. As well as groundbreaking visual effects for its day, the game is glued together with an incredible blues soundtrack – composed by legendary guitarist Ronnie Montrose – which is at times aptly haunting and forms the basis of some of the more memorable levels.

Never has a character epitomised ‘cool’ as unequivocally as Mr. Bones (well, except perhaps Cool Spot): he’s a wisecracking, guitar-jamming skeletal antihero. Plus, he’s black (probably). Due to peering back at the game through a retrospective haze of nostalgia, I’m probably forgetting how frustrating some of the trickier levels are, but Mr. Bones is certainly an eclectic journey and remains a unique experience, even after all these years. In fact, I can’t help but feel that PSN and Xbox Live would be the perfect place to exhume Mr. Bones once again.

In an attempt to avoid doing what would be expected from a retrospective Sonic review, I thought I would start things off by actually praising Sega’s beleaguered mascot rather than cynically pulverising the poor thing into a bloody pulp. Indeed, while it is difficult to ignore the copious amounts of tripe Sonic Team have developed over the recent years, there was once a time when the spiky blue hedgehog reigned supreme by offering a speedy alternative to those who were bored of Mario’s arguably pedestrian gameplay.

What really wowed the public was the game’s sense of speed – there were death defying loops, springs, speed ramps, corkscrews and special stages galore all of which made up for an electrifying experience. It was the character’s unprecedented sense of speed which really appealed to the more mature gamer, effectively making Sega a significant contender by the time Sonic 2 was released.

However, while the sequel is generally considered the pinnacle of the series, many people seem to forget that its criminally underrated successor, Sonic 3, actually perfected the art of 2D platforming, boasting a plethora of new features, high production values and a terrific multiplayer mode to boot. In fact, what sets this title apart from its predecessors is its stronger focus on story and character development, luring gamers into a universe that feels more involving and believable.

Throughout the game, the levels have a jarring tendency to change without any indication, throwing new gameplay elements into the mix and keeping things fresh. It’s unpredictable, thrilling and surprisingly open-ended in this sense, allowing players to explore each stage by rewarding them with alternate routes and hidden secrets.

Each stage is simply brimming with ideas; the game feels more complete than previous incarnations, featuring lengthier, more fleshed out level designs that require a certain degree of thought to complete. While it could be argued that the original Sonic game focused mainly on going from point A to point B in the fastest possible time limit, Sonic 3 relentlessly throws obstacles and puzzles in your path, essentially making for a more diverse gaming experience.

Carnival Night Zone, for example, forces gamers to utilise the idea of gravity strategically, ensuring that precision is key when trying to overcome spinning platforms, wheels, cannonballs and large numbers of awkwardly positioned springs. This pretty much makes Sonic 3 a more taxing endeavour when compared to the sheer velocity of Sonic 2, but in hindsight the game actually feels more adventure oriented in this respect, paving the way for the infamous Sonic Adventure series.

There are a fair number of set pieces too, which helps legitimise the game’s epic feel – Hydrocity Zone sees Sonic being chased by a giant moving wall (believe me, it’s more exciting than it sounds) and Ice Cap Zone starts off with our spiky friend careening down a snow-capped mountain at a break neck speed. On skis, might I add.

It’s these little touches that make the game feel more like a movie blockbuster than a typical Genesis game and really showcases the system’s capabilities both visually and aurally. The game’s presentation is vibrant, albeit a little garish at times, and incredibly imaginative – there is also a pseudo 3D effect in the background that looks particularly impressive in Ice Cap Zone: Act 2.

The audio is also particularly impressive, despite Yuji Naka’s reluctance to admit who was exactly responsible for many of the game’s compositions. There is incredibly strong speculation suggesting that the late Michael Jackson was involved in the writing process for Sonic 3; according to numerous resources, he collaborated with long time Sega composer Brad Buxer, creating a large number of remixes and new material alike.

However, there are two reasons as to why Jackson discredited himself from the project – the first being the ever-controversial scandal that was imposed on the King of Pop, effectively destroying his credibility and reputation. The second is that Jackson was unhappy with the sound quality of the pieces recorded, stating that he ”did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music.”

Either way, he was removed from the credits, although his presence still remains intact throughout the entire game. Carnival Night Zone includes a small interlude that bears a strong resemblance to the 1991 hit ‘Jam’ – the ending credits also sounds incredibly similar to Stranger in Moscow, despite its different approach and arrangement. Facts and conjecture aside, this is an inspired soundtrack that is instantly recognisable and brilliantly catchy.

There is just so much more to talk about – Sonic 3 is a project that is intricate in its design and fully realised in its vision. The bonus stages are brilliantly conceived, sporting a scrolling 3D effect that is surprisingly effective – your goal is to touch all the blue spheres while avoiding the red ones, however each stage gets progressively more difficult and fast paced. This is the only way to obtain all the chaos emeralds; by doing this will grant you the ability to transform into Super Sonic. Believe me, it kicks ass.

Then there’s the multiplayer mode which, instead of serving as a minor distraction, is actually great fun to play and strangely addicting. There are three modes – Grand Prix, Match Race and Time Attack, all of which can be played without a human competitor. Each of the levels are short and sweet and are ideal for players who love trying to top their best score. With an additional player, it can become incredibly intense as there are power ups and obstacles that prevent you from winning; this could be seen as a case of trial and error but it makes for a more exciting match.

It was a shame that Sonic 3 wasn’t as universally acclaimed – the main gripe players had with the game was that, in contradiction to what I stated previously, it didn’t actually feel finished. The reason? There were many areas that were deemed unreachable and effectively frustrated completionists in the process. This was because gamers needed to purchase the then-innovative expansion pack Sonic and Knuckles in order to access certain areas.

Personally, I thought this was a genius move and extended the longevity of an already masterful game – there was so much gameplay on offer, albeit the latter six stages featured in Sonic and Knuckles are questionably less exhilarating than the levels found in Sonic 3.

I could go on forever about how Sonic 3 is simply the best game in the series – the boss battles, the brilliantly conceived save system, and the unpredictable nature of each level. It all comes together seamlessly, overcoming the hardware limitations of the Genesis and creating something that is a tour de force for Sega’s flagship console. Sonic the Hedgehog would never be the same after this, although we live in hope that the much anticipated Sonic The Hedgehog 4 will still recapture the magic from the days of old. Please Sonic Team, just scrap the juvenile voice acting, obnoxious sidekicks and follow in Capcom’s footsteps.

We live in hope.

Heavy Rain is a game that has divided opinions here at Gamer Limit. Some of us think it’s a glorified cutscene with obligatory button presses, others think it’s a welcome change of pace and a great narrative-driven game.

Heavy Rain’s influences are vast; movies like Se7en and Saw are easily spotted. Yet there is one gem of a game that hasn’t been praised for being a visionary of its time, and an obvious influence on Quantic Dream’s big PS3 exclusive. I give you: Road Avenger!

Road Avenger (also known as Road Blaster) was an arcade Laserdisc game that brought together cutting edge narrative and fantastic visuals; it really was the Heavy Rain of its day. Ported as a launch title for Sega’s Mega CD system, the game showed what the system was capable of, bringing the excitement of movies to life. Don’t believe me that it rocked? Check out this intro clip, then tell me I’m wrong.

Taking the role of a vigilante seeking vengeance on the biker gang that killed your wife, Road Avenger immediately tugs at the heart strings with its harrowing introductory sequence.  From then on, it is a desperate race to the end of each level, getting ever closer to the boss of the gang and gaining revenge for your fallen loved one.

What really set the game apart from other Laserdisc titles was the sheer choice of movement as your car tore around streets, beaches, shopping malls, and country roads. Not only would the game give you the old steer left and steer right, but brake and turbo were also included to give more variation than previous Laserdisc king Dragon’s Lair could ever dream of.

The fantastically deep chase scenes in Road Avenger are clearly ripped off by Heavy Rain; why the current rights holders, G-Mode of Japan, haven’t sued yet is beyond me. Perhaps a Facebook group would be the way to get the ball rolling and have Quantic Dream held accountable for their copyright infringement. Just look at Heavy Rain‘s car chase below, then sample a few levels of Road Avenger. See what I mean?

It seems I’m not alone in appreciation of the awesomeness that is Road Avenger. In January this year it was announced that a novel based on the events of the game is set to be released sometime within the next couple of years. The book is being written by Margaret Park and will be published by MMP Publishing.

With a Heavy Rain novel a distinct possibility, it’s great to see Road Avenger getting in there first for the recognition it deserves.  In a recent press release,  Margaret said: “The original concept is ‘Mad Max‘ like, so we’ve decided to make ‘Road Avenger‘ a psychological action drama, which will end up like a cross between ‘Mad Max‘, ‘Ronin‘, and Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Traffic‘. Though we are expanding on a simple plotline, we are straying far from the typical Hollywood attitudes that engulf many fine stories.”

I’m pretty sure she didn’t mean “simple” plot – it was probably a typo. Margaret should know her stuff though, since on the same press release she is described as “an Author and Poet of Psychological and Experimental Fiction Crossover Writings, best described as Stephen King partying with David Lynch in The Twilight Zone”.  I hear King likes to get down, that must’ve been one bad ass party.

Hopefully this has opened your eyes to what now needs to happen; it’s so obvious I can’t believe I didn’t think of it earlier. Road Avenger must be remade by Hideo Kojima for the Playstation 3, as only the cut-scene king himself could do justice to such a visionary title. Also, only the powerful Blu Ray format (just like the Mega CD before it) could house what is sure to be the future of video games.

As an adolescent, I was a child who lived in two distinctly different worlds. I loved to play Dungeons and Dragons and video games with a small group of friends, and I was on the football team as well. I loved the competition and teamwork of sports, but I also loved the imagination and strategy of gaming.

When my teammates inevitably found out about my gaming habits, they were quite thorough with their mockery. It was one of those crossroads moments in my life. I chose to spend time with the nerds who at least accepted my jockness over the jocks who chose to close their minds completely to the joys of my nerdiness.

I don’t ever regret that choice, but back then I would often find myself wishing that there was some way to get those guys to play D&D just once so they’d know where I was coming from. Decades later, I realize now that they have; many times without even knowing it. It turns out that video games are the great equalizer.

It really amuses me today to know that the jocks who exiled me socially and ridiculed my choice of hobby now understand the inner workings of RPG mechanics better than they’ll ever be aware of. Not coincidentally, the very thing which would nudge these stubborn mules into my geeky shadow realm of fantasy games was one of the icons of their beloved sport.

John Madden.

As if by divine providence, the year I quit playing football was the year that John Madden Football made the leap from PC to consoles. It released for the Sega Genesis in 1990, and was followed shortly by a SNES version in 1991.

Not to take away from the amazingness that was Tecmo Bowl and Super Tecmo Bowl, but the Madden franchise gave sports gaming a legitmate face, and so it finally began to be acceptable for popular, athletic, fraternity bound males to engage in gaming.

By the time I got to college, I began to hear some very familiar sounding dialog from the same frat types that once looked down their noses at me for my D&D/RPG ways. As they discussed their favorite players in Madden, they used terms like power, agility, speed, and stamina.

Substitute the terms Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution for the Madden stat categories in those conversations, and you basically have a circle of gamer geeks discussing the best build for a spellcaster! Believe me, the irony of the fact that most of those guys now religiously play “fantasy football” always puts a huge smile on my face.

Outside of sports games, the second genre to become accepted by the old football crew was shooters. The explosions, violence, and overall machismo (there were no Frag Dolls in the mid 90s) generally associated with shooters at that time made them all right for the popular jock types to indulge in socially.

To this day, you’d probably get a derisive laugh out of one of them if you mentioned a D&D staple like hit points. The reaction would be different if you explained to them that hit points are a core function of their beloved shooters and fighting games.

As time has gone on, more and more RPG elements have seeped into the genres generally embraced by the crowd that cast me out all those years ago. Like zombies surrounding a barricaded building, it’s not a matter of if they will get you, but rather when and how.

Madden now features literal character creation tools and the ability to engage in character progression, where stats improve with time and practice. Shooters now incorporate elements like classes, player customization, and even the outright use of experience points in games like Modern Warfare 2.

To my delight and surprise, the steady invasion of the RPG in all genres of video games has opened the minds of some of those who once judged me so harshly. Having been exposed to the basic vocabulary, the leap of faith into the wider realm of RPG gaming becomes much easier to make. Now I see some of these same people playing games like Fallout 3, Fable 2, and even Final Fantasy X. But not on Sunday afternoons or evenings, of course.

Today, as I sample all the wonder that gaming has to offer, I feel elated that I chose the path I did back in school. When I hear former meatheads refer to things I once thought were the realm of nerds alone, like “levelling up”, “building up their stats”, and “grinding out some prestige”, I feel a deep sense of smugness and serenity wash over me. Only now am I able to appreciate it. Only now do I realize that, in the end, I did choose the winning team.

So thank you, John Madden. Thank you for unwittingly becoming the architect and catalyst for my sweet, sweet revenge. My enemies have finally become the very thing they once hated.

The Tom Clancy series will always have a special place in the video gaming section of my heart. While the modern monoliths of GTA IV, Bioshock and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare often frequent my hard drive, there exists a small collection of games that are never removed.

Within this group can be found classic adventures, such as Grim Fandango, Age of Empires 2, and the earlier Tom Clancy games. In fact, if someone was to ask me to name my three favourite series of military games based loosely on the novels of the prolific American author Tom Clancy, I’d have no choice but to answer with Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six.

Inevitably, throughout the years each of the franchises have made missteps of varying degrees – Rainbow Six had their Lockdown, Ghost Recon had their Advanced Warfighter, and Splinter Cell had their Double Agent. However, the other games in the series aren’t tarnished by these occasional let-downs. Just as the original Indiana Jones movies remained classics after Harrison Ford’s ill-judged return, the early Tom Clancy games will still be remembered as a great collection. Now, seeing as Conviction is finally within sight, it seems like the perfect time to look back on what is arguably the finest moment in the series: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.

As with the vast majority of Tom Clancy games, the plot in Chaos Theory was unintelligible and mostly sidelined to between missions. Before you got into the action, you’d be presented with several people talking at you as if you gave even the slightest damn about what kind of state the world was getting itself into, and how you were expected to save it (of course, I can’t speak for everyone, but this did seem to be the general consensus). However, once the talking heads had stopped and the loading bar had completed, the player was presented with some of the finest stealth action we’ve seen in video gaming.

The success of Chaos Theory is due in no small part to Ubisoft Montreal’s apparent decision to forgo any major shakeups in gameplay mechanics or gimmicks, and instead focus on polishing and streamlining the experiences of the previous two games. The game that followed after, handled by a different Ubisoft studio, showed exactly why new features could be disastrous. Double Agent felt in many places unfinished, with the lack of quality in the basic manoeuvres failing to make up for the new features on offer. Chaos Theory avoided such pitfalls and was the better game because of it. It knows exactly what game it is, and it shows throughout.

That’s not to say that Chaos Theory is nothing but a refined version of the first two games. It introduced a whole host of new elements to the stealth that both made the game more realistic and entertaining. The most prominent of these was the ‘aural’ meter, which measures the amount of noise the player is making in comparison to the amount of background noise, giving the player an idea of whether the enemies will hear them as they move past. On top of this, there were numerous improvements that weren’t so obvious – for the first time a body had to be found by a camera or passing guard for the alarm to be triggered – that didn’t take center stage, but nonetheless, it made the overall experience much more enjoyable for the player.

Even the graphics still hold up remarkably well for a game that is about half a decade old, and in places, the lighting is still remarkably impressive by today’s standards. Of course, in a game that relies on the player being concealed in the shadows for the majority of the time, one would expect the lighting to be given special consideration, but the same is true for the majority of visuals on offer. The only place where the age of the game is really betrayed is in the facial expressions of the enemies, who pull ridiculously over-the-top expressions when grabbed from behind, so that their eyes appear to be bulging out of their heads.

The game even allowed the player more options in the way they wished to play, by removing the “three strikes” mentality to the alarms that were present in the previous games (a rule that was even mocked by the game’s own developers, who had Lambert reply, “Of course not… this is no video game,” to Fisher’s comment on the rule instated by the previous games). This meant that the player could theoretically trip the alarm as much as they wanted without failing the mission. Instead, points would be deducted from the mission score at the end of each level. While for the regular Splinter Cell player, this didn’t mean much, it was a life saver for people new to the games.

On a more personal level, Chaos Theory was one of my most played games for a long, long time in the short period after it was released. Rather than trying my best to sneak past guards without being spotted however, I took it upon myself to try and knock out as many guards as I could without anyone else seeing me, or any alarms being raised. Similar to the Hitman games, I would try to kill absolutely everyone in the level without alerting anyone else; Splinter Cell became my non-lethal playground of jumping out from shadows, creeping up from behind, and luring guards into the darkness. For all these years I’ve played Chaos Theory, I still find myself loading up the game to play through one more time, and for a game half a decade old, that’s no small feat.

In an industry where hype is the rule rather than the exception, there is much joy to be found when a title slips under the radar and catches us unaware of  its quality and vision. Knowing that a sleeper hit can delight as much – or more – than the latest blockbuster release, it’s worth celebrating those titles from last year that arrived with little fanfare, but left with a bang.

In the information age, a game that is able to surprise us is a rare treasure indeed. Follow me over the jump to look at some of the games that defied our expectations, or blindsided us with win, in 2009!

3. Batman: Arkham Asylum

It may seem strange at first to categorize Batman: Arkham Asylum as a sleeper hit, given that it has sold nearly 3 million copies since its release in late August. Rocksteady’s brilliant homage to the Dark Knight is in practically every GOTY discussion and for good reason.

With a unique art style, and much of the voice talent from the animated series, Batman: AA did more than any previous Batman game has done to preserve the gritty, graphic novel feel of the caped crusader’s roots. Metroidvania-style level design and an intuitive but deep combat system made gameplay a joy for tacticians and casual button mashers alike. With a great mix of stealth and combat, the title did more than any previous attempt to capture the true look and feel of being the man behind the cowl.

Knowing what we know now, it’s tougher to call Batman: AA a surprise. However, if you think back to the summer doldrums, there was almost no hype surrounding the release. Expectations were chilly for the title, and the lousy track record for licensed superhero games certainly didn’t help the outlook.

Luckily, the latest incarnation of Bruce Wayne’s alter ego shook off the effects of the industry’s scarecrow fear gas, and delivered one of the strongest performances of the year. It’s no riddle why this title makes the list of pleasant surprises of ’09.

2. Red Faction : Guerrilla

Hindsight is 20/20. It’s tough now to see how a title with some of the most advanced environmental physics ever seen in a game engine could be so unknown. However, with a glut of anticipated open world titles released in ’09, such as Infamous and Prototype, it’s little wonder that Red Faction: Guerrilla showed up on the scene incognito.

As the reviews rolled in, the love that Volition put into crafting their destructible environments became quickly apparent. Despite taking criticism for everything from story to vehicle controls, the game was still scored universally high.

The ability to dynamically destroy a building, as opposed to relying on arbitrary damage limits and canned animation, may not seem like much on the surface. However, once the controller is in your hand and you’re charged with reducing a stronghold to rubble, the realistic physics make the challenge vastly more strategic and visceral.

A truly fun group of weapons ranging from the trusty sledgehammer (so satisfying) to the disintegrating awesomeness of the Nano Rifle made taking down structures one of the most satisfying gameplay experiences of the year. If you haven’t played it yet, check it out now so that when it becomes the standard for destructible environments you can say you saw where it all began.

1. Flower

For me, this game represents the most pleasant gaming surprise of the past year. Exclusively downloadable titles have been criminally under-marketed since their arrival on the scene. Despite the success of thatgamecompany’s freshman effort, Flow, very few outside of the indie game scene were experiencing true anticipation for Flower. It sure feels good to be sucker punched at times.

Maybe it was the digital distribution platform, or maybe it was the fact that Flower was thrown without its consent into the center of the ballyhooed “games as art” debate, but to this day, the gaming media often neglects to talk about just how much fun the game actually is.

What could have been dismissed as gimmicky motion controls became one of the finest examples of how Sixaxis can and should be implemented. The gorgeous visuals and elegantly minimalistic control scheme made this title accessible to both hardcore and casual markets. No matter what your skill level or engagement in gaming as a hobby, Flower brought “Zen gaming” into homes across the world.

Bold risk taking, masterful implementation, and a price suited for its length, all drive Flower into not only the best surprises of ’09 category, but also a place in the greatest bite-sized gaming experiences of recent years, along with Portal, Castle Crashers, and Braid. I am so glad that I went into Flower expecting nothing, because what I got delighted me that much more for it.

Honorable Mention

My honorable mention here has to go to Demon’s Souls. As one of the year’s best games (second only to Dragon Age on the RPG front), I would be remiss not to give a nod to this challenging and refreshing title from the minds of From Software. The reason it doesn’t make my top three biggest surprises of ’09 is that hardcore gamers from coast to coast were building buzz about the difficulty level of this game well before it arrived in the US, so it was squarely on my radar by the time it launched here.

I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it did live up to all the hype prior to its release. It is incredibly fun, while at the same time demanding every ounce of my focus and skill in order to achieve success. I guarantee you that this will be the game that gets me through the lean summer months in 2010.

What about you all? What games blindsided you with win over the past year?

The Xbox 360 has been the source of some controversy since its release. Microsoft used their funds as a house-hold name in operating systems, to make sure they can compete in the games console market, much to the dismay of many.

With many exclusive titles, new innovations on the way, and the infamous ‘red ring of death’ (RROD),  join me as I look at what has happened with their journey inside the industry and what the future holds.

Breaking into the console market is a very tough job. In the past, we have seen many fail to stand the test of time and stay as a long term competitor. Companies such as Sega used to be huge in the hardware race, however, they decided to stop making consoles as of 31st of September 2001.

On the other side, companies such as Panasonic failed to make a mark with their hardware, the M2. The original was designed by 3DO and purchased by Panasonic; it never made it to production and was cancelled in 1997. This is because Panasonic was not prepared to fight directly against Sony. The technology of the M2 lived on in 1998 with the FZ-21 and FZ-35, these were multi-media players but were not aimed at the home market, moving the technology further away from gaming.

Behind the Box

Microsoft is currently the youngest competitor. The original Xbox was first released in November 2001 and sold 25 million units in its life. Though this is quite an achievement for a first entry into the market, it suffered a great deal from lack of exposure in comparison to its rival, the Playstation 2. Sony outnumbered it five to one, selling a massive 138 million units in the nine years since release. (sales figure quoted on September 1st 2009)

The Xbox had a lifespan of around four and a half years. This is in comparison to Playstation 2, which had a life of six years before the release of  the next generation. Many players who had the Xbox felt they had been burned by this shorter life cycle; the console was discontinued in North America and Europe in November 2006, just 1 year after the release of the 360.

Microsoft's debut to the console market

Rage against the machine

Moving forward a generation, many people who have had problems with their 360 have said it is due to the console overheating. Usually, when players upgrade, they will place the new console where the old one used to reside. This does not work for the current generation however, as the 360 is quite sleek and will be prone to overheating in the wrong places. These consoles need a good amount of space to breathe, more so as the main fans for them are at the back of the unit.

One of Microsoft’s claims for the reason behind why a substantial number of consoles were breaking is a fault with surge protectors. However, I have found that the issues with the RROD could be down to multiple problems.

The most reliable reason behind the RROD is a fault with the soldering. There are many videos on the internet that can show you how to fix the issue, simply by mending the joints where the CPU or GPU has worked itself loose. If you are still under warranty, I thoroughly suggest you do this through Microsoft’s support service. The failure rate for the 360 has been shown as 54%, so if you have not already, you are likely to experience the customer service.

You can minimize the issues with an overheating Xbox using these simple tips.

1) Place your console in a place where it can blow heat out into the open, placing it against the wall is no good.
2) Keep the area around your Xbox clean, dust can get clogged up in the fans, you will break the warranty if you try to open the console to clean them yourselves. So it is best just to keep the area clean.
3) Try to take breaks when using the unit, nothing will cool it down better than switching it off.

It’s not all doom and gloom

There is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel.  Although the hardware has experienced issues, Microsoft responded with very good customer service, which I have experienced twice. If your console gets three red lights, also known as RROD, they will repair it for free. The repair process for us as customers is very simple. You call Microsoft’s support line and listen to an automated voice, once you are through to the right section you talk to a representative.

This person will then ask you for the serial number on the console, what is wrong with it and your name. After establishing the issue they will tell you to package your Xbox without the hard drive in a plain brown box, which will be collected by a parcel company. They will proceed to repair the console and send it back to you within two weeks. Overall, the process is quite pleasant for the customer.

In addition, as good faith to the customer, the base the warranty for the “3 red lights” issue was extended to 3 years. This has helped the Xbox community in not having to pay extra cash for repairs as myself, friends and family have all had our consoles experience this at around 1 and a half years after purchase.

New kids on the block

The power and capability of hardware is always on the rise. The short life cycle of the original Xbox is not going to be repeated. One of the new innovations that Microsoft are releasing is Project Natal. This is a sensor that takes motion gaming to new heights and will defiantly increase the market power of the Xbox as well as its life. There is a great video for Project Natal (here).

Hardware super-geeks like myself are always interested in what is next, so I looked into the future of the Xbox brand. One of the suggested titles for the next in line is the Xbox 720. Personally, I am hoping Microsoft will have more taste than to just start doubling up degrees of rotation; I dread the day we see the Xbox 1440. The title that makes more sense to me, also one I am more fond of, is the Xbox Pulse. Although there is no official statement, the suggested date for this console is 2011 or 2012; this would leave players with a comfortable six or seven year life cycle for their current unit.

The new Xbox is here.... the Xball? (a fake concept)

If anyone is interested in more information about the Xbox Pulse, you can use the links I provide below. At the moment, there is mostly fake designs, with no evidence of an actual concept from Microsoft. If you feel like laughing for a while, I thoroughly suggest you check out some of the other ludicrous fake designs.

Spacey

All things strange

The MMORPG industry is ever growing, with many new titles being added to the genre each year. I consider myself to be a veteran MMO player, but I know there are many more people out there, with experience vastly superior to mine.

I want to delve into the last 10 years of the industry and find out what makes it tick, what has changed, and if the framework is still the same, so join me, after the break!

Modern Perception

The way the industry is perceived, currently as a whole, is poor. If I were to loosely describe to some friends a MMO or give an example, like World of Warcraft, the common response I would receive would be, “Don’t you have to pay monthly for those?” Although this is true for some games in the genre, it does not always break down that way. There are three categories.

The play grades:

Pay to Play (P2P) - This is a category where most of the larger titles fit. Here you will find Aion, World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Lineage 2 and more. The developers of P2P MMOs pledge to their communities that they’ll provide updates to the game on a regular basis. This being the main reason you P2P, besides paying the bills. This does not always mean content patches but could mean bug fixes, establishing community events or other non-content based additions.

Free to Play (F2P) - There are a wide variety of free to play games on the market that would fall under the category of an MMO, in my experience of F2P MMOs, quality comes at a price. Content updates with F2Ps tend to be few and far, as the developers do not get paid to work on the game, the only source of income for some would be donations. There is only one MMO in this category that I believe defies the often lower quality of F2Ps in the genre. This title is “Guild Wars.”

This clever title is based on a desktop client, like most P2Ps, but instead of making its players pay a monthly fee, it chooses to release expansions on a steady basis. This coupled with additional extras makes it the most powerful MMO in its sub-category.

Micro-transactions – This is a variation that builds upon the F2P concept, yet does not go quite as far as P2P. Often these games initially may look free, while you would have to pay for additions that would only improve your game play. This, however, is not the case. More likely, you will have to pay for a fair share of the micro-transactions just to experience the game as a whole.

It’s not all about the money… or is it?

The recipe for a fairly successful MMO has not changed much over the last 10 years, while in the last five years “thinking outside the box” has decreased even more dramatically. Why you ask? Well, World of Warcraft, the giant in the industry, which has peaked at over 11 million players, have grabbed a tidy sum of attention (and cash!)

For a game developer, there is an obvious advantages to making a P2P MMO as it can sustain the work force for a far longer period than a moderately successful, single player RPG. This has inevitably led to a series of new games entering the industry known as “WoW Clones.” These games keep all of the same traits that WoW has, they are often not built upon or changed with the only difference being their story line. This if often an unsuccessful attempt to match the gaming giant. Even still, all games are down to the personal preference of the player. They choose the story line that fits them best.

Down to the roots

We have to try and remember that it’s not necessarily a bad thing that the recipe has not changed much over the years; after all, if you develop a perfect recipe, why would you completely re-invent the way it works?

After some internet searches, I found what I believe to be the first in the modern MMO generation, Ultima Online. This game was the first of its kind to reach a subscriber base of over 100,000 players, as all modern MMO’s aim to reach at least a few hundred thousand. This was a massive achievement for a game first created back in 1997.

UO has also been plagued with bugs over the years since release. This, coupled with multiple revisions of the game has left it a very controversial subject. Even with these issues in mind we can recognise UO as one of the forefathers of the MMORPG industry. Through its time, Ultima Online has implemented many of the core structures we still see in the genre. UO had a combat system, virtual economy, player housing, a crafting system and more features that we see in newer MMOs.

Beware, a monster lurks deep within

The development team on any MMO must have skin thicker than an elephant (that’s 1 inch, for those who don’t know). One of the strongest characteristics of MMO games is the population who choose to play them, often the most unforgiving bunch who do not forget mistakes of the past.

This is highly evident in the masses of ex-players from Sony Online Entertainment’s Star Wars Galaxies. Many of the people who used to play the game are on 101 different gaming forums, all saying how their beloved game was ruined by the infamous “New Game Enhancements.” For the future of the industry, new developers should take a note from mistakes of deceased MMOs, losing players is devastating.

Many veteran MMO players that I have come across have an extremely bitter taste in their mouths; this only adds pressure to developers, as usually nothing they do seems to be right.

Back to the future

The future could still be bright for the industry; we have examples of released games now that are trying to break the mold. Games such as EVE Online, which take a completely different style to the mainstream of the industry. Due to personal belief, however, the industry needs more games that will mold together old points that have made great games and add a new twist, not just a new story line.

Though I have proclaimed my fan hood for the game already, I believe Star Wars: The Old Republic is following this pattern. They are taking one of the most successful combat systems, based on “global cool downs,” and instead of changing the great recipe, they are adding spice to another: immersion. All playable and non-playable characters in the game will have a voice, a stark contrast to what we currently see in MMOs, with perhaps, a few lines of dialogue per enemy groups or just bosses and key figures talking.

I believe the future is bright, on the condition that developers look not to destroy the mold but give it some new features. Players also need to try and think more optimistically. With these conditions, we could see a lot of interesting releases from the ever growing industry in the next 10 years.