Parallel Lines has all the depth and character of an ice cube.
The visuals have always been the strongest part of the Driver series with reflections on the cars, the beautiful skyline, rubbish on the floor etc.
The story has about as much fizz as a glass of hours old water. Your character gets thrown into the slammer for 10 years and then is released in a more modern era of sexier cars, up to date music and a greyer New York city.
Now here's the problems with PL:
Probably the biggest standout is the Laurel and Hardy-style AI! The criminal detection is a nice touch on paper but in practice it's useless. Because there is almost nothing fun to do, I never found it challenging to hide or jump into another car because the police are so incredibly stupid. If you run into your safe house with a massive wanted sign on your back, they simply stand outside like they're waiting for the toilet!
In the previous Driver, it was possible to do a bit of swimming which added to the freedom of play. In this game they've removed the ability to just a flash of you being dragged out of the water and shaking yourself dry!
The music is almost if not completely forgettable, simple as that.
The driving parts of the game are well designed and it does have some nice touches but because the whole map has no depth or character it just feels tiresome driving around in any car. There are some gorgeous ones too.
Another point that irritates me with the Driver developers is that they seem to be going backwards in terms of ideas and innovations. The AI seems to be more ludicris, story more lacklustre than ever and more restrictions. I wasn't the biggest fan of Driver but I'm even less of one with this bucket!