Driver

By Peter Eley

Driver

* * * *

PC

GT Interactive

$99.95 (General 8+)


Remember the golden era of The Dukes of Hazzard and movies like Bullitt or Freebie and the Bean?

Ah yes, life seemed so simple back then - just one long, glorious car chase after another.

Driver aims to recreate those heady days of the 1970s when love, peace and petrol power reigned supreme.

PlayStation speed freaks will already know the game and GT Interactive have ported it across to the PC platform almost identically in terms of gameplay.

But the PC graphics take it up a gear, although a 3D accelerator is required for the best performance.

Surprisingly for a "general" rating, Driver sets players against the police in a series of law-bending missions.

These include frightening an informant by driving like a maniac with him as a passenger, eluding the police in high-speed chases and using strong-arm tactics on another gang.

The saving grace is that your character is, in fact, an undercover policeman whose job is to infiltrate the Mob.

Driver is like a cross between the more controversial Grand Theft Auto and Microsoft's recent city-cruising Midtown Madness.

Like most PlayStation games, it's simple to play. There are two main factors - damage and felony. Your car can take only so many prangs and when the damage bar hits zero, you're history.

The felony level increases with the risks you take. If it gets too high, the police start putting in roadblocks and calling in reinforcements.

It's great fun, although there are a few flaws. The most irritating is that you can save only between missions and restarting one seems to take a long time.

Required: Pentium 200, 32Mb Ram, Direct 3D card and graphics accelerator. Pentium 266 and 64Mb recommended.