In case you missed it yesterday, Ubisoft has officially announced the first new title in the Driver series since Atari flogged them the rights last Autumn. Driver 76 is a PSP exclusive and will be out in March. Here's some hype from the press release:
"The game thrusts the player into the heart of the 1970s, through 27 missions divided into six main plots. Players can take side jobs, earning cash that can be used to modify their rides. Driver 76 also offers an extensive multiplayer mode and a host of mini-games ranging from street races to all out carnage in Destruction Derby mode."
Ah the seventies. How much more mythology can we squeeze out of that generous decade?
I'm pretty sure I've seen all the afros and muscle cars I can handle for at least another ten years. This is not even the first time 1976 has been done - remember Activision's driving romp Interstate 76? But then again, the chaps from Sumo Digital are involved (seemingly working alongside original developer, Reflections) and as they can do very little wrong in my book, this will almost certainly prove to be more than the sum of its scrapyard-salvaged parts. Sumo have done excellent work with their Outrun and Toca conversions. If anyone can get re-ignite my interest in Ford Mustangs and superfly pimps it's them.
In the future, though, if we have to go on revisiting this era, can UK developers at least look closer to home for inspiration? Why are the American seventies so eulogised? I know, it's the cultural imperialism of the country - the fact that Starsky and Hutch have more global cache than the Sweeney. But as Life on Mars has shown, there's a wealth of possibilities on the grimy, blackout-plagued streets of Edward Heath's Britain. Capri chases through Milton Keynes, with Brotherhood of Man playing in the background - surely I'm not the only gamer who'd love to see that?
Am I?
I am aren't I?
