Driv4r announced

Ah, the Driver series. How we loved the first game. How we sort of liked the second one, even though the on-foot bits were rubbish. How we wept when we played the third, shaking our fists at the sky and crying, ?WHY?? whilst filled with loathing for everything from the rubbish physics to the impossibly hard missions to the stupid, stupid ?3? in the middle of the title.

But still, it did go on to sell several billion copies - so it should come as no surprise that Atari is developing a fourth instalment in the series for PC, PS2 and Xbox.

It's being developed by Reflections Interactive, the same studio behind the previous games - but someone else will be in charge this time, since founder and MD Martin Edmondson resigned after the Driv3r fiasco.

?With our next Driver game, we are concentrating on those qualities that defined the franchise and established it as a perennial best-seller,? said Atari bigwig Marc Metis. Let's hope so.

Few details have been revealed so far, other than the fact that the game is set in New York City and will feature unparalled physics superb vehicle dynamics photo-realistic environments etc. etc. etc.

Driver 4 - as we sincerely hope they'll title it - will be out early next year.