Driver 4 Parallel parks in NYC

Some fresh information about the next instalment of Driver has been divulged by Germany's Official PlayStation 2 Magazine.

Firstly, the game is now officially known as Driver: Parallel Lines, with a sketchy release date of around March 2006 on PS2 and Xbox. Taking us to New York City in the 70s (complete with 40 licensed tracks from that era), Parallel Lines follows an 18 year-old guy called The Kid (or T.K); a new boy on the block looking to make his mark across the likes of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and The Bronx; each featuring recreated landmarks like the Empire State Building.

Various missions will be available in the open game-world, with most of the action based on driving rather than focusing on the badly received on-foot sections that DRIV3R had, with the ability to perform drive-bys part of T.K's repertoire; although when he does get out of the car, he'll benefit from a redone targeting system.

No boats are expected to feature this time round, but the AI is being ramped (sorry) up to make the drivers of other cars smarter, with three times more traffic than before, along with additional pedestrians wandering around too.

Side events, such as circuit racing, should be available to earn extra cash, which in-turn is used to help tune-up your vehicle or acquire new cars from a total of around 80. Mini-games are also promised, such as checkpoint races, destruction derbies and more. An online mode is said to be in the works for up-to eight players, as well.

Atari guarantees some more info and visuals around the next couple months, so keep an eye out.