Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Reflections, developers of the Driver games, announced during an piece on the BBC, that they would be creating a new Driver game, which would be published by Atari.  The word from Ubisoft is not official, but seems like an obvious conclusion after Ubisoft purchased Reflections during the Atari Developer Fire Sale.  Beyond the mention of the game, they showed off some art work, including wire frames of race cars and other car illustrations.

The Driver series of games has rolled down a precarious slope when it comes to success.  The first Driver game was an original title that had gamers playing the wheel man in a robbery gang, long befoe The Transporter and The Wheelman became Hollywood movies.  The driving was fast and frantic with really good physics.  I never played the second one as it never came to the PC, but I heard decent things about it.

via Eurogamer

The wheels shot way off the franchise with the third installment.  Sporting a hip, unpronouncable name, Driv3r, it took all that was good about the Driver franchise and shot it, burned it, and mutilated it for good measure.  The driving was off, as a curb could instantly stop your car, but a phone booth would not.  Driv3r also introduced on foot segments, which were lackluster at best.  Beyond the well done cutscenes and voice overs, the game had nothing.  The last release in this series from Atari, Driver: Parallel Lines, retooled the franchise and put the game into two time periods: the 70′s and the 90′s.  It was a decent game and had a nice narrative, but never lived up to that first game. 

One can only hope for good things with this latest game, but I have to say that I am not holding my breath for a good game.  Ubisoft does own Reflections now after the Atari fire sale, so maybe some good can come out of the new owners, but Reflections has a long way to go to regain the trust that consumers put in the Driver franchise and its sequels.