After the extremely disappointing release of DRIV3R and the lukewarm reception of the somewhat better Driver: Parallel Lines, it’s hard to get excited about another Driver game but in different hands (such as Sumo Digital and Ubisoft) as well the fact that the game was designed with the Sony PSP in mind, this might be the game that would turn the series around. Sadly, Driver ‘76 is a nice attempt that just doesn’t have the right moves to make this cat groovy, dig?

As the title suggests, Driver ‘76 takes place in 1976 in New York City when the streets were overrun by the criminal scum that gave the city its bad reputation at that time. You play a known wheelman named Ray who falls in love with the lovely Chen-Chi … the Chinese triad boss’s daughter. In order to impress her and her father, Ray and his jive-talking buddy Slink must prove themselves by taking on dangerous but high-paying missions that will either lead them to notoriety in the New York City underworld or the morgue. Their quest for money and love take them through a massive map of the city.

We follow Ray’s quest to win the hand of his dream girl through 1970s-styled comic book panels that tell the story and this works better in telling the tale than just sitting through animated cut scenes. As a low-level wheelman you’ll be performing simple fetch quests and simple tasks such as hijacking trucks filled with frozen seafood to stealing Cuban cigars for the boss. From there, of course, the missions become more dangerous and to top things off you can even give these missions a rest to earn extra money by completing side missions.

Think of Driver ‘76 as a prequel to Parallel Lines and thusly is basically a Grand Theft Auto clone that allows you to freely explore the open-world environment on foot or behind the wheel of any vehicle you’d like throughout the game. You’re free to tackle on the story missions or the side missions (more on those later) or just spend your time driving around the virtual NYC. Yet like most of the recent Driver games, there’s very little to do while free-roaming around the city so don’t expect Grand Theft Auto-styled off-mission mayhem. All the missions seem to be directed to a map screen where you can pick from main story missions or side missions. The side missions are actually fun since they’re bite-sized and vary in difficulty. Taxi missions have you zipping from Point A to Point B while trying not to spook your passenger or arrive to the destination late. Then there’s the Loan Shark side missions where you attempt to get a client’s money back … by force.

Unfortunately, many of the main story missions lack imagination and are actually pretty drab. They hardly stray from the drive-to-destination-get-out-and-shoot-somebody design and feel more like a chore than a fun diversion. There are exceptions, though. Some missions have really pushing Ray to the limit but in the best possible way. Sadly, the missions are all ruined by poor AI. The bad guys are just poor shots and even if you manage to get some police attention they aren’t much of a threat either. Speaking of the fuzz, they are brain dead behind the wheel and you’ll lose them easily. They also wait around to get shot if you’re behind a car and won’t even bother to dive for cover.

As far as the controls are concerned, the driving is handled well but not perfect and - to make matters worst - if you crash not only does your car take great damage but so do you. It’s actually quite possible to die from a minor fender bender with a motorcycle if your health was low. On foot, the controls aren’t bad either but when it comes to shooting you’ll find that Ray might be a competent wheelman but he’s a complete dunce when it comes to aiming and shooting. There are extras to be found in the game as well as the ability to slap a fresh new coat of paint to your vehicle as well as add nitro for when you attempt a street race. Racing is a huge part of the Ad Hoc multiplayer for when you want to race against a single friend. The good news is that a buddy doesn’t even have to buy a copy of the game to play the multiplayer aspect.

On the graphics front, Driver ‘76 doesn’t look bad but it doesn’t look particularly great either. The game does bring New York City to life and you’ll recognize various landmarks and locales. Then again, buildings lack detail and the textures make objects look flat. At least the character models look pretty good and so do the vehicles (although the vehicle damage is really unrealistic). Then there’s the clipping problems that have the main character phasing right through car doors when he jacks a vehicle. Sometimes he will even go through a solid wall. At least the comic book-styled panels are great and bring to mind comic books from that era perfectly.

The sound is a tad better than the visuals seeing as the game crams in some excellent 1970s funk from the likes of Billy Preston to The Temptations. There’s also rock from David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Blondie’s “One Way or Another.” While the tunes can be heard in any car, you won’t hear a radio DJ nor amusing fake commercials most GTA clones copy. Still, the voice acting is actually good and the dialogue feels in tune with the ‘70s era.

Driver ‘76 for the PSP might not be as deeply enthralling or perfect as the portable Grand Theft Auto games and there are way too many flaws to make this good Driver game but the game does have its share of good times. Unfortunately, those good times are few and far apart and overshadowed by the various flaws that hold this game back. With other better games of this caliber already available, Driver ‘76 is a game fans of the genre should rent before even considering a purchase.

Gameplay: 5.9
The game has plenty of flaws in the gameplay department but when it comes to on-foot combat you’re in for an unpleasant surprise. At least driving is handled somewhat good and while many of the missions are uninventive, some missions are actually enjoyable. There are also plenty of vehicles to drive in this game and the story is fun.

Graphics: 6.5
The game’s graphics fall between flat and not-bad-at-all. The character models are actually pretty good but some environmental detail looks pretty flat for a game that manages to display recognizable areas in New York City. Still, it’s hard to ignore the horrible clipping problems that show up frequently throughout the game.

Sound: 7.0
The game’s soundtrack contains some pure 70s funk as well as tunes from the likes of Iggy Pop and Blondie to mix things up, but don’t expect to hear real radio station jive or a DJ for that matter. The voice acting is top notch and everyone sounds the way you expect them to sound. It’s just too bad that the sound effects lack some punch.

Difficulty: Medium
Despite the fact that the enemies don’t have any common sense or feel the need to duck for cover when you shoot, they - much like Ray - can’t hit a thing anyway even from a close distance. Cops are relentless in attempting to bring you down but it’s easy to lose them … I mean, really easy.

Concept: 6.0
There are a number of 1970s cars and some cool motorcycles to ride but the vehicle customization options are slim and pointless. Speaking of pointless, the collectibles add very little too. There’s multiplayer but it’s pretty thin.

Multiplayer: 5.5
There’s only racing action for up to two-players via Ad Hoc so there’s no online fun to be had here. The rest of the game types are seriously lacking the mindless fun of Carnage mode where you attempt to destroy your opponent’s car.

Overall: 6.0
Consider this one yet another weak addition to the Driver series but despite the many flaws and noticeable weak spots, Driver ‘76 isn’t a completely horrible PSP game. Yes, it’s hard to ignore things like brain-dead police AI or a lack of fun things to do in this surprisingly massive city, but some of the missions are actually kind of fun and the story isn’t bad at all. Still, if you’re looking for a GTA fix you might as well replay Liberty City Stories or Vice City Stories again.