The adventure-racing Driver series has come a long way over the past few years like many other series. From Playstation 1 game release in 1999 to possible end to the series in 2004 after the negatively received Driv3r, it was bought by Ubisoft from Atari in order to revamp the series with Driver: San Francisco in 2011, bringing back cop Tanner which in a way created all new gameplay mechanics but keeping to a style which would feel comfortable for both new and familiar audiences with a storyline which would conclude the the cliffhanger which we waited for about 7 years to be concluded. This didn't distract from the style due to the fact that the company Reflections Interactive basically became a part of Ubisoft so essentially Ubisoft Reflections so it contained many of it's original staff that worked on the previous Driver games with some familiar hooded figures in the process. 
However with Ubisoft's new game, The Crew on the way to hit stores faster than lightning in the first quarter of 2014, many people may believe that Driver is now put out of the picture since many of the gameplay is going all in to this one game including it's shift ability to teleport across fast amounts of distances which is a bit of an understatement considering it's pretty much the whole open world of the United States of America. Well in answer to that, yes it is very possible that Ubisoft may do such a thing since they have no hesitation in ending a series for another and it appears that The Crew may offer racing of all types and thus not only attract the slobbering eyes of fellow Driver fans but fans of all the genres of racing for instance, rally gamers will get their piece of the action in some off road driving, simulation gamers will love the realistic feel of the cars and action adventure gamers will still no doubt enjoy the game with fast speed boosts but regardless, this will be a game of huge expansion of a massive open world and huge amount of missions that will keep us occupied throughout the whole few years, even grabbing the attention of non-racer fans who have decided to step up their game.
However, my answer to this possible scenario that Driver will simply drift off in to nowehere is completely ludicrous. Sure, it's possible but not if Ubisoft focused on this series and in a way, we need to ask ourselves, with many of these mechanics going towards The Crew, does it limit the originality and style of the Driver series? My answer is yet again another no and I have a few ideas of how they keep the uniqueness of the series by adding more elements and also and possibly the most important thing, focusing on what makes up the Driver style and build up upon it's originality.
So first off, I'll talk about the new stuff they could add which include...
Much more vehicles... a lot more!
Driver is based on a whole bunch of cars and road vehicles from sports cars like McLaren to 80s Dodge cars, from trucks to high school buses, it gives a freedom in a more realistic light but could they not only bring back boats but planes as well? Many of you maybe shouting out "Blasphemy!" however I do thoroughly believe it can work and here's why. I've noticed that many games like Grand Theft Auto and Just Cause where going in to a speeding boat or a plane that can break the sound barrier but Driver is different. Sure every game has it's own unrealism. Even Call of Duty but Driver has it's own style but if it was to take it more to a realistic touch, say your driving in to an aircraft which can carry cars (no trucks please!) for a mission and then you're able to escape from the city in a more realistic way so it would feel like a getaway from other cars and the aircraft will have to pick up speed in order to escape from the cops, terrorists or Santa Clause. It won't be so quick to just jump in to the aircraft and drive off... or take off rather.
Many people believed the Driv3r lost it's touch as becoming a GTA clone whereas to many it was a great game including to me since it was one of my first open world games (I did use some cheats though) however if it was to include maybe other characters too who are experienced with flying to make it more like a simulator, I can see it as adding more depth to the story especially if it's something like a stealth bomber where you have to stay within a certain area. They could do the same with a boat, even going as far sailing cruises. Where am I going with this? Well maybe it would make the series more unique if you had your own garage set or hanger...or both and maybe even trade with people like a good cop, bad cop motive although I'm not sure if an RPG perspective. I'm not talking about exploding grenades anytime soon but... I will talk about it later in the blog. 
Many playable characters
If there's one thing we learnt from Driver: San Francisco, we knew that Ubisoft wasn't afraid to take to all new different stories around the vast city of San Francisco or shortened to San Fran with the use of the shift ability allowing Tanner to take over the driver's body in another car or vehicle from cops to racer drivers who just can't stop competing for the highest pay check. Yep, the shift ability was really a marvel in it's own right and a great way to show that we didn't need to get out of the car but know that Tanner's out of his coma, could it still be used? Why of course and to a new fundamental level. A lot of the time while playing Driver: SF, there was much humour in the fact that the passengers were getting confused at the fact that Tanner was gonna burn some rubber... in another person's body but I don't think Tanner needs to be the only main character for the series and that there could be about 5 different characters from rally racers to getaway drivers in order to interconnect the stories. However I think the shift ability could be used for any other vehicle so we can listen to some humour about the characters babbling on about which way is the fastest route to the ice cream store. Just without Tanner using superhuman powers but it could also be allowed as a teleportation system like it already is in a way but not just to access missions in the speed of the snapping of fingers but also to transport anyway you like. No that's something they don't tell you with with a Nightcrawler degree. 
Just to give you a taste of the humour if you don't know, hear you go!
Role Playing Game style
This is something that is very possible and hasn't been done many times in the racing genre but it would be interesting to see since it could take inspiration from an unexpected old neighbour, Test Drive Unlimited 2 which was also published by Atari games back when Driver was still an infant. Personally I have played the game before and it was very enjoyable at the fact that you could customise your own avatar for talking to people and buying cars, earn money from test driving challenges and even buy your house but one thing that I can point out which smells fishy (and it's not my socks) but it also featured the fact that you could create your own teams and even invite them to your house for partying. An intriguing concept... if the game was popular. Unfortunately like many games these days, it had much creativity, had a few glitches but ultimately wasn't really paid much attention by fellow gamers. In fact this goes for many Atari games these days and if Ubisoft never bought the series, it would possibly be trouble financially and may even suffer a similar fate as Test Drive Unlimited with the developers becoming broke basically so it looks like Reflections dodged a bullet.
Back to the creating your own teams method, it seems like The Crew is heavily based on this. Hence it's name so it seems like The Crew has used this for a more socialising especially for the next gen line of consoles. Yes I do believe they copied this but many games have been copied and it's good to see that they may improve upon these concepts with a much more popular game and this has been done many times before... although an honourable mention of Eden Games would be helpful.
What can Driver do to improve upon this? For starters it's difficult to know since we don't have all the info and most is to be revealed at Gamecom so maybe it's probably a wrong time for me to be writing this blog. Although I do know that there are plenty of other ideas could be used to create a more RPG perspective. Say you can colour in your own patterns for your cars and even add cool stuff to it like this for example.
The next idea would be perhaps to have an in game forums and to create your own maps and cars which you may think is more like a simulation based game but you could add new additions to your car to make it standout from the crowd such as 4X4 to monster truck wheels. However I have a feeling that it may not have the same Driver feel so maybe it's best for a spin-off of some sort. Maybe uploading pictures as posters for your house. 
My Wall's gonna be full of these...
Now lets look at the many things they could bring back. First up is (drums roll)...
Ability to get out of your car
Many of you may think this is bad option and Driv3r went towards this and has never used this concept since as well as the fact that Driver: SF never really felt like you had to get out of the car. However I could imagine something fast paced by playing as Tanner during quick sequences. Maybe if he was chasing someone trying to get to a car and he has to locate around the area to find something faster or ambush the car from a roof. Maybe have much of the game like Uncharted 2 where he sees the past through memories but has to get out of a car wreckage.
To be honest, I don't expect to see any gunfights and possibly the use of would be more likely fists. Possibly just for entering his own house but I feel like in many ways,it could add to the story. I mean it does have a wacky story at times and it will allow you to make decisions to catch up to enemies run along the beach.
More cities
If there's one thing we've known about the settings in Driver, is that they appeal to gamers from all around the globe,whether it be gorgeous swimming pool home of Miami in Florida or the Croissant neighbourhood of Nice, France. Yes, it does take players to some dramatic areas full of a huge open world. Driver: SF took a different route and went with just using one city. Maybe some sort of experimental way of utilising one single area as a playground similar to other games like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. In some ways, I do think that San Francisco as on area to explore was the right call. Ultimately, it was where the story of Tanner and Jericho concluded and wrapped up the events like a present at Christmas but I could see the developers going beyond this and bringing back a few cities so it feels familiar but maybe some other ones to try like say my home city Cardiff.
I would love to see this because it could act like a driver (I don't mean the series) for the story and yet still add a whole bunch of missions to do in a massive open world. I wouldn't say make the sandbox game as huge as The Crew. Maybe have a state like Florida to explore as well as a part of England although then again, The Crew does't put as much focus on a single area and thus only includes the most well known roads so even if it was to take place in area, we'd have a whole bunch of ways to drive around.
^Just look at those Uncharted like graphics!
Stuntman assignments
Many people may think that Uncharted was the first movie like game ever made. That would be true to some extent since many action-adventure games after Uncharted 2 pretty much adopted the cinematic experience and in many ways improved upon it (coughs) Assassin's Creed 3 (coughs) but they would be wrong. There have been many games that have a cinematic experience and the Driver series even allows you do that anytime. Even with Driver: SF, you are able to view the last few minutes of gameplay up until you pressed the button to look back in this theatre mode where you are able to slow down the scenes for dramatic effect (like I did) and even upload it to the Driver website. Now, it's time to bring that back with a more free camera and even create a set of cameras as if in a movie studio of some sort to capture every angle. Who knows? Maybe you could invoke a barrage of cops to chase after you and go in to a helicopter style way to make it look like you're really creating your own movie!
That is not the only thing though. There were many small assignments you could do in the previous games but now, why not create your own like jump through all the hoopes or test out some of your cars endurance through skiddy snow and of course, why not let your friends have a go and send some videos and missions to them. Plus create your stunt grounds like where skateboarding games feature, create your own skate park. With the next gen consoles on the way, that could very well happen. We are of course, able to send videos of the past 15 minutes of gameplay to all your friends.
In a way, Driver is very similar to gams by Atari such as Stuntman. Maybe Stuntman is meant to be some sort of Driver spin-off in a way.
However before I close of this blog, there is another category that I haven't told you about and that's where the next game could take place and with this, it could use these methods to apply to the games. So here a few on my list...
Driver: Miami
Tanner's home city with his luxurious beach house and swimming pool, there always seems to be something going around for a great thriller chase in this amazing high lit skyscraper city. However I also think they can touch upon the theme of Driv3r, a more darker tone to the series. Driver: SF could have suffered from criticism for the fact that not only were the making Tanner look like Nathan Drake like Infamous 2 was going to with their character in order to appeal to more gamers for familiarality (if that's a word) but also it was a very light story and none of the characters seemed like their Driv3r counterparts especially Jericho who was a mysterious cold blooded killer but now he's big buffy guy (not saying he's a fan of the vampire series) and looks like he's put on a little bit of weight since Tanner's last encounter. Fortunately for Ubisoft, Driv3r was the first step of making the characters more detailed in terms of graphics an voice acting and since it wasn't well received, it didn't end badly.
I actually enjoyed the new style of the series but I think that it could go down a more serious path. Not saying that the characters should be changed back completely but keep the humour except with a powerful villain or even a gang trying to nuke the city. Plus there are many things they could learn from the series already and that could benefit for the game such as the stealth in Assassin's Creed could easily be implemented when tailing someone undetected where Tanner could just check his sun glasses and perhaps even make it an option to go chasing recklessly. This would also add in the plane and boat gameplay... unless we just wait for the Sailor series. However is doesn't have to be stuck in the city for long since many missions could take place in cities all over the world to engage the players with the story.
However they could learn from Driv3r by using the criminal theme as part of side missions and maybe add in some intense music to go with it.
Historical
Now I don't mean go back to the first ever cars going about 20 miles per hour but it would be interesting to see a prequel to the first game to bring a more classy 90s feel or even 80s style of driving. However Driver:SF got me really thinking when it showed many scenes set in what appears to be an old 50s to 60s style of escaping and capturing cars.
In a way this would be pretty sweet and I know that Tanner wouldn't even exist or be like a toddler at the wheel so how about set it based on his father. An old legend who may have even got himself in to a few scrapes as being a getaway driver trying to rob a bank and travelling all across the world so he he might not have even started out as a cop like Tanner. He may not have even have been American. I do have a feeling that we could see Jones or his father in the game too like in every generation, there's always a Tanner and always a Jones.
Plus wouldn't it be nice to drive some old cars that are a rarity now that used to be your parents or even grandparents but it's now in the bin?
Future
You're probably gonna throw cans and food at me now but hear me out! Many games like Castlevania are taking a big step and going towards more modern areas or even the future when their previous games were set way back a few centuries. I'm not saying go to a time filled with a barrage of hovercars, although that would be cool but maybe in around the 2050s where there's a new bunch of characters and they may not even be detectives or even related to Tanner at all but just a new team of drivers in a majestic world where you can see the new developments of cities all across the world from amazing scenery to quadruple flavoured ice cream!
Maybe even take the adventure off road for a while and add to the larger perspective of an RPG style game where you have to escape a remote area of cities in the dessert or forest using the tools that you are given.
So there we have it! Do you think that Driver will still continue to become unique compared to games like The Crew... or do you think the The Crew is actually Driver in disguise?
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.