Ubisoft’s first step at trying to kick-start the stalling Driver series is this PSP game that acts as prequel to Driver: Parallel Lines, and is set two years before. Just like previous games it’s a mix of driving and on-foot action with 27 missions divided up between six major plot strands.

New for the Driver series are multi-player options that allow you to test your driving skills against others using the PSP’s Wi-Fi capabilities. There’s straight street racing, a Destruction Derby challenge and then you could always race for pink slips.

It’s an interesting decision for Ubisoft to downscale the Driver experience, but looking at the success of the GTA games on the PSP it will most probably turn out to be a very wise one. Plus, New York looks great and the music is all funky ‘70s cool. Word.