Driver 76

Tyre manufacturers must have loved the '70s. After all, if TV shows of the time are anything to go by, everybody wasn't so much kung fu fighting as powersliding their way around town, lighting up their rear tyres whether they were chasing criminals or just going down to the shops. Goodyear's turnover must have gone through the roof.

If you missed it first time around, Driver 76 can offer some solace, in that its premise is based entirely around throwing of cars of the era around the corners of New York City.

The story, expertly presented in comic book fashion, pitches you as a wheelman with ideas above his station, and you're soon waiting for the first of 27 missions to start.

It's a long wait given the excessive loading times but ultimately worth it, because if there's one thing Driver 76 does well, it's handling. Nearly all of the 40-odd cars feel suitably weighty, with that all-important '70s suspension dynamic that makes taking every corner sideways both irresistible and impossibly rewarding.

Combined with one of the funkiest licensed soundtracks to date it's something of a powerful cocktail.

And that's before you discover Thrill Cam. Essentially, pressing up on the D-pad switches the view to a low-angle, slo-mo cinematic perspective. Aside from showcasing the lovely graphical detail of each car (as well as nice touches such as sparks coming off a partially detached chrome bumper or your avatar's convincing animation repertoire – particularly during a collision) it frames the action in such glorious style that petrolheads simply will not resist the temptation to use it every time they throw their ride into a bend.

Watching the nose of a muscle car dip as the front wheels turn, while locking the rears with the handbrake, and then counter steering and re-applying the power to catch and maintain the slide for what seems blissful eternity is, for those who appreciate such things, simply spectacular.

It's also by far the game's best element. Sure, the car-based missions themselves can be a lot of fun, if a little repetitive; whether you've been sent to deliver a package, steal a vehicle, provide a taxi service for a pair of assassin associates, the format tends to revolve around an 'A to B to A to C to A' approach tied to either a health or time limit.

Hardly revolutionary but not necessarily a major criticism either, as speeding through the city's streets and alleyways (complete with debris to crash through, obviously) while chasing other criminals or evading the police (which appear to suffer from severe fluctuations in intelligence) is mostly consistently enjoyable, regardless of the similarities in the underlying mission structure. And, ultimately, it's the foundation on which the game is built upon.

Besides, occasionally, an unexpected assignment gets thrown into the mix, such as a bike race, a stealth-based offering or the need to stand on the back of a stolen truck full of drugs with a machine gun in your hands in order to take out pursuing felons.

Indeed, there are several such weapon-based tasks, which is regrettable as it's easily the game's weakest area. Blame the popularity of Grand Theft Auto. But while it's not aways an entirely unwelcome dynamic, it's crucial to ensure it works satisfactorily. In Driver 76, it doesn't, with a targeting system that feels as convoluted as it seems inaccurate (or at least ineffective), whether on foot or in-car, even when using some of the more powerful weaponry unlocked deep into the game.

Thankfully, more than guns provide the variety. A two-player option caters for a range of race events (which you can turn into 'pink slip' encounters for added frisson) and back in single-player land, some 50 side-missions become progressively available, offering excursions such as car collection, taxi services, motorcross events and a destruction derby.

None are essential to the proceedings, and in that they share something in common with the game's upgrade options. Money earned from completing missions can be used to tune up your car collection, both in terms of performance and aesthetics, but the difficulty level is such that you needn't really bother with the former.

That's not to say Driver 76 isn't challenging. The level is set on the lower (but acceptable) side of the scale, perhaps, but occasional spikes caused by frustrating niggles such as failing a mission because of the aforementioned flawed gun combat, the game's (admittedly rare) reluctance to recognise you're within a mission objective marker, the absurdly capricious nature of the collision detection system used for the collectible stars, or the fact your ride has ended up on its roof do grate.

Thankfully, restart loads aren't as painful as the full thing and, often, long missions will see you rejoin the action at a checkpoint. Less welcome is the need to freeze mid-game to load the next section of scenery and a framerate that often gets a little strained when there's lots going on (the destruction derby side-mission can get all but unplayable).

None of these severely cripple Driver 76, nor does the lack of anything truly new. Take it for what it can deliver – exciting moments of powerslide-heavy car chases and that magnificent Thrill Cam – rather than the failings of its GTA ambitions. Play it sporadically (to combat the repetitiveness) rather than burn through it, and the game should prove both long-lasting and gripping. Qualities it shares, rather appropriately, with a tyre.