When time is of the essence you truly appreciate the delightful handling of the cars. The back snakes out deliciously when you're cornering at high speed, and the balance between driving on the edge and ploughing into a shop front is fine - but not impossible to master. The sheer joy of pulling off a stylish handbrake turn before hurtling back in the opposite direction to evade capture really brings a wicked grin to your face.

What we're talking here is a car-bound Grand Theft Auto without the shooting (or killing) in three magnificently drawn dimensions. The streets even shimmer under the lights on rain-lashed nights, and the sight of Manhattan in the distance is something to behold - you feel as if you're actually there, and can almost taste the smog on your lips. The plot thickens and twists all over the show, building to a climactic 'Son of Mission' final level. You can even direct for yourself a movie of your most exciting missions with the game's excellent replay system.

There are five extra games with Driver which are good for a crowd of players to take turns at. The 'Pursuit' game sees you chasing and taking out a car as it flees across the various cities, and in the 'Getaway' game you're the one being chased. In 'Cross Town' you must fly through a series of checkpoints fast enough to earn the next course, and in 'Trail Blazer', keep hitting checkpoints before the clock ticks down to zero. In 'Survival' you must escape four cop cars trying to crush your car to the size of a suitcase.

Driver lives up to all the hype. Game of the Summer? No question - go and buy it, if you can get your hands on a copy.