Ubisoft has apparently registered a new trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office database for “Driver: The Recruit.” It's nice to see that Ubisoft is finally doing something with the franchise that it picked up from Atari about three years ago, soon after the disastrous release of Driver: Parallel Lines.

The gaming world has known since the summer of 2008 that Driver was getting a new installment and that Ubisoft was creating it. The current trademark is probably linked with the official name of the project, which might be revealed at E3 this year. Let's hope we will see some actual in game footage and not a cut scene trailer.

When the first Driver videogame was released, people said that it looked like what Grand Theft Auto could have been if it had ever gone 3D. It was quick, pretty smart and allowed players to drive around a city that seemed to be alive. The future of the series became a lot more muddled once Rockstar created Grand Theft Auto IV for the PlayStation 2. The game received sequels but it did not manage to find a clear and unique choice in a world full of GTA clones.

A new Driver title needs to do something really special to attract the attention of gamers and there aren't many bases not already covered. The thoughtful, story-driven open world game space is dominated by Grand Theft Auto IV, the humorous, over the top take belongs to Saints Row 2, Wheelman, recently released by Ubisoft, has managed to create an interesting experience focused on the driving aspect and on a more cinematic experience. In order to make an impact, Driver: The Recruit should not be a carbon copy of any of the above games.