Test Drive Unlimited 2 [Playstation 3/Xbox 360/PC] Review

15Apr11

Test Drive Unlimited 2 Review

By Brrnout

Developer: Eden Games

Publisher: Atari

ESRB: Teen

Test Drive Unlimited 2 is a free-roam driving game, which takes you to the exotic islands of Hawaii. As you progress through this extensive game with thousands of open kilometers of driving terrain you will find that this is a game that will push you away but compel you to keep coming back for more.

You play as a valet parking attendant gone big time and that pretty much wraps up the whole story right there. You get challenged to enter a TV show about racing cars called Solar Crown and that is where the problems start to set in. The career is basically a hollow shell. You do tournament after tournament in an extremely monotonous fashion and after a few hours you will wonder if there is not more to the career.

If only Zonda's were cheaper... *sigh*

Test Drive Unlimited 2 is basically PlayStation Home meets MMO and the racing genre. It has many Home inspired gameplay mechanics thrown into the mix such as customizing your character, driving to the store, and trying on clothes. Would you like to drive to the hairdresser and change you hairstyle? You can do just that in this video game! You can then use your avatar to meet other drivers and interact with them. The problem with this is that all of the characters have the same basic shell. No matter how much you tweak them they will always look the same. Although there are 6 basics starting styles of avatar you will still be able to tell all 6 apart at all times. I met this hilarious circumstance in the career when I walked into a store to talk to the hairdresser who was giving a hair cut to himself! When I left the shop I received a call from another incarnation of him! Sure they all had different hairstyles but it was still obviously the same character! What is more is that these characters are a pain in the neck to deal with in the career. Their terrible dialogue and laughable interactions with the player make you want to reach through the screen and slap them.

“Test Drive Unlimited 2 is basically PlayStation Home meets MMO and the racing genre. It has many Home inspired gameplay mechanics thrown into the mix such as customizing your character, driving to the store, and trying on clothes.”

Test Drive Unlimited 2 is – as the name suggests – an open world racing game. It is only fitting that the game is a decent size so it is impressive to see the game does not disappoint. Test Drive Unlimited 2 is HUGE. You start the game on the island of Ibiza, which has countless roads and paths to take. With another island available to visit later in the game it is obvious that this is no small area to explore. After most events you can free roam these massive islands. Although you can instantly travel to your destination via main map display it should be noted that you can only do this if you have already driven on that road once before. Forcing the player to cruise the whole map in order to use it is both smart and irritating but someone like me does not mind it. I like games that have huge worlds. FUEL for example was a terrible game yet I enjoyed it for its immensely huge map. With all of this exploration ahead you would need a lot of collectables in order to make such a massive world interesting. This is where FUEL failed. Although Test Drive Unlimited 2 does feature certain activities to do while cruising (such as taking photos or finding collectable car parts) the game does feel rather hollow either way. Despite the presence of other players you still feel somewhat bored as you cruise the islands. One thing you can do while cruising is given to you early in the game. It is called F.R.I.M. and it allows you to earn instant money for stunts that you perform while in free roam mode. Attempting near misses, drifts, and jumps will fill up your F.R.I.M. bar and once it is full you can either cash in you earnings or keep going and do another bar. Every time you complete a bar you earn more and more money. However, the minute that you hit something you lose it all. The thrill between keeping what you already have or pushing on and earning more can be a real thrill and it can be really rewarding to earn a lot and cash it in.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 comes alive with other players while you are connected to the Internet. Whenever you are in free roam you will find other players cruising around going about their objectives or just simply showing off their own machine. You then have the option to start an instant challenge with any of these drivers and make a wager. You can also drive co-op style. Bringing the other player into your car and you can drive around as a team. This is one of the places where Test Drive Unlimited 2 really shines. Just being able to interact with every player around you makes the gaming experience that much deeper and it makes the world that it takes place in that much more real. As well as instant challenges you can also host events online and make your own routes and checkpoints. One of the most amazing parts of the race is before you get into your cars. The pre-race lobby is like nothing ever seen before. Your cars are parked on a section of road and you can interact with all of the cars and all of the other drivers’ characters. This deep interactive experience makes it so much fun to wait for a race to start.

When you do achieve something in the game the game will reward you with its leveling up system. You earn points in four categories and as you earn points you level up. There are four categories including social, discovery, collection, and competition. You earn social points by meeting people and interacting with them in races, you earn discovery points every time you find something hidden and drive on new roads, you earn collection points for buying all of the things in the game, and you earn competition points for completing cups, races, and online competitions. These four categories show you what needs to be done and what you have done and it increases your level accordingly.

A little mud never hurt anyone... did it?

Test Drive Unlimited 2 is about racing so what would it be without good cars and good driving controls? Unfortunately, this is where the game hits a speed bump. It seems that Eden Games spent so much time working on the whole world that they forgot that this is a racing game. In Test Drive Unlimited 2 you have three types of driving controls at your disposal including full assistance, sport, and hardcore. With hardcore type controls you have no assists and are driving without any help whatsoever, with sport type controls you have some assists, and with full assistance type controls you have all of the assists. I seldom drive with assists on racing games but this game is one that you need help to drive. In other words, the controls are terrible. All three of the handling layouts are hard to get used to and even when you master your preferred type you still will have moments where you lose control for simply no reason.

“In other words, the controls are terrible. All three of the handling layouts are hard to get used to and even when you master your preferred type you still will have moments where you lose control for simply no reason.”

After playing with full assistance for over 10 hours I was still losing control and losing races because I could not keep my vehicle straight through corners. Some cars handle better than others but when you are worried about spinning out going 40 km/h you know something is wrong. It is a pity that a racing game had to have such bad controls. You may get used to your selected vehicle choice but you may never feel fully connected and this may negatively influence the immersion that you experience. Fortunately, the vehicles are amazing. There are over 50 licensed vehicles in this game. All of the vehicles fit into one of three classes including asphalt, off-road, and classic. These cars range from Volkswagens to Ferraris and all are well detailed both inside and out. When you arrive at the car dealer you can walk around the dealership admiring and interacting with all of the vehicles using your character.

Test Drive Unlimited 2 is an example of a game that does a lot but never does anything well. You constantly get let down but oddly enough you cannot stop playing. Perhaps it is the attractive online interactivity or perhaps the impressive lot of exotic cars but the game never hits you at any point as being an amazing game. Perhaps one could look past these many flaws and enjoy the game but for me I could never get past the small things that made it feel so bizarre. Why do the police not care about you until you hit them 3 times in a row? Why do you lose control at slower speeds but not as much at higher speeds? Why are the characters in the game so obnoxious to listen to? These minor things really got in my way. Even if you can look past all of these problems I still would not recommend buying this game but I cannot say that it was a total waste of time either. Is it worth playing? Yes. Is it worth keeping? Not so much. Perhaps Test Drive Unlimited 2 has driven its final miles?

Graphics: 6/10

Gameplay/Controls: 3/10

Story: N/A

Atmosphere: 5/10

Fun-factor: 7/10

Longevity: 7/10

Sound effects: 7/10

Soundtrack: 7/10

AI: 7/10

Multiplayer: 9/10

Overall: 64/90

The Good: Great online integration; great range of vehicles; surprisingly addictive; F.R.I.M.

The Bad: Terrible driving controls on all three fronts; annoying and obnoxious career characters; bizarre gameplay additions; boring career structure, and occasionally players may experience severe online lag.

Verdict: Buy – Rent – Skip

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