Certain pieces of vegetation, like all bushes and flowers along houses (of which there are many because there are cities in the game) look like complete cardboard cutouts. Though grass looks fine, and trees very close to the car are somewhat nice to look at, anything farther than about a few blocks away looks extremely plain. However, the vistas, while appropriately large in scope, are dotted with tons of drab and poorly detailed mountain ranges that are borderline hideous with some textures. The setting is on a digital re-creation of the real life islands of Ibiza and Hawaii, which is admittedly, pretty cool. Let’s start at the top, TDU2 is a pretty ugly game, overall. In fact, some of the few good things about it are the abundance of cars on hand and their nicely modeled interiors and many open roads on which to drive them.
Bad environmental graphics, shoddy and inconsistent driving mechanics, mortifying voice acting, annoying and painfully repetitive radio stations, and fundamentally broken online features are what round out the bulk of this flawed racing title. While the above may be very true, the recently released Test Drive Unlimited 2 (TDU2) ironically limits the amount of fun you can have owning it with a number of glaring flaws. Therefore, it was commonplace for a game, especially an online focused one, not to work as intended for up to even a week after its initial launch (end booming-baratone-movie-preview-guy voice). Next generation consoles had brought about a new era of somewhat broken games thanks to the developers’ ability to fix or tweak nearly any problem with their rushed-to-release games via patches. Of course, if you like your online experience more straightforward, Test Drive: Unlimited 2 also has several lobby-based online modes that allow you to get a quick fix of online play without the commitment that the free-riding mode involves.It was the year 2011 – Online gaming was at an all-time-high. The free-riding mode is back in Test Drive: Unlimited 2, and while the drop-in/drop-out structure can be a bit frustrating if you have a specific goal in mind, there is plenty of potential for fun in this mode if you have an online posse you can get together. Naturally, this massive world translates nicely into an online experience. The discovery element of the progression system is certainly one that I took particular pride in leveling up, and I was continuously amazed by how vast the in-game world was. And although the game initially limits your discovery by clumping together challenges, you'll open up new areas to explore as you progress. Much like the original, Test Drive: Unlimited 2 features a huge open world with plenty of areas off the beaten path to explore, and it is hard not to get lost in the game's version of the tropical paradise of Ibiza. The new progression system is compelling, and participating in all kinds of events to max out different stats is a rewarding experience. Unique, right? But bad story aside (who really cares about story in an automotive game anyways?), the game goes on to introduce you to a brand new four-pronged system that encourages you to level up your character's stats by winning challenges, beefing up your garage, competing in social events, and discovering new areas. He is then thrust into a paint-by-numbers story mode where he is chosen by a rich person for whom he valets to compete in a high-stakes contest. When the game begins, the player chooses one of several pre-made personas to be his main character, and progresses through a quick tutorial that introduces him to the basics of the game's new progression system. Though the overall format will be familiar to fans of the original, the game takes an ambitious approach to its social gaming component and turns Test Drive into an almost RPG-like experience. However, this follow-up is more than just an improved version of its predecessor. Fortunately, all of these issues have been addressed in Test Drive: Unlimited 2.
#TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED 2 PC REVIEW SERIES#
However, due to some poor design choices, an at-times wobbly online experience, and handling that couldn't decide whether it was simulation or arcade-based, the series never quite got the respect that other, more prominent automotive titles were able to produce. The social gaming elements of Test Drive Unlimited catapulted it to cult status among automotive gaming enthusiasts. It has been a long time since the original Test Drive: Unlimited graced home consoles, but fans of the automotive genre have definitely not forgotten Test Drive's unique approach to a genre that is constantly looking for ways to reinvent itself.
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