Does the driving experience match the unlimited racing options?
Test Drive Unlimited has gone beyond the ordinary for racing games. Most in the genre usually take place in real world locations and recreate sections of a city so that you can race through them. Test Drive Unlimited has removed all of those boundaries and mapped the entire island of Oahu with so much detail that people who have been there will likely recognize the scenery. All of the roads are there for you to drive on at your leisure or race on in pre-made or custom courses. It's expansive and seamless, allowing for near-limitless racing possibilities. Even better, the line between single-player and multiplayer racing has been nearly erased. Unfortunately, the racing mechanics and car customization don't keep up with the driving freedom, but that's not enough to keep it down. Test Drive Unlimited may have come out first for Xbox 360 last fall, but this PC port came through largely intact for a nearly identical experience.
The way that Test Drive Unlimited is presented is what impresses us most. At the top of the list is the method of finding a race, particularly for multiplayer gaming. Creating a game that blurs the line between single and multiplayer racing as effortlessly as Test Drive Unlimited does is a feat in itself. Provided you have GameSpy login (which you oddly can't create from within the game itself), you're placed into one of the online servers as soon as you finish the tutorial. From there, you can drive wherever you please on the island, enter missions or solo races, or choose to partake in a huge variety of multiplayer races. You'll see other players driving around on the road just as you are and can challenge them to a race right then and there by flashing your headlights. Or you can simply drive past them and pretend they're no different than the numerous AI cars that also inhabit the road. Just by turning the game on and driving around the island, you're already partaking in the multiplayer experience. The way that you can play with any of the numerous modes alongside the entire community is unique and extremely well done. Unfortunately, the online group isn't nearly as large for the PC iteration as it was for Test Drive Unlimited's Xbox 360 launch. By no fault of the game, the experience just isn't as fun when there aren't hundreds of races taking place simultaneously around the island.
Although the single-player racing is fun, the multiplayer is where Test Drive Unlimited really shines. All of the same options for racing in single-player are present in the multiplayer as well, but with a few additions. The first is that anybody can create a challenge and upload it for others to try out. You can also join an auto club, Test Drive Unlimited's form of a clan. From there, you can challenge others in your clan to a race or other clans for racing superiority. The outline for a great game is here and would be fun if more people were playing.
To go along with the giant island of Oahu is a satellite map that streams in "Google Maps" style as you scroll around it. From the map you can warp to any previously-visited destination, view open races and their conditions, spot the locations of other online players, or check out the locations of stores or houses for sale. The map will even keep track of every road you've driven. Zooming in to your car from the map may be the coolest way to transition from an atlas to gameplay that we've seen. The camera will actually fly straight down into the streets and up behind your car, giving you the feeling of diving down into the world.
The way the cars handle is one of the sticking points of Test Drive Unlimited. If you don't have a steering wheel or other controller, the game isn't very fun to play with a keyboard. Even with a controller, the cars fall somewhere between a simulation and an arcade feeling and it isn't entirely satisfactory to fans of either style. Different cars have their own unique handling, but once you spend some time with the sticks and a particular car, you'll be able to keep your ride going where you want it. The largest gripe we have with the driving is that every off-road surface feels like sand. In a game where you can create your own shortcuts, having the non-paved surface be an area where you simply drive slower and skid in circles is a bit of a letdown.
But we have a much bigger problem with the motorcycles. They feel as if they were simply tacked on so they could be included as a checkbox for advertising purposes. Most of the bikes turn worse than cars do, even at the lowest speeds. Forget about taking tight turns with any momentum or powersliding. Crashing a motorcycle around turns became a regular occurrence for us, which brings up another bad part about the bikes: the animations. Crash simulations weren't coded, so when you hit something you'll either just stop dead or skid a couple of feet. Either way, the next motion should be a spectacular crash. Instead it's a short loading pause while you're placed back on the road. Much like every other aspect of the motorcycles, the crashes feel rushed and aren't pleasing. The entire package just doesn't feel like a motorcycle and isn't nearly as fun as the rest of the game.
The graphics in Test Drive Unlimited are characteristic of any game that has had a lot of work put into it but never received the last bit of polish it needed. The most noticeable bit of ugliness is in the character models. No amount of tweaking with the character editing tools can take away the creepy, vacant look that everyone in the game possesses. Even more eerie is the complete lack of any NPCs on the entire island of Oahu. Apparently everyone who isn't out driving prefers to hide inside their houses instead of enjoying the tropical paradise they live in.
But the game is about racing, not the characters in the cars. The vehicles certainly look better than the people, though they won't win any awards when put up against the top notch racers like PGR3. The cars look too tall and thin for the road they're on, especially when the camera is pulled all of the way back. The way the sun glints off of the rooftops is another source for complaint. Rather than directly reflecting off of surfaces, it appears to diffuse before it reflects, engulfing the entire vehicle. Test Drive Unlimited has the potential to look even better on your PC than it did on Xbox 360. The sliders for adjusting resolution, anti-aliasing, and detail are all easily accessible within the main menu, though the game will only run in widescreen with a letterboxed look if your monitor isn't wide enough.
Oahu itself looks fantastic and will surely capture nearly all of your attention. The lush flora that makes it a favorite vacation destination has been recreated faithfully making for some vivid scenery. Simply driving about and enjoying the scenery can be as much fun as hopping in a competition. It should be noted that the end result of playing too much of Test Drive Unlimited will be the desire to take a little trip to Oahu.
If you look on a map, Oahu may not seem like a very big place. Try driving around it in Test Drive Unlimited and you'll see exactly how many miles of road there are to cover. You can drive nearly anywhere on the island, though some places are blocked off by fences, and you won't find yourself with a loading screen until you enter a race, mission, or warp to a previously visited location. Streaming technology has come a long way and Test Drive Unlimited is a great example of what can be done with it. Many of the texture pop-in issues on Xbox 360 can be made negligible with the right settings for your rig. For the most part, the driving is seamless and with such a large island, that's mighty impressive.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Exotic cars, a tropical paradise, and a near-revolutionary spin on multiplayer makes this above-average racer exceptional.
Eden Studios has done something amazing with Test Drive Unlimited. This team of developers has crafted a game that virtually recreates pretty much the entire island of Oahu, and done it in a way so that you can drive from one end to the other without seeing a single loading screen. Technically, it's an incredibly impressive achievement.
Not only that, but TDU blurs the line between single-player and multi-player gaming. If you enable the online mode in TDU the game becomes a cross between an MMO and a racing game. You can do solo races or race against AI or you can instantly challenge any other racer you come across to a one-on-one or group race. While you drive around you'll see other players doing the same thing, just like in an MMO. Eden Studios calls this a "massively open online world."
These two unique achievements alone make TDU worth checking out, and we haven't even started talking about the heart of the game. A wise gamer said to me once, "TDU is more of a driving game than a racing game." Yes, you will race. You'll race AI drivers, you're race the clock, and you'll race other gamers, but the vast majority of your time will be sent simply driving from one point to another. If you love driving, this won't be a huge problem for you. Exploring the island is fun, and required if you plan on finishing this game. If you're impatient you'll be happy to hear that you can warp to any point on the map as long as you've driven there once before.
When you first start off you're tasked with picking an avatar from a small selection of stylishly dressed drivers. The look of each driver can be customized: Change your face, your hairstyle, and even buy new clothes. You'll then buy a car and then a house to keep your car in, and participate in your first race. Each event you participate in will give you either cash or coupons. Cash is used to purchase new homes with bigger garages to accommodate your ever-growing collection of automobiles. It can also be used to tune-up cars you already have and buy new cars. Coupons are what you'll use to buy new clothes and accessories for your avatar.
There are a total of 125 licensed vehicles available in TDU. This includes both cars and motorcycles. The manufacturers include Ferrari, Lotus, Ducati, Mercedes, Lamborghini, and Jaguar. There are also numerous exotic vehicles that only diehard car enthusiasts will recognize, as well as a number of classic cars. Fans of muscle cars and exotics will definitely be pleased, but there will be one group of car fans that will feel left out: Japanese car lovers.
Yes, Nissan is included, and we love tearing around in a 350Z, but what about Acura, Mazda (we know it's actually owned by Ford), and Mitsubishi? We'd have loved the chance to race around in an NSX, RX-8, or Lancer Evolution. Sure, most of the million dollar exotics in this game can burn any of the aforementioned cars, but there are plenty of car lovers who would have relished the chance to take a WRX STi through some of these curvy island roads and see how it stacks up against their buddy's Ferrari.
A number of motorcycles are also available from companies like Ducati and Triumph. These little machines are amazingly fast and mastering them is a whole new challenge. You only have access to the motorcycles after you've discovered every car shop on the island, so you'll have to work for the privilege to ride these two-wheeled wonders.
Both types of vehicles are gorgeously rendered, as is the island of Oahu itself. When you max out the detail levels you'll find yourself in awe of the scenery as it races by at 150MPH. (There were actually moments when I slowed down to enjoy the view.) Even now after I've spent dozens of hours with the game I'm still finding new back roads and other such areas. As odd as it may sound, TDU does an excellent job of recreating the fun of exploration that you get with an RPG like Oblivion. The only weak spot in the graphics is in the faces of the character models. Everyone's face looks like they took a dose of Smile-X, as they all have the same creepy Joker-style grin.
Single-player events include multi-car races, timed races, delivery missions where you have to drive an expensive car from one point to another without damaging it, and challenges where you'll have to give a person a ride to a certain location within a certain time limit. There are also player-created single-player challenges that you and other TDU owners can set up online. These challenges can be found by driving to one of the many cafes dotted along the island. As you do more challenges and finish more races new events will appear on the map. You'll also find new challenges by exploring the island.
The biggest problem with the single-player portion of the game is how dull the AI drivers are. You'll often see them wipe out or run into regular civilian traffic, but the most glaring issue is that they act like AI drivers and have no personalites. From what we could tell they all drive the same way and are only a big challenge if their car is far more powerful than yours.
Multiplayer match-ups are far more fun and challenging, but we had a hard time finding people to play. We love how you can see other players driving around the island while you do your thing, and we like how you can challenge them on the fly by flashing your headlights when you see them, but there were times when just finding someone was a challenge. We also noticed that the servers would become unavailable randomly. This usually didn't last long, but it was annoying.
A handful of smaller problems did annoy us. TDU first came out on the Xbox 360 so you'd think that if you plugged in an Xbox 360 controller to your PC the game would automatically configure the buttons for you. It doesn't. You'll have to manual set up the controller and, somehow, there aren't enough buttons on the controller for all the commands in the game, so you can't just kick back and use only the joypad; you'll have to use the mouse to navigate some menus and the controller to navigate other menus. Also, while you can do damage to the cars you slam into, your own car is invincible and won't even show the slightest scratch. And when you're on a motorcycle you won't be treated to spectacular wrecks; instead, you'll just reset further down the road.
However, this isn't Burnout, so crashing isn't the focus. TDU is all about driving fast in expensive cars through gorgeous locales and that's exactly what it delivers. It's not a sim, so don't expect GTR2-level realism. It's a game that encourages any car enthusiast to pick up the controller and enjoy it and it doesn't try to beat you up for not having the skills of Mario Andretti. If you want a gorgeous, fun, and easy-to-play racing game to eat up your time, TDU will scratch your itch.
©2007, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved