Remember Eden games? Back in 2007 they announced a wonderful new concept. A game in which players have to obey the traffic rules and can slowly work their way up in the world of fame by buying new cars and having a strong grip on the real estate market. In the wake of the announcement, a new game came out called Test Drive Unlimited. And now, after an absence of 3 years, they are back! It's name: Test Drive Unlimited 2.
Gameplay
The sequel builds on its predecessor by respecting the same basic outline. At the start it becomes painfully clear that you are at the bottom of the social standings, despite starting the game in a short Ferrari tour around the island. By participating in street races, buying houses, clothes and occasionally visiting the plastic surgeon, it's your job to become rich and flaunt in. You know kind of like real life only less meaningful and a lot quicker.
The game gives you a lot of freedom between events. So if you're not into buying virtual clothes than you don't have to, at least not initially. Because ultimately you'll need to explore every single stone the game throws at you if you wish to reach the final level. That means filling the experience bar in four categories: collection, competition, discovery and social. A tough challenge that may not be worth it once you've bought the car you were after in the first place.
For me though the free roaming part between challenges is what really sets this game apart. Driving in traffic towards events and shops can be a lot of fun, especially in a hyper car. But for impatient gamers the map and quick travel option is king. These are especially appreciated because the world faces a few problems.
For one the world looks very empty, traffic is thin and off road distractions are virtually non-existing. Of course there's the 2-channel radio, but listening to it for too long can be seen as a state punishment in my view. And it would've been so much better if you were actually able to get out of the car and walk about.
Despite those remarks the free roaming bit does a lot of things very well. The navigation to destinations like car dealers or hairdressers works nicely. And the on-car controls are a very nice touch. It's actually possible to put the top down in a Mercedes CLK or operate the blinkers.
Racing
Racing happens in various championships ranging from C to A classes. Depending on the event only curtain cars are allowed and you'll need to obtain a license. It works really well but can sometimes be really time consuming.
Test Drive Unlimited splits the championship up in different segments. These can differ in ways such as: complete a lap in a given time, reach the highest top speed or just be the first to cross the line. The events can be a lot of fun but most of the times aren't. Even if you gain a big lead the rubber band AI will catch up to you quickly. And it doesn't matter which car you drive because they'll almost literally wait for you when you trail behind. Bugs also come into play, an especially painful one being when you go off road and see a "wrong way, turn around" sign despite following the right route. The only way to fix it and prevent finishing dead last is by restarting the whole race.
Handling
Test Drive Unlimited 2 is an arcade game and I fully respect that. It would be silly to expect setup changes and oversteer/understeer characteristics true to real life. To test the handling I connected my Logitech G27 and was all set.
Let's start with the good news, and this is a biggie. Test Driver Unlimited 2 fully supports the G25/G27 steering wheels. That means the H-shifter, Rev lights and even the clutch right out of the box. What a welcome surprise!
Now the downside: all cars drive exactly the same. They all share a sense of understeer, whether you're driving an off roader or the Audi R8. You're quite literally driving a skin and a few parameters. And to mix things up the cars have a tendency to go berserk for absolutely no reason. There have been countless times when the tail just broke out under braking without a warning.
So what you end up with are lifeless boring cars that sometimes get a will of it's own. Despite offering decent feedback the game fails in giving you a sense of feel of the car thus the racing becomes a dull experience done for the sole purpose of earning virtual credits to buy new skins.
Online
Maybe online is the answer. Well it solves the AI problem and with some competitive buddies surely I could say hello to close racing and endless nights of fun? Well not exactly. The only thing online increased was my internal bug counter that I keep when rating a game. The problems continued endlessly. Especially common are broken connections and not seeing friends despite being in the same location. In theory this is a great feature. Meeting each other and cruising around, doing some mainstream races along the way, yeah I can see this working. But right now online is broken and needs to be fixed.
Presentation
In a world of GT5 and F1 2010 it's easy to set the bar unrealistically high and flame everything that leaves the coding table. I'm not going to do that. Eden games has not made the best looking game in the world. This is mostly apparent in the world scenery. It lacks a curtain dynamic that can really suck a player in.The cars on the other hand are actually pretty good. Especially in the showrooms when its possible to walk around them, sit inside or take one out for a test-drive. The interior and exterior match the looks of its 101 real world counterparts, a true accomplishment! The working controls like blinkers, lights and mechanical rooftops add to the fine car experience.Sounds are pretty generic. They do have a curtain punch to them but it's in no way realistic. Do a "guess the car based on engine noise game" and you'd probably fail miserably. Because apart from some minor tweaks every car sounds exactly the same.
Conclusion
Test Drive unlimited 2 is a great concept that lacks proper execution. The free roaming bit is done really well and offers a glance of the endless possibilities. Unfortunately the driving is extremely dull and emotionless, even for an arcade game. And because of that I felt disappointed every time I had to race to earn a few digital bucks. And isn't that what racing games are all about?
