Sunday 21 Oct 2007

Racing games over the years have tried to innovate in many ways and of late hit a brick wall when it comes to innovation. Yes, there are stunning racers out there on the Xbox 360 like Project Gotham Racing 3 and Forza Motorsport 2 which are both excellent in their own rights but both felt like last generation titles with improved graphics.

Test Drive Unlimited takes the racing genre and turns it upside down as it has been developed with the Driving Enthusiast in mind. It truly is a racing title that makes use of what the Xbox 360 oozes with – “online functionality.”

Cruising in Hawaii

Hawaii is a massive island and this is where you start your adventure. You’re flown into Hawaii and straight away you are prompted to rent a car with the cash you have and then drive off to the nearest car dealer so you can buy your first car with the money you have left. You then drive to your flat and this is where it all starts. Your flat is used as a means to access the cars you have and you can play with the game options, see achievements for the 360, and view photos you have snapped in the game and several other luxuries.

From here on it comes down to normal events like races against the computer, speed traps and time trials. However, new categories like “hitchhikers” have been added as another event and this is basically a point “a” to “b” drive that you have to do within a certain time limit by picking up a hitchhiker and then dropping them off at their destination within the given time limit. Fun none the less.

The controls work pretty much the same as any other racing game on the Xbox 360 but the D-Pad adds a feature that no other racer has ever achieved – the best map created by man! You need to understand that the map you’re driving on is gigantic. By pressing ‘right’ on the D-Pad, at any time in the game, it zooms out so you can see where you are on the map. Zoom it out again and you can see Hawaii in all its glory. Zooming out is necessary as events are categorised for each car class and scrolling the map to find the next event is much easier. When finding an event select it with the “A” button and it will then calculate it for you and set up the navigation system in your car. This is another feature that is done so well! You have a narrator telling you to turn left or right just like it would in a real navigation system in your car…amazing! So, instead of looking at a little dot on the map (which is available as well) and trying to get there through trial and error it directs you straight to your destination.

McLaren or Ferrari…you choose!

All the cars in the game are licensed cars. As briefly mentioned earlier, you have different classes of cars starting with “G” and working up to “A” (“G” being weaker cars and “A” being super cars). Once you buy your McLaren F1 or Enzo Ferrari you’ll feel exceptionally good about your achievement. In this game you have bikes as well which adds a bit of fun to the game, but it’s still really the cars that take the cup.

The soundtrack in this game is quite nice and the sound effects are what you would expect of a game in this day and age with everything being set in 5.1 but it’s nothing worth going on about.

Graphically the setting in Hawaii is beautiful with exceptional sunsets but seeing tree after tree can get a bit boring after driving around for about 2 - 3 hours at one time. The cars look great and the dashboard view is spectacular! Yup, they did a dashboard for each and every car in the game and believe me, there are stacks!

Flashing preferable

Right, now the real beauty of the game: multiplayer. Let me get the one negative aspect out the way first - there is NO offline multiplayer. However, once playing online you will forgive them and send them some milk and cookies just to say thanks. As soon as you go online you will realise that other cars are driving all over the place with orange nametags above the cars…this is in fact other players in the world driving around in the game, doing their own thing. To experience this for the first time is jaw-drop exciting! Find another player that you feel like “dicing,” flash your lights at him (or her) and accept the race. It is well thought out and works a dream! Sometimes you will find groups of cars driving around, like gangs, which are there to take on other groups. It feels like a huge breathing world made for automobile fanatics. It is honestly something everyone who buys this game MUST experience.

Besides there being no offline multiplayer, the only other section in the game that could have been improved on is having damage to the car. Yup, there is no damage. There is more than enough damage to the cars that you smack into, so you will still see bumpers flying, just not yours. There are also cops in this game that are lenient but if you push it too far and they catch you the fines are quite hefty. The cops just feel like an add on for the game, it does not really feel as if it was important to have the feature there in the first place, especially when compared to Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 on the PS2 back in 2002, it was the main attraction of the game and it showed.

If you are looking for a pure driving game without any nitro or car modding and would like to compete against real human counterparts then this game should not be overlooked!

Pros: Awesome map; navigation system works a dream; best ever online system for a racing game.
Cons: No offline multiplayer; no Damage; the cops feel like an afterthought.

Rating:
Contributor:	Dawid

Purchase: