Review – Test Drive Unlimited 2
by KrazyFace, HSM team writer
Test Drive Unlimited 2 isn’t exactly a new game. In fact, it was released in the US on February 8, 2011. But this is no bad thing, because it means that Eden Games has had time to iron out most of the major bugs — and believe me, there were a lot of them! But now the flying cars have been grounded, the collision detection has been tweaked, and the game runs as smoothly as it ever will.
So why are we reviewing it now? Well, there’s a high possibility that some HSM readers are core Home users, and may have missed this little gem.
Why would a core Home user be interested in a racing game? Well, we’d say that most probably wouldn’t. Given Need for Speed‘s arcade qualities, or Gran Turismo‘s attention to real life details, it’s safe to say that it’s likely to be dedicated petrol-heads that would find interest in a game like TDU2.
Ahh, but what’s this? TDU2 is much more than just another racing game. Here we will find avatar customization, real estate housing to buy, furniture to put in the houses, and a large social scene too — much like Home itself. But before we get into those Home-style goodies, let’s first talk about the game’s bare bones.
TDU2 is a fairly solid racer with a wealth of real life cars that can be bought, won or found in and around the game’s massive world. Oh, and when we say massive, we mean you have the entire topography of Ibiza and Hawaii to drive around on. The game’s islands are in fact so accurate that rather than using an in-game map for help on other websites, they just plotted the places on the Google Maps version of each island!
And that’s not just some pretty background scenery out there either — oh no, get yourself a 4×4 and you can take that sucker anywhere off-road! The whole of each island is open for exploration, from the highest mountain to the widest desert, so as long as you can control your vehicle, you can get to any point on the map. This can make for some breath-taking views, particularly in Hawaii. As Norse will tell you, Hawaii is one of the most beautiful places you can visit, and it won’t let you down even in its graphical form. Ibiza is a lot smaller, of course, but both islands are fantastic places to drive an endless ribbon of road bathed in tropical sunsets (or storms) when the feeling takes you.
Each car has its own unique handling similar to its real-life counterpart. There’s the usual mob of Ferrari’s, RUF’s and most well-known luxury cars including Fords, Aston Martins, a wealth of Audis, Dodges, Chevrolets and Mercedes Benz. And let’s not forget the range of Bugatti Veyrons on offer. There’s much more than that too. You discover some cars in wreckages across each island (once all parts are found you can get a working version), and some you win in head-to-head races from characters in the game. There are also car showrooms all across each island that you can drive to and walk into. Depending on which showroom you enter, there will be various models on display that you can inspect by getting into the cars and playing with things like the windows, doors and horn. You can even give them a little rev if you want to.
Living up to its name though, the best thing in this game is the test drive. Regardless of whether or not you have enough money to actually buy a car, you can still take each model for a quick spin to see how it handles or just for quick kicks. But money is key in Test Drive Unlimited 2, and to make it you’ll have to work your way up the ranks in the racing tournaments that take place across the islands. Difficulty can be adjusted by way of menu — by turning on things like auto-gears and driving assistance, you can make things a little easier for yourself if you need to — but you’ll lose some of the real feel of the cars by doing so. You’ll start at the bottom as a lowly car valet, with nearly zero cash to your name, but after a few races in one of the three cars you start with, you should have enough to buy yourself a decent ride to attack the competition properly.
However, TDU2 has a unique RPG element that just might hinder your progress, because cars are not the only thing to spend your hard-earned cash on. The default avatar you pick at the beginning of the game can be molded into a closer representation of yourself by visiting the plastic surgeon. Each session will allow you to change as much about your avatar as you can afford. Things like eye color, face shape, cheek bones, nose size and more are all here for you to play around with. The only thing you can’t change is your body type. Once you’re happy with your likeness (or monstrosity) you can then take them to the hairdressers for further styling.
Not happy with just that, Home Folk? Well, there are also four or five different styles of clothing shops you can drive to, enter and try on a range of clothing. Each shop has categories for hats, tops, bottoms, shoes, gloves and glasses, and each brand of shop has its own unique style as well. Without counting, an educated guess would suggest there are around 300 (possibly more) individual clothing items to purchase and store in any of the walk-in wardrobes in each of the houses you choose to buy. Which brings us neatly to the next topic — the real estate of the game.
Each island has various properties dotted around in some beautiful tropical settings, and each property can be virtually toured by visiting an estate agent or simply by stumbling over it on your travels. Houses are categorized by stars: 1 star is the lowest and cheapest, while 5 stars are monumental mansions or yachts big enough to fight in a war!
These properties are more integral to the game than just something to splash cash on however, since each house also has a garage, and you can only own as many cars as you have garage space to store them in. This means picking and choosing property is a more strategic decision than just selecting whatever looks nice. If you feel you might have wasted your money on property lacking garage space, you can always sell it back to the estates at a loss, or use it as part-exchange for a better place. TDU2 is perpetually on-line too, so you can call up a friend in-game and invite them over to your new pad to show off your interior skills, your new clothes, cars or just for a general voice-chat.
The interiors aren’t quite as complex as those on Home, however — there’s no option to just put things wherever you want, but the style of each furniture piece can be swapped to make a whole new theme in your house. Different floors and walls can also be bought, should you feel the need for a total change of scenery. Although there are no furniture shops, you can select new furniture simply by entering “My TDU Life” on the laptop, then clicking on any furniture items, will open the choices available to you given your progress within the game.
There’s a huge focus on the multiplayer and social aspects of TDU2, which makes it super easy to race any random player just by flashing your lights as they pass. This will trigger a one-on-one race, which you can then pick from anywhere on the map. There’s also a huge array of race modes you can select from the main map, and challenging people in the near-by vicinity is as simple as picking an event to race in, then waiting at the start line for the competitors to fill in the other positions.
But it goes one better: you can either start your own private club, or join an existing one. Your club will be ranked and rated, and as you progress you’ll be able to get bigger and better club houses (and unique club cars) as you move through the ranks. You can even create your own race routes within the Race Community Centre, challenge others to beat your own time and even set winning cash prizes for those who can beat your own record.
TDU2 is an odd beast for a racer, because it allows the player to take it at their own pace all the time. If all you want to do is take a cruse in a classic car and see the sights of the islands, go ahead. If you fancy making your money through a win on the roulette table, poker tournaments or slot-machines, you can download the DLC for that chance. There are also things like photography challenges, which will have you driving to different places to get the perfect conditions for the studio’s requested picture for a spot of cash. And if you want to take it really easy, you can just chauffeur a friend around the island while having a chit-chat in the new ride you want to show off.
The completists will have a tough time however, since buying every car, house and scrap of clothing will take you the best part of 200 hours, maybe more. This is as close as a racing game will ever get to a Role Playing Game, and there’s plenty here that will make someone who’s more of a Home user feel, well… right at Home!
February 15th, 2013 by KrazyFace | 5 comments
KrazyFace has been a gamer for longer than he can remember. In fact its been so long he's pretty sure he started gaming with rocks and sticks in a cave someplace off the coast of Africa, when it was joined on to France. However long its been, he's got enough experience behind him to know a good game when he sees one. He's also a bit of a Home addict, you'll find him in there whenever he's got spare time - or not playing a game.
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Wow I never really gave the test drive series more then a passing glance but I may have to check it out. Great read KrazyFace.
Great Article KrazyFace,
Not being a long time gamer, I’ve never heard of this one. I do like car games and Home though. May have to check this one out.
Thanks for the knowledge.
Glad to bring this to the Home-crowd’s attention guys, it’s a rare game where I’m from though, so you might have a tough time getting hold of a copy. But if you can pick this up easily, I’d definitely recommend it. Two massive islands to drive around with dynamic day/night cycles and random weather (which will affect driving conditions) makes this just a joy to play. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve lost driving some of my friends around as passengers while chatting away!
You can have 5 different views while driving, and when I have a friend in the car with me, I generally use the ‘in-car’ view so I can see them while we talk. The down side is when it’s a female friend and I’m too busy eyeing up their new dress rather than watching the road LOL!
*SMASH!* YOU HIT A TREE!!!
“I know, I’m sorry, I was uhh… Somewhere else”
Word of warning test drive unlimited one online servers lasted under 2 years and as Atari has just gone bankrupt, id wait a little while before id pick up a copy. If your a pc player of tdu2 you cant buy any dlc cars anymore due to defunct atari coins, plus the main web site has several pages that are no longer available including community blog, there are several unofficial forums that can viewed for bug work arounds though
I missed this game for some reason Krazy. It seems to be a combination between GT-4 and GTA. I am a huge fan of sandbox games,so I will be checking this out. Another great lesser know game nugget Krazy!