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 Test
Drive Unlimited 2 (Playstation 3)
An ambitious
open-world racing title, Test Drive Unlimited 2, from Atari on PS3,
attempts to combine racing action with online social media, but seems to
fall short of the mark in several key areas. There are some interesting
options, such as the ability to create custom avatars and challenges and
share them online, and the races are challenges, but for the most part,
the game's poor user-interface and disappointing implementation undermine
some good ideas. This is a game where the gimmicks seemed to have
overwhelmed the good elements, making TDU2 one of those games that doesn't
live up to its potential, making for a disappointing experience that can't
compete with other driving games on the market. |
Test Drive Unlimited 2 gives players the
opportunity to race through the exotic streets and off road courses of
Hawaii in super-powered, high-end sports cars while they build up their
reputation by competing in a series of street races and while also
featuring social network features. You begin at the bottom as a lowly
racer with a fairly underpowered car and begin with a few simple racing
contests. The game is set in an open world, and you can pretty much drive
anywhere on its streets. This would be confusing, and somewhat boring
after awhile, but you can use an included GPS to find and discover events
and other sites on the map. You need to drive to some of these manually,
but can also jump to them immediately if you want to. In addition to
challenges, there are other sites that you can visit such as used-car
showrooms, fashion stores and even a casino. These help to bring your
avatar to life and the unfolding story directs you into the direction of
which event to pursue next. As you gain experience, you'll earn points in
several categories which will increase your overall level, which in turn
allows you to play additional events and items. These points are divided
into several categories including discovery, which you earn simply by
driving around and finding locations to use, social, where you can earn
extra points by interacting with players online and more. This adds
another layer of complexity to the gameplay, and while it's a little
confusing, you don't really need to keep track of all of this at the same
time, it's just part of a larger picture. Unfortunately, the confusing
User Interface is difficult to use and this non-intuitive approach makes
for a confusing and frustrating experience. Its difficult to see which
events are open and navigating while trying to stay on the career track
can be cumbersome.
In addition to racing, you also have to
keep track of your character's career and social status. At the earlier
stages, you don't have much choice and basically go along as the game
streams through the earlier stages. You can begin to customize your
character's appearance and clothing, and move on from your humble
beginnings. You have a small trailer to start with, which acts as your
player's base. Here, you can go through events new, look through your
small garage and other options. This can be leapt to at any point in the
game. It's a very small start, but you can purchase a bigger place with a
larger garage as you win more money. This is also where the game's
storyline takes place, and you can see the rather boring cut-scenes
between races, where you are also subjected to awful voice acting and a
deflating storyline that feels like a bad movie. Most of these sequences
are badly done and they detract from the gameplay greatly. Fortunately,
they only represent a small part of the game and you can skip through most
of it if you want to.
After sitting through these scenes, you
can then go back onto the road, where things improve somewhat. You can
enter your GPS and find many types of events to race. Some of these can
only be played when you meet certain conditions, such as car type or
experience level. Most of the time, you have plenty of options available
so its not such a big deal. Once you've opened up a race, the fun begins.
You can race in several types of events during TDU2, including standard
lapped races, timed matches and more. There are also social missions built
in where you have to pick up a character and deliver them to a destination
in timed runs. It gives the game some variety, but this is limited at
first. In order to unlock additional races and events, your player avatar
can go through a series of test to earn their license. These are somewhat
basic and include braking, lapped rounds and other tests. They're a little
tedious but can help you learn the controls and techniques of the various
vehicles. Each type of vehicle, from classic cars, to off-road and muscle
and so on requires you to complete the run of basic license tests before
you can compete with them.
Once you've earned your license, you can
then move on and compete in competitions. These events usually consist of
multiple races, usually lapped rounds against AI opponents. TDU2's earlier
stages aren't terribly difficult but there are more challenging events
later on. As you win races, you'll earn cash which you can use to purchase
additional vehicles and other items. However, you aren't confined to
earning money in competition, since you can perform stunts and other
maneuvers in the open-world mode to win additional money. Doing things
like drifting and achieving a high rate of speed increases your bank,
which you can only collect after you've reached a certain level. If you
crash or collide with another vehicle, the money you've earned is lost
immediately. This system goes on top of the standard racing interface, and
can become a confusing distraction that detracts from the overall game.
Test Drive Unlimited 2's selection of
vehicles includes a wide array of vehicles from high-end manufacturers.
Some of these include Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche, and Mercedes. You
can also drive a selection of more mundane vehicles from Land Rover,
Nissan, Subaru, and GM. Each car can be purchased from one of the dealers,
and you can also purchase customization options, different colors and
other options. Some of these are very expensive and you won't be able to
race with them until you've gotten a lot of experience and money.
Fortunately, you can walk into the dealerships and take them out for a
spin using the game's eponymous "Test Drive" feature. Once you
get beyond all the gimmicky online and social network stuff, there's
actually a fairly decent driving game underneath the layers. The game's
selection of vehicles is decent and its controls aren't too terrible,
though the lower-level cars have a way of slipping around the track that
makes cornering a bit difficult. You can compensate for this with time and
practice, which makes the game much easier. TDU2's variety of tracks and
courses is impressive, and the terrain which ranges from standard pavement
to off-road dirt tracks presents a variety of challenges. Some of the
racing AI seems a little bit too harsh in certain sections, but the game's
learning curve is somewhat flattened once you get the hang of things.
Visually, the game looks decent in its
racing sequences, with a nice consistent frame rate. Since it's set in
Hawaii, there are definitely some visually arresting sequences. The
open-ended world is quite good on the road. Unfortunately, once you get
off the road, you look at the clumsy looking avatars, which look quite
cheap and aren't even remotely convincing. The game's soundtrack is pretty
boring, too. Fortunately, the poorly conceived social sequences can be
skipped and the music can be turned off, which is a big improvement. When
it comes to the racing sequences, TDU2 is a fairly decent game, but there
are some fairly significant problems in its social approach that bring it
down a few notches. The biggest problems come with the avatar features.
This approach feels gimmicky, with most of it seemingly designed to take
you off the road for as much time as possible. The unappealing storyline
and bland customization options only make you wish you were on the road.
Additionally, the game's license tests are quite repetitive and only add
another monotonous layer to the game. A poorly designed interface adds to
the confusion, as do the multiple points and progression systems which
seem to overlap each other to create pointless complexity. There are some
good ideas in Test Drive Unlimited 2, but its poor implementation of them
makes things feel disjointed and rough. Jumping from the racing sequences
to the social aspects is jarring. Driving the vehicles is enjoyable and
challenging, but the avatar portions are tedious and dull. Its definitely
not as polished or innovative as competing driving titles like Blur, Split
Second or, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, making for a derivative and
disappointing title.
- Michael Palisano
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