Test Drive Unlimited
A friend showed me TDU (Test Drive Unlimited) a few days ago, and I was quite impressed. The developers have managed to reproduce the whole island of Honalulu, roads, landmarks and all. When you bring up the map it is possible to zoom out and view the whole island. This is quite impressive!
You start the game with a rental car and are made to purchase a house. After this you are simply dropped outside your house to explore the island as you see fit! North, South, East, West, take your pick and simply head off. Near the start there are a few races to choose from which are quite easy but offer only a small reward. There are also some missions which involve dropping a person off at a destination as quickly as possible without making the rode too bumpy. These missions seem especially cheezy to be because the only reward are vouchers to purchase clothes with!
Earning money from winning races isnt too hard since I played for about one and a half hours and could already afford a mid-range Ferarri, although having a fast car does not really mean all that much because different class card are needed for different races, so it pays to have a few cars.
Another aspect of the game which suffers is the environment which feels kind of “generated”. This is because of the scale of the game. Scenery pops up and loads in front of you. Also the sides of all roads are like a ditch, so whenever you leave the road, even a little bit, its like a little drop off on the side, and you almost always leave the ground while re-entering at speed.
Despite all the negatives, there are some appealing aspects of Test Drive Unlimited! The cars to drive rather nicely and have very unique feelings. I particulatly like the Ferarri range of vehicles.
