Test Drive Unlimited

[Gongongmesteren]

I considder buy this game, is it a great game?
I understood from the little i had read about this game, that it takes place on public roads, not on closed racing-tracks!
Is it true?

[Bram Hengeveld]

Yes its based on the roads of Hawai. But i have mixed feelings about it. It looks great but some that bought it got bored with it very fast.
Maybe someone else that has the game can give us a small review

[Patrick van Driel]

I bought it and sold it 1 week later, Its not a sim game its more arcade then you can imagine. You can brake 10 meters before a corner with 200 kmh and still make the corner !!! Its a challenge game for getting points when you win a street race against other online players on a huge map.
If you like race sims DONT BUY IT !! if you like Need for Speed you should buy it.
Its up to you ,good luck.

[Gongongmesteren]

Thank you guys, it was a great help !
I do like Need For Speed, especially Underground 2... No police! But unfortunately, it does not work online, and for me, it never did.
Yes i also like race sims, especially GTR-2.

[Roy Visser]

i played it, and had a good blast with it for a couple of weeks. Cruising around Hawaii with buddy's is alot of fun. But the lack of caraddons made that the game didnt last long. Cruising still is fun though, just obeying traffic rules and punching it on short sprints makes it fun with friends.

here 2 videos i made

[YOUTUBE]kbN4c1rysHk[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]z_4Vqhv1YuI[/YOUTUBE]

making the FandF spoof was loads of fun

[Maik Peters]

COOL Having fun with friends like that

[Gongongmesteren]

Thank you guys!
Is there any police, like in Need For Speed Carbon? I hope not.
One of my neighbours have an old Need For Speed, and he can switch on/off the police.
I am sorry that we can't do that in Carbon! Sometimes it is fun race with the police, and
sometimes it was nice if we could switch them off!

[Sven De Nys]

No there's not any police...
But indeed, TD:U is a very arcadish game... no real feeling of the car and NO damage!!! I also have the game and it's good for some days.. although the specs are high if you want to run it on full detail. The MP thing as described above is very fun, BUT you can't see everyone at once... Like only 8 racers that are in your neighbourhood, which is a bit low for my standards

If you please, I could repost my review that I've made for the old community.

[Gongongmesteren]

Wow it sounds good! I think i like that game already, even i not have it yet.
I will ONLY ask you to repost your review if you can do it WITHOUT spending much time to do it...
Because i have already order the game on the internet, so please do NOT spend too much time to do it okay?
In my country Denmark, i could only find one internetshop, where it is possible to pay without using a credit-card.
I do not have any credit-cards, so there are not so many internetshops to choose from in Denmark!

[Sven De Nys]

Hmm... Maybe try a international shop where you can buy by bank transfer of maybe pay at the mail man Don't know much about internet stores in Danmark, so can't help you with that... Maybe our other Scandinavian friends can help you out...

AND here's the review:

Test Drive: Unlimited is set on the Hawaiian island Oahu. The island is fully rendered from real life using Google Maps. Every tree or road sign that is there in real life, is also in the game. In total there are over 1000 miles of road available for you to enjoy yourself on. The game is divided in 2 pieces (Single player and Multiplayer), so I’ll split the review in 2 also.

First of all the single player game.
After the short tutorial, the single player game offers the player a wide variety of challenges (races (circuit and point-to-point), time trials, pick up lifters and models, car deliveries). Most races are not really hard or long so you don’t lose much time doing them all. There is no need to pressure on you to actually do this challenges at once. The player can drive around freely around the island in GTA style. The challenges are meant to earn money to get yourself some new cars, tuning your cars, get new clothing, new houses, … Unfortunately, most challenges are not engaging. Neither are the races. The AI opponents are very connected to particular patterns. I mean, when you race two-three times, the AI cars make the same mistakes. The point-to-point races are a bit more challenging. Here you drive time limited and you encounter road hazards, weather and traffic.
Good thing about the single player game is that you never run out of things to do. There are always new cars to shop for in the showrooms, get some new clothing or buy new houses.

The multiplayer game is basically the same as the single player game. You still have to do the challenges, earn money, buy new cars, … But they added some cool touches to make the game more interesting. Like the option to challenge whatever player you want by flashing your headlights. The most important feature is the car club option. When you own/are in a club, you can challenge other clubs, hang out in your clubhouse and exchange gear and cars. Off course you can keep an eye on the stats and rankings. In order to create circuit races, players have to achieve the Pro status. This will enable the race editor tool. The multiplayer game makes the game look better because of the actual weak single player.

The vehicle diversity in TD:U is enough for the game. There are around 90 cars/bikes in the game divided in classes. The handling of the cars is pretty simple, but you need some time to get used to the responsiveness of the different cars. I can’t confirm if the bike’s handling is the same as the handling of the cars. To explain the damage system in TD:U, I don’t take much time because there is none. Driving into walls at 200km/h feels like falling into a bush. Overall the handling of the cars/bikes are pure arcade. The cars look pretty good but you might expect more from a new PC game. The environment on the other hand is rendered beautifully. It is a real pleasure to just cruise around on the island.
The cars sound is muscular and loud enough. Each car has their own sound library. I don’t exactly know if that are real sounds or programmed ones. The in-game radio is varied but limited. Good thing is that you can easily import your own music into the game.

Feels funny to read it again

[Gongongmesteren]

Thank you Sven!
Yes it is funny, and very interesting to read it again!

I not have any problems with finding the game in internet-shops. And i did find only ONE internet-shop in Denmark, who will send the game 'cash on delivery'.

Today i received an e-mail from the internet-shop, saying that i should receive the TD:U game on December 20. And i look forward to!
Maybe you know the internet-shop which i talk about (because they also have a department in England), softxchange is their name.

It was a great job that you put that review on again, thank you Sven!

[Sven De Nys]

At your service Gongongmesteren... I need to check the shop out, since I'm desperatly looking for the Go!Cam!

so tomorrow you'll enter the TD:U world! Enjoy it mate ! and let us know what you think of the game...

[Gongongmesteren]

Thank you!
Today i also received an e-mail (one of those automatic-machine-mails) saying that they expect to delivery the game on December 22.
Now they have change the expected delivery date two times, ofcourse because the internet-shop not have the game in stock.
When i receive the game, yes i will let you know what i think about it!
I have many pc-games, i guess 50-60. Most of them i never use, but i like to have some games to choose from, so that i not only stick to one game.

[Gongongmesteren]

Today, Saturday 22/12-2007.
I go on Christmas holiday! So i want to wish you all a Merry Christmas & A Happy New-Year!
Thank you all for this year! See you in 2008!

[Bram Hengeveld]

Merry Christmas to you as well Frank! See you soon

[Sven De Nys]

The expansion pack: Test Drive Unlimited MegaPack is now available !

It took a while, but finally the PC gamers, and their XBOX360 collegues, can enjoy a whole package of new cars in Test Drive Unlimited.

“We’re very pleased to now be able to bring these fantastic vehicles to players of the PC version of Test Drive Unlimited and we really want to thank the PC community for their patience,” said David Nadal, director at developer Eden Games. “Hopefully there’s enough beautiful cars here to make you want to spend spring time in Hawaii, even if it’s not the real one.”

The list of fantastic vehicles that Nadal is talking about is the following:

• Alfa Brera
• Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R
• Audi RS4 quattro Saloon
• Koenigsegg CCR
• Audi S6
• Lamborghini Countach 25th anniversary
• Chrysler Crossfire® SRT-6 coupe
• Lamborghini Gallardo Coupe
• Chrysler Crossfire® SRT-6 Roadster
• Lamborghini Murciélago Roadster
• Dino 246 GT
• Lexus GS 450h
• Dodge Challenger RT
• Lexus IS 350
• Dodge Charger Super Bee
• Lexus LS 460 L
• Dodge Viper SRT-10 coupe
• Lexus LS 600h L
• Edonis
• Lexus SC 430
• Ferrari 250 GTO
• McLaren F1 GT
• Ferrari 308 GTS Quattrovalvole
• McLaren F1 LM
• Ferrari 512 TR
• Mercedes CL CLK GTR
• Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
• Nissan Skyline GTR R34
• Ferrari Challenge Stradale
• Noble M400
• Ferrari F40
• Pagani Zonda C12S Roadster
• GM (Cadillac®) Cien™ Concept
• RUF RGT
• GM (Cadillac®) CTS-V™
• RUF RK Spyder
• GM (Chevrolet®) Corvette® C1 1957
• RUF Rt 12
• GM (Chevrolet®) Corvette® C6™ Convertible
• RUF Rturbo
• GM (Chevrolet®) Corvette® Stingray™ Convertible 1971
• Spyker C8 Spyder
• GM (Saturn™) Curve™ Concept
• Spyker C8 Spyder T
• Holden Efigy Concept
• TVR T440R

But, you need to have 9,99£/14,99€ in your pocket to get them... With 45 brand new cars and 1 bike, the package is cheaper than the previous expansions (on XBOX Live). If you're intrested, you can buy the package on Gamesplanet. Payment is made by Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

[Robert Hicks]

Originally Posted by Sven De Nys

No there's not any police...

This is incorrect. There are indeed police in this game. They will not go after you for speeding, but they will pursue you for crashing into other cars, especially other police cars. ;) The chase systems works like this. You have a small display with 3 buttons that have squad car silhouettes in them. If you bump another driver, the first button starts blinking and you could possibly be pulled over but if you drive clean for a few seconds, it goes back to normal. The real problem is if you have one crash and then quicksand into several more. It takes a total of 6 crashes to make all the buttons light up solid and you are sure to get caught. If you hit a police car, you are also very likely to get caught. The penalties of getting caught are:

1. A fine
2. A minute or two in jail if you don't have any money to pay the fine.


That being said, In thousands of miles, I've only ever been caught once or twice. I currently have 7 cars and a house with an 8 car garage. (I need to get a bigger one) The game is very arcade-ish but is still fun. There are several kinds of challenges that allow you to make money. The highest paying ones are the car delivery challenges where you have to deliver a car from one place to another. There is a huge bonus for a perfect delivery. This means you can't bump anything or go off the road even a little bit. They have no time limit but not only do you have to maintain excellent control of the car, you also have to watch out for NPC cars that will suddenly change lanes in front of you or slow down for no reason. (just like real life )

The game is fun overall and you can find that you look up at the clock and you have been driving around for a couple of hours. If you are looking for a sim, this isn't it. That being said, it's still a fun game to play.

[Sven De Nys]

Yeah I agree There are police cars in the game, but was is worth mentioning them :p

It's for sure a great game to play, but I just can't play it for some hours at a time... :s

[Oliver Amos]

Thanks! I will have to buy this! Even though my bought the game new at release for £17. So I am not to sure how they are charging £9 for this.

[Simon Trendell]

I played it for a while, then found a cheap way of getting cash and got bored >_>

[Gongongmesteren]

Hello again! And thank you for all your postings. And sorry for my little late responding!
Because it took me so long time, i now know that my computer can not run Test Drive Unlimited properly.
Despite a new CHIEFTEC 550 watt power suply, a new ATI 512MB sapphire x1950 pro, and an upgrade to 1536 DDR RAM.
It still doesn't work in my stone age computer, and i simply don't understand... Because my GTR-2 work 100% perfect.

[Oliver Amos]

What cpu?

[Gongongmesteren]

Originally Posted by Oliver Amos

What cpu?

I don't know what CPU means, i not know so much about computers!

[Oliver Amos]

Originally Posted by Gongongmesteren

I don't know what CPU means, i not know so much about computers!

The processor. It will be either AMD or Intel.

Right click on 'My Computer' and click 'Properties'.

Should tell you there

[Gongongmesteren]

Oh, i see. Yes it is an: AMD Athlon(TM) 64 processor 3000+ 1.8 GHz.
My computer is a: LIFE MEDION, and i think it is about 4 years old.