Test Drive Unlimited

Written by Troy Matsumiya  on July 12, 2006

First Impressions: Get into the exotic car culture on the cheap.

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You've heard of MMORPGs but have you ever heard of a MOOR? If not, Atari and French developer Eden Studios are working to change that with the highly anticipated Test Drive Unlimited (TDU).

To distinguish itself from the dozens of top tier racers already crowding the market, TDU is being designed as a Massively Open Online Racing game where you cruise around in an open free-roaming environment filled with potentially thousands of online players that you can challenge to a race. Add in more than 125 licensed cars and motorcycles from exotic manufacturers like Aston Martin, Ducati, Ferrari, Jaguar, Koenigsegg, Maserati, Lamborghini, Saleen and Shelby, along with over 1000 miles of roads stretching across the entire Hawaiian island of Oahu, and you've got the makings for one of the coolest racing games ever.

Now before you have visions of racing against hundreds of people through the streets of Waikiki, know that there will be limitations to keep things manageable. For example, although each server is capable of supporting thousands of players, you will only be able to see those in your immediate area. Also, when you compete in a race or side mission, you will be moved into an instanced version of the map, which is a separate but identical copy to ensure you won't run into non-competing drivers clogging up the road. And sadly, although there will be both a PC and Xbox 360 version, they will run on separate servers which means no interactivity between them.

But other than these very reasonable limitations, you will have a ton of freedom to take part in a car culture normally afforded only by the super rich. Want to race that rare $500,000 Italian sports car? Go ahead. Want to pimp cars and sell them for big cash? Feel free. Want to create your own race, including the course layout, rules and even the prize money? Can do. You can even go on a sight-seeing tour across the topographically correct Oahu and visit famous locations like Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor and Honolulu.

But first, you will have to select a driver avatar and personalize him or her by adjusting various physical and facial attributes. You can also show off your style by purchasing various clothing and accessories from several shops scattered across the island, but note that your driver will be unable to leave the vehicle and walk around on foot (this is a driving game after all). Vehicles will be purchased from dealerships or through private sales from other players, and you will need to visit real estate agents to buy homes and garages to store your collection.

Ah, yes, the vehicles. Practically every vehicle in this game will cause uncontrollable slobbering; from classic muscle cars to outrageously expensive exotic sports cars, this game will be a car enthusiast's dream come true. When a vehicle is in your garage or a dealership, you will be able to lovingly admire the highly detailed models by rotating and zooming the camera to your heart's content. You can even enter a first person mode in the driver's seat to see how even the interiors are accurately recreated down to the finest detail. Nice! This first person view is also available when you're driving, where you can watch your driver steer and shift gears, and even look at your passenger (available on certain side missions).

You will be able to customize your vehicle with a wide array of real manufacturer options, custom paint jobs and decals, and performance upgrades. Unlike the intricate and complex upgrades of Forza Motorsport, TDU's performance upgrades will be simpler and more arcade-like by boosting basic attributes like acceleration and braking up to three levels.

Naturally, you will need money to buy all this stuff and the only way to earn your scratch is to compete in races, challenges, tournaments and missions. There will be three basic types of race modes: head-to-head, time trials and speed trap. To enter a race, you can simply pull up your map (which covers the entire island) and scroll through the various challenges. You can then either drive to the challenge area or instantly teleport there.

You can also enter into custom challenges created by other players, or make your own. You will be able to set the course layout, meaning you can make it as long or short as you want, and can customize over 50 rules and criteria like eligible vehicle type, class, make and model; player skill level; handling style; collisions; Gold/Silver/Bronze milestones for time trials; and even set the entry fee (which is paid to you) and prize money (which you pay). Custom challenges will stay up on Xbox Live for a week to give everyone a chance to compete, with the top driver at the end of the week winning the purse. Naturally, the goal is to win your own challenge since you can then keep both the entry fees and the prize money.

You will also be able to issue challenges to anyone you meet on the road. If they accept, you set the race parameters and then hit the gas. If you don't want to be hustled by some inhumanly good driver who plays for 12 hours a day and has a ridiculously souped-up ride, you will be able to set filters to help you find drivers at the same skill level or car class.

If you don't feel like racing against other players, you will be able to earn cash by taking on Grand Theft Auto-like side missions like delivering goods and passengers, shuffling around vehicles, and so on.

The side missions, like the default challenges, will be available both on and offline. However, the whole point of TDU is the MOOR concept, where you interact and race against other players around the world. To encourage online socialization, you will be able to create a car club where you can trade parts, entire vehicles, create or compete in races and tournaments, or simply hang around in a УdinerФ (which are really online lobbies) to chat and trade war stories.

As in all racing games, collisions are inevitable. Fortunately, damage is cosmetic only and so will not affect performance. It may not be realistic, but the developers are focusing more on delivering fun racing rather than having you worry about an accurate micromanagement simulation. However, this won't give you impunity to drive like a demolition derby maniac since you will attract the attention of the police if you get into too many collisions. You will have a three-level threat limit and if you go over, you'll be slapped with a hefty fine. Luckily, this only applies when you're not in a race or mission.

Vehicle handling feels more arcade-like which purists may not like, but it certainly makes the game more accessible and enjoyable for less skilled players. Besides, you can always set up more demanding races for higher skilled drivers if you want. At speed, the scenery zips by you in full motion blur, which is actually a bit irritating because you can't enjoy the cool Hawaiian scenery without feeling the need for a set of prescription eyeglasses. Hopefully they will tone down the motion blur effects in the final build. Oh, and if you don't have the cash to buy that expensive sports car, you can temporarily rent it to compete in a race. Let's see you do that in real life!