Test Drive Unlimited

"TDU : Decent PSP Racer"

Ah. Test Drive Unlimited. I know what's running through your head: Another racing simulation, along with PGR3, Ridge Racer, Burnout, etc. etc. But seriously, compared to other PSP Racers this one is right up there with the best of them, despite some minor (and major) flaws. Well. I'll get into that later. If you're just about to go buy it, go do it NOW. For those who aren't, read the rest of the review. Please?

Gameplay: Yup. Gameplay. The thing that makes a game a game. In TDU (Test Drive Unlimited) you fly to Oahu to live the good life on there. Upon arriving, you can buy your own car and your own house, and from that point on your Oahu racing career. Try to be a good driver though ; the cops will be after you for speeding and collisions! (The cops are stupid, though. VERY.) Participate in races to get money to buy cars and houses. The more cars and houses you've completed, and "Challenges" (Time trial, races, speed) you have 1st place in, the closer you get to 100%. The more money you get, the bigger and more badass cars you can get, from a Nissan Skyline to a Lamborghini Roadster. Atari attempted to make this realistic but it came out pretty wrinky-dinked in the realism factor. Still, gameplay is very lasting. What's the word? Oh yes. Addicting.

Graphics: NO! This is quite possibly the biggest flaw in the game, aside from Controls (more on that later.) These are bland, not detailed sceneries that you drive through. And you might notice that some houses look exactly the same as another. And there are many graphical glitches aside from the fact that it simply SUCKS. I'll name a few: In the house "The Orient" if you view it long enough it starts to look like the house has flooded. Sometimes a guardrail blends in with a hillside. Seriously. That'd raise an eyebrow, don't you think? The cars don't look very impressive. Your character (Which you can't choose from) looks poor too. All in all, there's nothing impressive here, or even remotely good.

Sound: Okay, sound. I like the music a lot, personally, stuff I've never even thought about or heard before. Inside a car, you can fiddle with your radio, and select a "station" and cycle through all the songs. Pretty sweet, in my opinion. The police sound very realistic (you can hear their chatter for whatever reason, except every time it's the exact same chatter, and sometimes it comes on 15 seconds later than usual.) The car engines sound pretty good, and for once they nailed the realism factor right on the head (Finally, Jesus Christ.) There's no Linkin Park in the music, but hopefully you can live with that, yes?

Controls: Ew! The second most biggest flaw, right on the heels of the Graphics. You have to steer with an "Analog stick" for god's sake, and believe me that's pretty hard. And you can't even change it. No other "Sets" of controls! What is this???? Sony should've made an analog stick that isn't terrible. Anyways, the rest of the controls make sense, except the stupid steering control, which just happens to be the most important. With that stupid control configuration, the Learning Curve automatically becomes huge. That analog stick makes this game extremely frustrating on beginners.

Multiplayer: Yes, Test Drive Unlimited is the first in a new series of games: MMORG, or Massive Multiplayer Online Racing Game. You can connect to any internet hotspot and join the world in racing. Now there's not a gigantic community of racers in the multiplayer, but usually you can find a race with people waiting. I advise you get past the ridiculously large learning curve and getting some good cars, but you can probably find a race with another newbie. Also, there are NO cops in this game. Huzzah! Now we can crash and burn our way to diners. Let's go! Plus, there's no other way to go online for your first time and greet someone with a 200 mph smash into their side!

Learning Curve: The learning curve on this game is freaking HUGE thanks to some stupid control configuration. If you've purchased this and are getting started, be prepared for the huge uphill struggle to decency (Yes, once you get past this stupid curve you're "Decent.") Quite frankly, of all the games I've played (A lot) this game has the biggest learning curve, even bigger than Counter-Strike. By the way, here's a tip: Try not to hurl your PSP across the room. It'll break even faster.

Overall: Test Drive Unlimited brings some new stuff to the Racing Simulation world, but it managed to pick up some seriously annoying bugs along the way, and a stupid control configuration while you're at it. In my opinion, it's almost worth every penny. The bugs get constantly annoying. I've lost three races so far because of them. It's pretty frustrating, and the Learning Curve is huge. Nevertheless, this is the first game in a new series: MMORG, Massive Muliplayer Online Racing.

Buy/Rent: Buy. As stated before, it might not be worth every penny but the experience is an addicting and a good one. Again, many frustrating things about this crazy game, learning curve, bugs, frustration, controls, etc. But if you keep at it, you'll soon be on top of the world. And maybe, just maybe, you'll beat Badass's time on Tunnel. Yeah. Good luck with that.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/15/07

Game Release: Test Drive Unlimited (US, 03/21/07)