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not a true racing game, but the one of its kind

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As a racing fun, I have played lots of GT, F1 and rally on several platforms. So tired to wait GT5, I decided to give a shot on street racing again, since the admirable NFS Porsche Unleashed faded away in time. It is no need to repeat how beautiful the landscape is in this game. Back to driving, it is fun in a very different way. As a track racer, it is so frustrating to drive on the winding mountain road north of the island. The map is too big to get familiar with. Even you are a Finn, you don't get a British pilot with the car. Which means you cannot plan your move ahead and the road force you to brake unprofessionally. The high way is more predictable, but the arcade tend control make your car unpredictable at low speed in heavy traffic. You and your rivals will get into traffic trouble from time to time. Whatever wins or loses, it feels by chance, not by skill. So, after a couple of hours, I realize why not just relax. I drive my Alfa Romeo around the island to visit car dealers, buy fancy cars and drive home, stop at signs... just a way of Sunday life... I never felt it since NFS PU. One thing remind who are still going to buy this game, don't be fooled by the interior screenshot took from car purchase manue. The interior of actual drivable model is less detailed. But, well, it is a small thing. The only thing I regret is bought a used copy. I'm really waiting for TDU 2 now.

A MUST FOR ANY AUTOMOTIVE ENTHUSIAST!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

THIS GAME IS A MUST FOR ANY CAR LOVER!!! EXCELLENT GRAFFICS, WIDE RANGE OF CARS AND MOTORCYCLES TO CHOOSE FROM, GREAT DRIVING LOCATION! THIS GAME FOR THE PRICE IS UNBEATABLE, I HAVE PLAYED THIS GAME FOR MANY HOURS AND IT DOES LOSE ITS APPEAL. YOU REALLY FEEL LIKE YOUR DRIVING AROUND THE REAL HAWAIIAN ISLAND!YOU CAN EITHER RACE OR CRUISE, BUY HOUSES TO STORE CARS AND BIKES, CUSTOMIZE CHARACTER, CUSTOMIZE CARS AND BIKES, GREAT GAME!!! LIKE I SAID, GREAT PRICE, GREAT GRAFFIX, GREAT FUN, GREAT GAME THATS A MUST FOR ANY AUTO FAN!!!!

Fun, Fun Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Very addicting! I can play for 30 minutes or for hours... The graphics are beautiful!

First of its kind!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have never played a game that offers such a complete online experience in racing. Once completeing the many single player missions, I have spent countless hours playing online. The matchmaking is the best!

this game rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I think this game is amazing! The graphics are killer, and being able to race someone online is great! I suggest everyone buy this game :)

Fantastic

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: October 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game is amazing,the cars u have to play with are so freaking hot.Not to mention the places where u get to drive.this is the ultimate driving game of 2006 and 2007.

i beg to differ

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 19
Date: September 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

i live on oahu, and was very excited to hear about the game. i even live off one of the major highways in the game....but after i played TDU i was very disapointed that it LOOKS NOTHING AT ALL LIKE OAHU! i mean all the buildings and houses, are gone! there are way more trees, and even the sea life park(featured in 50 first dates) was not there! the roads surrounding it were there, but they put some houses instead. is it so hard to at least program some of the major sites if they are boasting about how the map of the island is accurate? that aside, it is not even that great of a racing game, i would recommend need for speed most wanted instead.

The Future

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 8
Date: September 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

All I have to say is,"MOOR". "MOOR" racing,"MOOR" cars to buy and drive,"MOOR" online racing,and "MOOR" T.D.U. "A MUST HAVE GAME. GET WITH THE MOVEMENT OR GET LEFT BEHIND." The future of online gaming is here with ATARI and T.D.U...

MMO + Racing = Grind and Frustration

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

You know, I can admire the goal that Test Drive Unlimited set out to achieve. I really can. And they do some good work toward that goal. But the sad fact of the matter is that I'm about halfway through the game progression, and it's entirely probably that I may never start the game up again.

To start, for those who don't know, the game itself is basically a standard racer, with the twist in this case being that it takes place on a pretty accurate virtual reproduction of the island of Oahu. The basic idea is the same - you win races, earn money, buy cars, houses, etc. However, the entire game takes place in a sort of real-time online world that you inhabit with a number of other selected members of the Live community that happen to be online at the time.

The concept itself is pretty interesting, as it basically combines the features of a racing game with the format of an MMO. Kind of cool, right? Well, sort of. When you're just driving around the island, remarking at how nice everything looks, or playing the races that you stand a chance at (which is not all of them), it's quite enjoyable. The island is beautifully rendered, and while the car you drive is utterly immune to damage (one of those silly things that car companies tend to suggest and tend to be one of the hassles most frequently left out of games of the type), they do at least manage to look good in their base states.

Unfortunately, all this good stuff, and there is a lot of it, doesn't really help much for the parts of the game which are bad. For one thing, while the island itself is well designed, the challenges and their locations are not. It's not only very possible that you will stumble uninformed into a challenge that you cannot possibly hope to complete, I can virtually guarantee that it will happen. You have to search the giant island high and low to find all the dealerships and mechanics to get your equipment tuned to the point that you can win at some of these events you locate, and even after that, they're still fairly challenging. Challenging isn't bad, but the fact that these challenges are essentially arbitrary "you lose" events when you encounter them certainly is.

The basic theory for games is that you should always be able to complete whatever challenges the game provides you with. The fact that this is simply not the case here is a pretty good proof that the game suffers from some serious and fundamental design issues.

That's certainly the biggest problem, but not the only one by a long shot. Just as a short list, the human models are worse than creepy and horrible, the music gets old pretty fast, and the game will singlehandedly destroy your Recent Contacts list for Live if you play it online as it arbitrarily dumps people you don't even really play with into it. These bugs and insufficiencies taken by themselves would be minor, but as a whole, it drags the whole title down.

I'll confess - I'm not a racing game type of guy. They frustrate and annoy me to no end. This game is no exception. It's enjoyable enough, and driving around the island is incredible fun for a while, but in the long run, I can't really recommend this to anybody but the hard core fan at anything less than a bargain price. It's a great start, and hopefully future games (like the next Burnout, for instance) will make good use of it. For now, it's an inspired, but ultimately disappointing effort. Worth a twenty dollar purchase at bargain price, but I don't think I'd personally pay any more.

Zero Fun Factor

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: October 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Test Drive Unlimited, where do I start? First, the cars handle poorly and even with upgrades they don't help the car go any faster wtf?

Come on, the models/courier missions are pure trash, I mean how can side seat drivers have the audacity to be picky and set demands in your car, ATARI you guys dropped the ball on this aspect of the game.

Secondly, the fines are unacceptable, $87,500 for hitting 4 cars, give me a break! If that were the case in real life, then those in traffic accidents should be worried. I don't mind paying a reasonable traffic fine, but not the numbers they've pulled up to break your bank.

Third, the makers of this game have sucked all of the fun out of the game by forcing you to be an expert driver. Meaning, on the courier/models/transport missions and etc, where a few mistakes will force you to restart the mission and thats dumb! Who in their right mind wants to keep retrying a mission that they can't get past?

In conclusion, the game's only bright spot is the transport mission, where you can drive without a time limit and without all the stress, unlike the other missions in the game. The good thing about this, was I bought this game off someone on ebay for $10, so i only lost $10. However anybody considering this game, should reconsider something else instead.

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