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like Gran Turismo but less challenging

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: June 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Description: you race in 4 cities (see item description), each city has 10 tracks (40 tracks total). you race against 5 other people. you have to finish in the top 3 in each track. the exception is 3 drag races , in which you must finish 1st. after all 4 cities are complete, you race in a "final" tournament against just one person. the "final" tournament has 5 tracks (45 total for the whole game).
GAMEPLAY: the graphics are very good and realistic. you drive at night, day, and dusk. The sound track consisting of dmx etc.. is very good while you drive (not cheesy game music). the tracks are well designed and are fun to drive.
DRAWBACKS: 1)the driving challenge is poor and does not require any technical skill. All you have to do to win each race is to avoid hitting the other cars in traffic - when you hit another car, it completely spins you around and you go from 1st to last place. 2) you win money depending on which place you finish (1st, 2nd, 3rd), but There Is Nothing To Buy with the money you earn - its completely useless cash. Therefore, it doesnt matter what place you finish. 3) you cant tune the cars at all. their performace characteristics are permanent throughout the game. 4) the story line is poor and is never developed. in between each race you "chat" with the other drivers, but all they do is "tease" each other. no real communication of substance takes place - you should just skip over the conversation parts. 5) the cars sound the same with a few exceptions.
PROS: 1) you get to drive mostly american muscle cars - a nice change from the plethora of imports in games like Gran Turismo. 2) the cars handle true to their real world counterparts (from what i know about such traits (i own a '70 chevelle in real life)). 3) you can change the color of the cars.
OVERALL: i would put this game in the same genre as "Midnight Club", "Supercar: street challenge", and "Driver [you're the wheelman]" but with far better graphics. If you are looking for a true simulation like the Gran Turismo series then you will be disappointed. On the other hand, if you want a fun "car" game that isnt too challenging , lets you drive some great muscle cars without worrying about tuning anything, and doesnt have a complex story line (just fun racing) , then this is right up your alley. I've played most of the other "car" games on the market and found this one to be a lot of fun. However, i think the game is too expensive...for the amount (lack) of content you recieve compared to other racing games.

MY NEW FAVORITE!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: June 16, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I just got this this game and I have to say that it is just great, at first it wasn't what i expected with the head on collisions throwing other cars back fifty feet, but the more I played getting past the first couple levels, (which the reviewers that gave this game bad ratings didn't do) I realized how great this game actually is! This game is SO FAST, you feel like YOU ARE ACTUALLY IN THE RACE. Also the game has the BEST GRAPHICS that I have seen in a playstation 2 game, (except for the movies in FFX!) The COPS IN THIS GAME ARE WICKED!- they remind me of the chase mode in DRIVER for the playstation. This game has 50 LEVELS, with plenty of cars to drive and customizable colors. There are many perks when you beat this game- you get to put the insanly fast DODGE VIPER CONCEPT CAR in your GARAGE, and you unlock special play modes like you being ABLE TO BE THE COPS in this game and chase after the speeding "test drivers" yourself! I WOULD DEFINITLY RECOMMEND THIS GAME TO ANYONE, especially those who liked the movie "The Fast and the FURIOUS", and those who like INTENSE HEART POUNDING SPEED and ANDRENILINE RUSHES! HAVE FUN!

ATARI could have done much better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: August 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

First of all, the load time is terrible...Lets get that out of the way.The car physics are bad....i mean "REAL BAD". Have you ever hit another car and sent it flying 40 feet in the air..BACKWARD with no damage to your car?? The Only fun factor is weaving through traffic. The controls are not responsive and attempting a power slide at a hairpin turn almost always results in disaster.(This is coming from a racing game fanatic)Decent graphics and a GREAT selection of muscle cars fail to save this game from condemnation. DONT' BUY THESE GAMES:
Midnight Club
Test Drive
Tokyo Extreme Racer
Try these instead:
RalliSport Challenge
World Rally Championship III
NFS:Hot Pursuit 2 & Colin MCrae rally

Great Gameplay

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 19
Date: March 31, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Feels as if your in the car itself! Highly recommend to any great gamer.

Good concept, some odd behavior

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

My husband and I rented this game for a while. It was the first racing game we played. The only two-person component of it is drag racing, which is Ok the first 10 times, then it's boring. Also, the car choices are very limited. I found the police action annoying, but my husband loved outrunning them. The cars do not handle very realistically, but it's still fun to get behind of the wheel of a Chevelle. The gameplay is a bit quirky (e.g., when drag racing the Chevelle, no matter what you do, you will crash to the right at the end), but overall it's a great introduction to racing games. Not very complex, no real strategy involved, just racing around crashing into things.

Great!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is great!!! The graphics are great and the cars are the best ever for Test Drive. I have owned and played every Test Drive made and this is the best one to date. If you are looking for a great, exciting, and accelerating racing game this is the one for you. Two player mode is also just as great as being by yourself in story mode. I think they should have made the game a little harder though. I am 15 years old and beat the game in a weekend. Very much fun though. Enjoy!

This rocks!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: June 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The best fun I've had in ages! The car handling is fantastic, not too sluggish like GT3 and Gotham, not too arcade like Ridge Racer, just perfect. The story is cheesy but who cares?

The graphics are the best I've seen on a racing game EVER, there's so much detail there, the cars could have been a little better but the scenery is great, not flat like GT3.

Definitely a GT3 killer, this is the best racing game of the century to date.

Rubberband AI and Pong. Yeehah!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: February 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

That's all you need to know about "Test Drive", rubberband AI and Pong. Those are the only two things the game developers put any thought into and it just kills what possibly could've been a fun game.

It's been said before and I'm gonna say it again in my review. The load times for this game are outrageous. Really awful. They're so bad that you are given the chance to play Pong while you wait. Sure...it's fun for about three games but then the next couple hundred times are boring. You just want the game to load up already.

The load times would be tolerable if the game was worth the wait...which it's not! I don't know who first developed the whole rubberband AI concept but I have spent the better part of the last decade cursing them. Could someone please explain to me what the point of getting good at a game is if it makes no difference whatsoever? Why should I get to know the tracks and improve my powerslides if I don't have to? You could let your cat play this game up until there's about 30 seconds left before the end of the track. Then you just pick up the controller from your precious little Snowball and zoom past your opponents. How silly.

The inability to fall far behind the computer racers makes this game a great title for kids and people who don't ever play racing games. They'll be proud of themselves for always being in every race. That's cool for them but a grave disappointment to those of us who want something that provides a challenge. Poor graphics and repetitive gameplay make this a game most of you should skip, unless it's dirt cheap in a bargain bin somewhere.

Fun but not worth 50 bucks.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: June 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is fun, but certainly not worth 50 bucks. i just rented it today. It was fun for about 3 hours than just real boring, it has a lot of repitition. You basically do the same thing over and over just in different locations. It is certainly worht the 6 bucks to rent it. The cars have really good graphics and so do the levels. The only problem is the level appears about 20 feet infront of your car, not a lot of time to move out of the way. And the "traffic" you can't see till you hit. Incase you saw the commercial, the cops don't pull you over like in need for speed, they just hit you to slow you down, thats it. If you stop for about 3 seconds with one, you get a ticket, which just makes you sit there for another 2 or 3 seconds. And there is no car damage.

Very Enjoyable for all ages of gamers

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: June 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is the real deal! It's got cars from the Fast and the Furious like the Dodge Charger! Personally one of my favs. It's got great graphics to bring to the table, and the gameplay is amazing! It feels like you're actually in the car cruisin and breaking the rules of the road. So go out and buy this awesome title because it's a great add to your collection! Peace!

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