burkesbruisers

Prime Member
Feb 12, 2011
2
0
Really fun, the opening sequence and character models/voice-overs leave something to be desired but I beleive they are on to something. Great change to time and weather and the driving controls are acceptable. True it's not GT5 or Forza but hey a wide open roaming experience what's not to love!
 
Jan 15, 2011
2
0
if you set the wheel options to the right settings, the cars handle amazingly and make the game outstanding!!!

Wheel Options
Pad linearity to max (far right).
Speed factor to max (far right).
Steering damping 3/4 to the right.
Do this and they will work perfectly!!
 

Tuskanxi

Noob
Jan 10, 2011
6
0
One of the most horrible turd of a racing game I've played in years. Handling is terrible, car physics are a joke. The social BS of the game is a huge joke, glad I didn't waste my money on this.
 

STD666

Noob
Aug 22, 2006
4
0
What a fantastic way to delve into a game!

Where does IGN hire these writers from? Is there a middle school class submitting facebook posts?
 

PhoenixAce

Prime Member
Sep 19, 2007
22
0
@Stereo yeah we tried suggesting that during the beta testing, and it doesnt appear that theyll do it, but its set like that in NFS World. gets annyoing when u suddenly ghost through another car in free roam then smash them during the actual race.

@Destra those server stress tests we did might have been needed on the consoles as well it seems... especially considering the PC servers did the same thing you guys opened it up the first time to people outside the official beta testers.

to anyone else who thinks this game has bad controls.... UR AN IDIOT!! its an ARCADE racer. they advertise it as such. if u want good controls, dont buy any NFS or Atari racing games. Get DiRT, Forza, or Gran Tourismo titles. and stay on the track. there are ABSOLUTELY NO REALISTIC free-roam racers out, and likely wont be for a long time (brilliant idea though). stop criticizing an orange for not being an apple. you seriously trash these games bc they dont have what you're looking for and you are actually hurting the advancement of game development because publishers are starting to play it safe, making the boring games you hate anyway. from now on, if a game sucks, blame yourself for not encouraging the dev's to take chances.
 
Nov 12, 2010
59
0
"And then everyone on the road who actually knew how to control a car seemed to crash into me at once. They sideswiped me, T-boned me, hit me head-on and rear-ended me. They rounded corners, blasted down straight-aways and appeared seemingly from nowhere."

-

That just sounds plain hilarious to observe, not as much to actually experience, though.
 

deviltaz33

Almost Not a Noob
Feb 6, 2004
84
0
This is pathetic, there was a time when IGN treated online and offline seperately. This game is huge. I have been playing the ps3 version a couple of days now and it is not bad at all. The servers were running too so not sure what they were on about there?

Bottom line is there is nothing wrong with reviewing the single player game which is massive anyway and then later following up with online portion. This is exactly what they used to do and was a far better review system. Having to wait ages longer because you can't get online in your area for a review is a pretty weak excuse lol.

Anyone on the fence from what i have been told get the ps3 version as it is better than the 360 version which has all number of extra graphical and performance issues compared to ps3.

It won't win any graphical awards that is for sure but once you buy a decent car it handles well. Put it on sport mode though not default as this helps alot with the handling.





 

gagey1977

Noob
Apr 11, 2006
1
0
indeed there are issues ongoing but at least the developer is trying to sort out the problems and keep us updated.
unlike activision who seem to blame anyone but themselves and do not communicate with there fans.
 

Tuskanxi

Noob
Jan 10, 2011
6
0
Even as an arcade, it makes other arcade racing games feel like a sim. I;ve played indi racing game with better controls.
 

irishmark4

Noob
May 28, 2009
1
0
My god! Reading this Pre-Review MADE MY WEEK!! I was in tears while reading the entire thing...hahahahaha Give this writer a bonus for this one! everything you said was spot on and hysterical! Bravo
 
Oct 4, 2009
3
0
"Test Drive is one of gaming's longest running series. Its pedigree stretches back to the 1980s, when the first cars were invented."

Err, what?
 
Jul 23, 2005
16
0
@Charlie No, he's right. Autombiles were not invented unitl about 1981 with the creation of the DeLorean. 88mph later and a mishap with some gentlemen named Mercedes and Benz over in Boveria. Ta-da!
 

jstevoj123

Noob
Mar 3, 2009
402
0
Much like the first Test Drive the controls are very slow and sloppy and this was a huge problem the developers have totally failed to fix so apart from more driving and a few more events, more road different location ect its all very much the same as before and to be honest that was not very good.
 

addmochine

Noob
Feb 13, 2011
1
0
This is the worst game in a while. I loved tdu1 and thought this game should be awesome, wrong. Four people i know including myself have had more than just a little hiccup. Our saves became corrupt cars fell through the road and collision detection is awful one minute you hit them next you can't because of some force field (sorry only way to describe it) and bounce right off. Then they reuse an island, don't really change anything that substantial and have it worse than the first. All i know is traded back to gamestop right after the data corrupted and atari has lost a consumer for life after putting out this garbage. I don't expect developers to get 100% before it goes out. Somethings will always pop up later but this is at say 35% at the most i warn you to save your money and if you still want it buy it in 2 months they might actually have it fixed by then and it will be cheap because i don't think many are going out to by this garbage.
 
Jul 23, 2005
16
0
I just have a problem with Atari as the developers. Their motto tends to be make something pretty with as little substance as possible.

-edit publishers, sorry.
 

Geddes-IGN

Features Editor, IGN Games
Jul 17, 2007
752
0
Download a patch when starting the game this morning, but the servers still seem to be down on the PS3 version. Anyone else able to get online?
 

chad.hogan

Noob
Oct 6, 2008
634
0
"Oh well, I thought, I can always turn it off. Let's see how it goes. "

Ign reviewer on turning off the online portion of the game. And that's why Ign sucks. They're the only gaming website that could take an MMO racer and want to turn it into a single player experience.

I'm also sure the editors at Ign wish it was 1983 and we haven't yet invented the internet. No noisy MMO's in those times!
 
Oct 10, 2009
239
0
"Once he pulled his Mustang onto the highway, he was surrounded by a gang of road ruffians and forced into the ocean."

OWNED. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO
 

mpack47

Noob
Aug 12, 2001
193
0
"So for now, what I'm left with is the uneasy feeling that Test Drive Unlimited 2 is quite similar to real driving: an exercise in survival on a road full of assholes."

Phenominal :)
 

jc827

Noob
Dec 27, 2002
14
0
Graphics: Not as bad as a PS2 game as some have said, but my lord...the people in the cutscenes look hideous and the cars look very similar to the GT5 "normal" cars, except there are no "premium" cars in this game. If you don't believe me, look at the cars in NFS: HP and then the same one in this game...there
is no comparison. 7/10

Sound: Two radio stations and no option for your own soundtrack. And, what's even more egregious is you ACN'T MUTE people online unless you go completely OFFLINE (it's mentioned in the manual that you can mute online players but apparently it never made it into the game). 3/10

Presentation: Most of the time, it's easy enough to figure out what to do. However, the difficult of this game is all over the place. The races during the championships are almost impossible to lose. Some of the license test, however (especially in Hawaii) have people throwing things in disgust and taking 3-4 hours to pass 1 of them. And as other's mentioned, no way to sell cars unless your garages are full.
5/10

Controls: Wow. For the person that said NFS:HP has the worst handling in a PS3 racing game, you need to play this one. Get in almost anything past an A5 car (or even worse, some of the classic ones) and you'll fishtail the minute you push hard down on the gas. Hit the dirt just a bit and you're a goner. Hit a lamppost or streetlight and you go BACKWARDS. A LOT. 4/10

Replay Value: Now this is where the game shines. There is a crapload of things to do from races and championships to buying haircuts and taking pictures...and 70 levels. You're not going to max this out in a week unless you're playing 24 hours a day.

Online: I can rate this as I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones to get online. It's broken. The End. Ok, maybe they'll improve it but there can only be eight cars in your vicinity at one time, and if it gets more than 6 you will lag down to around 10-15 FPS even on the highest speed internet connection possible. I was going 160 MPH one second and clipping along frame by frame the next.

In addition, the casino is completely broken (you get this if you preordered from Game Stop). The first time I went it it was connected and disconnected 5 times, and during one of those I lost 10,000 in chips ($20,000 in game money). Until they fix it, just stay away.

A broken online all but killed Blur, and I hope it doesn't do the same to TDU2. 2/10

Overall:
In 2011 these things simply should not happen. This game had a beta for heaven's sake. How hard is it to make a stable online experience and controls that anyone can use? This isn't GT5. It's supposed to be fun. It turns into a major exercise in frustration. I like its depth and that's the only reason I'm still playing...absent of that depth this would be the worst PS3 racing game I've played save for Full Auto Battlelines 2 which was the most atrocious racing game I have EVER played.

5/10
 
Aug 20, 2010
1
0
"Test Drive Unlimited 2 is quite similar to real driving: an exercise in survival on a road full of assholes."

LOL.

If that's the case, I think I'll stick with real driving rather than buying this game!

It could even be that they recognized that he was from IGN and they were releasing pent up rage from the crappy reviews that have recently come from IGN.
 

Tuminatuh

Almost Not a Noob
Aug 15, 2004
24
1
I've been playing this game, quite a lot, for the past 3 days. I am LOVING this game!

Sure, it may START off a bit anoying (the Single-player cutscenes and story-line challenges outright suck) but once you win the first 2 championships (VERY easy to do), and get a bit of money in the bank, the game IMMEDIATELY opens up!

The handling feels great (make sure you set the handling to "Hardcore") and the environments are even better. The game is HUGE (over 3000 sq. miles) and you almost feel overwhelmed when you first take off.

Bottom-line... I LOVE this game. They've thrown some classic cars into the mix this time around (HELLO Lancia Delta Intagrale Evolutione HF) and the online instant matches and challenges have been streamlined.

9/10
 

legacyAccount

Old Account
Nov 10, 2011
4,466,398
1,693
i didnt really like this game. graphics were sub par, character models r terrible, and online is a joke. i didnt think the handling was all that great either. i was disappointed. i tried to like this game, but it was just meh
 

legacyAccount

Old Account
Nov 10, 2011
4,466,398
1,693
The game is just ok. The handling ok, graphix ok, cars ok so yeah just ok. thank god it was only 40 dollars instead of 60 cause its not worth 60.
 

riorojo

Noob
Oct 28, 2008
120
0
@chad.hogan

Yeah, that is what I want to do. Get online with a bunch of idiots who just want to slam into you. No thanks. I wll stay offline and enjoy it by myself. Much better IMO!
 

Pete_B0

Noob
Jan 12, 2011
3
0
TDU2- A real disappointment and a step backwards from the first version. You would expect with the length the game has been in development it would be impressive, Quite the contrary.

The diabolical character modelling with all Male characters looking the same except for a different patch of beard or stubble. How much of the game development budget was ploughed into this aspect of the game, I thought this was TDU2 not SIMS3?

Really poor refresh rate from in car view, tree lines appearing late, when was this game written 2000?

Car physics, loosing control of a GOLF GTI doing 27 MPH around a bend? Come On!, I'm no Lewis Hamilton but I'm pretty sure I could control any car doing that speed. It's like the car's have no weight.

The snail pace character progression, I've driven for over 150 miles in my car and still cannot afford anything beyond a Muscle Car.

The SAT NAV. Does anyone know how to switch the damn thing off when you have a steering wheel? All I wanted to do was have a Peaceful evening drive through the Ibiza Country side but no, the peace is broken every few seconds by the never ending drone of the SAT NAV telling you your going the wrong way. Atari I think your going the wrong way?

All I want to do is have a thrash around endless winding roads in a fast car, not to be a character in the latest road version of Hollyoaks. Now there's an idea for Channel 4?

Pete_BO Signing out.
 

JammyDog

Noob
Feb 14, 2011
2
0
Johnny0779 said:
I completed the first Test Drive Unlimited, and played about a hour or so of the second one at my friends house, and so far the first one which came out in 2006 and ran on 720p on the xbox360 looks better than the second game....I guess we have to wait till the final word among other websites as well.

I dont think you did complete it in an hour because there were two races that took an hour on their own.
 
Jul 28, 2010
115
0
I think this points out some fundamental issues in persistent worlds: People will always grief you if they are given the chance.

I remember in pre-CU SWG when everyone would chase down a flagged Jedi for no other reason than it's a perma-kill.

@OptionalLemon: Lol, it's funny how often people make those kinds of mistakes on IGN.
 

yudge2k

Noob
Jan 23, 2009
23
0
I just got one question... Why in the video previews of games they always show you stuff you'll never see in the game... Like in this case they say watch TDU2 in action... They almost just show a stopped car... nice but i don't see why i would be interested in a game that only shows cars in a hangar... Can you put a real video of the gameplay???
 
K

keiisuke

Guest
Original poster
TDU2 - Still not perfect, but still AWESOME and better than the first in every way - Seriously; GREAT game. Essentially every single element of this game has been improved upon. It PAINS me to see negative comments about this game when it truly is a massive improvement over the first.

Fact: This game is SICK! It's gorgeous, it's fun, and it rewards those who actually have skill and passion for driving games with a unique and challenging experience (and some cool extras like the 'lifestyle' aspect of the game.)

I really hope that this game will be strongly supported and improved upon by Atari in the future :)
 

No3L

Noob
Mar 21, 2010
3
0
Great concept, poor execution.

Test Drive Unlimited 1 was a great game overall, the sandbox replication of Hawaii to the customization of characters, houses bundled MOOR racing, great cars and bike proved to be a great formula. The game was going to be hard to beat.

Fast forward to 2011, Test Drive Unlimited 2 was released with great expectations; after all, it is meant to be better in every way. That is where Eden Games really dropped the ball in just about every aspect of the game.

Driving Dynamics | Instead of improving on where TDU1 left off, it feels like TDU2 was completely redesigned with a different driving engine. I was shocked and utterly disappointed that the basic "starter" cars I driven had zero driving pleasure, struggled to handle and ultimately translated to a soulless motion. You cannot grip or drift, hitting into a power pole meant coming to a dead stop, driving off road meant going into an abyss of poor graphics. If you cannot drive, you can throw the game out of the window. It feels worse than driving in GTA IV while that game is not even designed as a racing genre.

Graphics | Last generation non-HD? TDU1 looked great when it was released and the environment was relatively well rendered, but TDU2 is simply rubbish. How much time was spent developing the environment, let alone the cars? Nobody is expecting Gran Turismo 5 standards, but at least, it should be as smooth and appealing.

Too Much Yet Too Little | Character customization, level of detailing in cars, basic game play and licensing? Anyone sense an influence from the Gran Turismo series? Gone are the detailed unique engine notes of different cars, gone are the sound effects of opening doors, putting the windows down. Only to be replaced by generic mediocre driving bundled into a story lifestyle genre. The licensing requirement only made things feel dated and a poor attempt to "have it all".

If Eden Games was to attempt TDU3, they really need to sit down and wipe the slate clean. Focus on developing a proper driving experience, then package the "lifestyle" in. Until then, everyone should avoid this extremely sloppy sequel. Especially when competing with the likes of Gran Turismo 5 and Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. They leave TDU2 for dead.
 
May 10, 2006
2
0
I love the driving portion of the game but to me there are a few negative points.

The character animations are awful, like something from a game 10 years ago. They're almost puppet like and not something I'd expect from a game from this era ...and then there is the dialog! Is it just me, or do all the people you interact with in the game sound condescending?

This is a minor niggle, but the draw-ahead seems really unprofessional of a game of this caliber. I know there's a huge environment loaded into memory, but driving along only to see trees and mountains suddenly roll in front of me takes away the sense of driving in this environment and perspective. It's like Outrun 2011!

Still the driving portion of the game is great and as long as I can quickly complete my interaction with Kermit and his friends, I'm happy just to drive into those suddenly appearing rolling hills out there.
 

JB-BMW1989

Almost Not a Noob
Sep 23, 2009
1,647
135
The game is underrated for sure, but it's a good thing they focus on cars instead of motorcycles. Test Drive were never about motorcycles, literally.
 

PhoenixAce

Prime Member
Sep 19, 2007
22
0
yeah its true that the bikes were never the big focus, but i was driving the lancia through traffic and i came to the conclusion that the bikes would likely generate more money from the FRIM system since you can basically sit on the divider the whole length of a 2 lane road, and since they launch off of hills and drops. might be fun if they put them back in
 

Sblower001

Noob
Feb 15, 2011
1
0
Having read some of the posts that have been made about this game I have this to say
IN MY OPINION THIS IS WITHOUT DOUBT THE WORST DRIVING PC GAME I`M BEEN ON. I have TDU 1 and that was very good both driving and the enviorment. This however yes it looks good the cars are good too however that is it. when you drive any car the control is crap the slightest touch from the keyboard and yor on the grass or you have crashed. What a waste of money Eden put the game onto Xbox & Ps3 only because on the PC this Really sucks.
 

JB-BMW1989

Almost Not a Noob
Sep 23, 2009
1,647
135
Okay, even though there is the PC version of the game, but I believe the PC version suffers from some server issues the most. The game will be fine by the time the servers are up running. I'm still finishing the first Test Drive Unlimited by doing a lot of missions.

@PhoenixAce

I think so too, but back in the 90s, there were never motorcycles in the series. The only installment that has the motorcycles I believe is for the Game Boy Color. It's better for some people to have cars on Test Drive Unlimited 2 instead of having them both. Test Drive Unlimited is good, but I have mixed reactions to the vehicle handling dynamics.