19.3.2011

NOTE: A lot of the reviews for this game came out before the game has had various patches.Yes, this game is awesome. However, I've always thought that it has so much potential, yet it has gone to waste. But hey, it's still rather good.To get the most out of this game, you NEED Xbox Live. Otherwise;a) You won't get the necessary patches it needs.b) Half of the game won't be able to be played, as a lot of it revolves around Live.c) You won't get any of the DLC, such as the awesome Casino.d) You'll be missing out with your friends.Ok, before I start on pros and cons, let me tell you this. There are two islands; Ibiza and Oahu (In-game it's called Hawaii). One time,my friend was telling me about a cool race-track he had found on Hawaii. Because you have to drive to the destination first before you can teleport there, I would have needed to drive hundreds of miles across mountains and deserts to reach this track.So that's what we did. A group of friends and I took to the roads in some of the greatest land-dwelling automobiles of all time, and drove. One person knew where the destination was, so he took to the front of the convoy, and we all followed after. After driving along long coastal roads, we took a left and found ourselves on a dirt track, going uphill and round tight corners. It wasn't long until the exotic cars had been sprayed with a thick layer of mud. Again, we hit tarmac, and started climbing up the huge mountain that stood before us.It started to rain, and the mud was washed off our cars. As we hit the top of the mountain, the rain had stopped, and the whole island was revealed. From coast to coast. And then we went back down the other side. Hitting bumps, causing the cars to get some serious air. Speeding down at hundreds of miles an hour. Drifting round the corners, the far coast beyond. The only thing that stood in our way now was the vast flats of trees, fields, and desert.We got to the bottom of the mountain, and a long straight road was laid ahead of us. So, naturally, we floored it. Minutes later, we were going at 230+ mph, swerving through traffic and narrowly missing obstacles. And then we reached our destination. After a short climb up a twisting road, the race track was all ours. Well, I say all ours... Someone had got there first. Actually, a lot of people had. And yes, they did try to crash into us. And yes, they did succeed.ANYWAY.Pros:- MASSIVE maps. I mean, HUGE. Put together, both of these islands could compete with Just Cause 2.- A lot of pretty nice cars. Veyrons, Mustangs, Ford GTs, Mclarens, Mercedes... You name it, it could be there. But not BMW.- Great attention to detail. Well, on the cars anyway. The interiors are a good example of this, as you can almost see every fiber of that suede dashboard.- Buy houses. Very nice houses. And make them yours by customizing them. And invite your friends over for [imaginary] tea. And show them your cars in the garage, where you can open the doors, beep the horn, start the engine, and go.- Make yourself you. There's an interesting thing called a cosmetic clinic. Imagine Sims, where you make your player's face and hair. Like that, but when you finish your face is covered in bandages looking like a mummy for a while.- Buy clothes. Yeah.- Paint your car. Similar to Forza 3, yet not quite as good. It is quite limited without grouping, and moving individual shapes. It's like Paint on the PC.- Play and explore with people. Anyone. Anywhere. Race, gamble, drive, even hop in the passenger seat and give directions. There's also some very good co-operative game modes, such as "Keep your distance" or "Follow the leader".- And many more.Cons:(Note that this is AFTER the patches.)- Sometimes the paint shop does get annoying, as if you make a mistake, you have to undo. So if you made a mistake and you didn't realize until later, then that is annoying.- Glitchy at times, in various places. I'm not going to go through all of them.- The car physics can be rather annoying, because if you crash into something, you'll bounce off it like a fitness ball in space.- If you're using a steering wheel, you'll need to tweak and play around with the settings in the pause menu. However, it says things like "speed factor", but it doesn't explain what it is, nor which end of the slider is better or worse.- The clubs, although only just fixed, can be buggy. And it's very annoying to search for a club you want to join, as the list of clubs is extensive and takes a long time to load. And you can't search for clubs either.- The side missions are very repetitive. For example, theres only two characters for each type of mission, but they'll both have the exact voice and say the exact things each time. And you'll have to do the exact same objective each time, too.- The radio is very annoying. There's two stations that work a bit like GTA, but they repeat very often. So I just play my own music.- If you're using a steering wheel, you won't be able to use the indicators or open/close the roof, for some strange reason. Apparently they are going to fix this though.- The voice acting is terrible.- And some more.Well, despite the cons, this is a good game. I'd give it 6 or 7 out of 10.

1.3.2011

Starting off I would just like to point that that I have played the original TDU and this game is just as good if not better. This game is like marmite you either love it or hate it. I also have been shocked by some of the reviews given by gamers saying this isn't as good as Forza 3 or GT5 and that's because it isn't trying to be either. Atari has found a niche genre which they are trying to expand & develop their efforts. Like some gamers I was hesitating on whether to pick this game up or not, it seemed for every positive there was a negative to balance it out. This was until one of my friends just told me to buy it and so I did.GameplayQuiet a few number of people have complained about the handling in this game,claiming its "unrealistic" and again they have missed the point completely. They have compared it to GT5 but this is more of an arcade style game, although Eden games claim it's in between arcade and simulator but they isn't kidding anyone. This is the type of game which allows a car to go into a corner at 100 MPH and still have total control, so if your looking for realism look elsewhere. The game does offer 3 settings for steering to help gamers depending on what they prefer. This game offers you two islands Ibiza and Oahu (which you later unlock at level 10), both deliver endless miles to drive. Meanwhile the F.R.I.M system rewards players with money for pulling off stunts and different manoeuvres. Whilst driving around you will be automatically connected to a server which allows players to see other real life players. This is the strongest aspect of the TDU series which is the social factor and the ability to interact with other drivers in an open world. This is done by challenging them to a race or doing co-op driving were one player drives and the other gives the directions. Customization is a huge part of TDU 2 and players have a wide variety of features they can change. There are many different clothes for player's to choose from for their avatars and customization options for houses such as furniture, wallpaper and floor.StoryAtari and Eden games have tried to implement a story in TDU2, without giving too much away you start low as a valet and progress through the ranks to become the best driver. I'm going to be honest and I must say the story is awful but then again I didn't expect much story from this game. Along the way you will meet some very annoying characters that will make you require professional help and it you thought you could simply skip the scene think again because they didn't add that basic of features. However these scenes are like taking a needle jab, it's over before you know it. Although they have failed with the storyline initially, the story itself connects the game and holds it together better. In the original TDU I felt disconnected from the game because I was just driving to locations and beating the best time for money and there was no sense of accomplishment. At least in TDU 2 I can beat annoying characters and feel rewarded that I don't have to see another cut scene of them.Graphics & SoundUsing a HDMI cable and a HD TV I found the islands to be beautiful but suffer from terrain appearing in the background and slow frame rates at some stages. The character models are some of the worst I've seen on the Xbox 360, they look like they belong on the ps2 and the lip synching is awful. The cars are very well modelled with excellent cock-pit views and few other views to ensure the player can find the best view. Players can also remove the roof with fully animated convertible models; they can also indicate left or right and bring the windows up or down.ContentThere are 101 cars in this game and the developers offer a good number of exotic cars. However I was really disappointed that Lamborghini did not make the list (due to licensing issues). I also wasn't too keen on having 5 Pagani Zondas and 5 Bugatti Veyrons, I couldn't help but to think they were just trying to fill up the list rather than offering variety for players. How many versions of the same car can there be in one game? However the good aspect of this game is the Downloadable content (DLC) which promises to keep the game exciting with new vehicles that is bound to add new dimension to the game.To conclude if you are still sceptical about buying this game you have two choices, either rent it or wait for the price to drop down in a couple of months and then purchase the game (this game should depreciate fast). This game only receives a 4 out of 5 because it could have done with a few more months on the production line, bad cut scenes, reports of corrupt game save files, glitches and servers going down due to early exploits keep this from being a 5 star game.

24.6.2011

Ok I played this for five hours yesterday after recieving it in the post. I did wonder if it was worth purchasing given the mediocre reviews, but went ahead anyway and was glad I did ! Essentially if you were a fan of the original TDU you will love this game. It is not designed to compete with the likes of Forza etc it is in a genre of its own "the open world arcade racing game".Whats Good - The graphics are rich and textured. The sound of the cars is better than the original TDU. The overall landscaping and detail of the buildings is a big leap over the original. The character interaction is much better. Visiting stores and buying clothing, haircuts is much better than the original and you can really customise your avatar to a greater extent.In terms of the driving experience it's generally the same as the original. You have the option of three levels of driving aids which you can tailor to the experience you want. Just like the original if you just want to cruise about you can do just that. The overall experience is just another level so you can join online racing clubs, meet with friends, the avatar customisation is at the core of this so you can make the game your own. Customise yourself, yours cars (with paint and stickers), your house, furniture, you name it ! Another improvement is you don't attract the police every single time you hit a car (this was annoying), you have to hit a lot to get noticed, which is good.In five hours of gameplay I did not hit any bugs or crashes some people seem to be talking about.Whats not so Good: With this entire open world at your disposal you do feel a bit spoilt for choice and there-in there is an issue. For example there are two night clubs on the Island where it would be great to valet park your ride and go for a boogie and get your drink on, but you can't, it's for show only. So at times you feel you have this open world but the access to it is limited, it would be good to have more places to visit and interact.The place you can visit is the casino but you have to pay real world cash to unlock it, which again given the limited places like this on the Island is annoying.The driving dynamics don't feel as slick as other racers, but there are improvements over the original such as damage (you don't lose cash on it). But they are certainly good enough to keep your entertained and are not poor by any stretch.There are only two radio stations, it would be nice to have more.Summary - There is not another game out there like this. Essentially if you bought and enjoyed the original TDU then buy this no question, it has everything and much more, especially on the avatar side. The car's have more options such as roof's that can go up and down and are more customisable with paint and stickers. There are also some awesome cars to buy such as the Bugatti Veyron and the RUF porsche's to name a few.I feel this game was given an unfair review by the pro's it's much better than they make out.Overall I would give it 4.2 stars given the annoyance of not being able to visit the night clubs and it would be nice to have more places to go in and interact like this. But I have given it 5 stars to offset all the bad reviews on here.Lastly the developers do seem to listen to feedback from customers, I believe they have released and patch and take feedback on what people would like to see in the game, so watch this space. Some of the issues I mentioned may get fixed. BRING ON THE NIGHTCLUBS lol !

20.3.2011

I haven't played TDU1 at all. I did try the demo and hated the way the cars in the demo handled, very akward. The physics were awful, hit something and you ended up miles down the road, flying, spinning and rolling.After reading all the previews of TDU2, it became very clear that TDU2 would not be anything like TDU1 at all. It's so obvious and made very clear, that I'm still wondering why TDU1 users were so surprised by TDU2 being different. I'm glad TDU2 turned out the way it is and isn't based too much on TDU1. It's still Test Drive Unlimited, but in a new and refreshing way.Most of the cars handle well and drive beautifully. The physics are good. The cars look good from the outside and inside.

16.2.2011

After many hours of um'ing and ah'ing I bit the bullet and went and got this game. Yeah I had read the reviews on here but still went an done it.I was a big fan of the first and so far Its more of the same.. In a good way. personally I feel the graphics are a little better, the scope still huge and the range of cars very impressive.Some of the reviews on here are advising people to get GT5 and Need for speed instead and this I feel is not fair to Test drive. At heart It's not a Sim, it's not really a racer to a certain degree. This game is so much its very difficult to pigeon-hole, however it IS Good!

15.2.2011

This game is definitely not as good as TDU. I rate that as one of my favourite games ever. The sense of freedom it gave you was unparalled.TDU2 is good but some very annoying additions have been made. The whole storyline thing is truly rubbish and should have been canned on the 1st pass game dev meeting.TDU fans loved the fact that it was a case of buy a car, find a race, win the race, find a garage, add kit to car, find a race, win race etc.... Here, we enter a championship and don't even have to find the next race start point??!! This goes completely against what made TDU brilliant, you had to find your own way, find roads you had not been down before, to find that next race / mission /

27.2.2011

This is way better than the first one, it has Oahu like the last one, but also Ibiza so the huge map of the first game is now about twice the size, which makes exploring better. It has a story to the game aswell, which makes it slightly more interesting than just doing races. The graphics are incredible and a lot more colourful than the first game. The houses are so much better, first of all you can walk around (which you can also do in shops) and change the look of your house, you can change the floor, walls and any furniture. Lots of people say that this game has ridiculous handling. It doesn't. At the beginning of the game you just have to make sure it is on 'full assistance', then it will be fine.

11.3.2013

Right, lets just get this straight: I am MAD about racing. I am a huge fan of the WRC, F1 and GT2, and, most of my favourite Xbox games have been racing- Toca Race Driver 2, Dirt 3, Forza 4, etc etc. TDU 1 was an excellent game. It knew what kind of game it was. A Need For Speed with the hardcore taken out, and it left you to you own devices, driving round Hawaii at your own will.TDU 2, however, seems to have looked at all the other great racers- NFS, Forza and GRID, and said "what drivers want is an overly complicated mix of all of these, with the mediocre bits extracted and some of the better parts left out. For example: In my SLK. Final lap, final bend and... I crashed. But wheres my rewind...

12.2.2011

I Found This On A Website And i Agree With TotallyDon't Look For Graphics Alone, What About Playability, Last ability and Free Roaming within the game.Test Drive Unlimited 2 is "always live" with automatic content updates and seamless online/offline integration. New content, challenges and features will integrate dynamically into the game play as the world evolves over time.Customize your car with custom paint jobs, decals, interiors and trims. Customize every aspect of your avatar - hair, clothes, physique and attitude. Buy your dream house (or yacht, or nightclub), decorate, furnish and invite your friends.This game puts the world's most desirable vehicles in the player's hands. Ferrari,

16.2.2011

All these people giving 1 and 2 star reviews must be playing a different game to the one I've spent 6 hours a day playing for the last 4 days because the game I've got is amazing fun. Yes there are a couple of glitches (none of which are particularly intrusive) and there is a bit of a cheesey storyline running through the championship races but so what, if you were buying this game for it's story then you'd be completely missing the point. The fact is this game has more freedom than any other driving game EVER. Apart from from the championship contests there are hundreds of other quests to do, and 2 MASSIVE islands to completely explore at will. I've not had any issues with corrupted saves.

15.2.2011

Test Drive Unlimited 2 is a fantastic game! apart from the server problems on day one i for one cannot fault this game.With over 90 cars in game to choose from and future content from Xboxlive , this is going to keep you going for months.You really dont need any skill at driving games to play this and you can jump straight into it and more or less do exactly as you like. Thr graphics are very good imho, and the cars actually sound like the real models..The thing i found fun is you can use indicators to let others know where you're going, you can also use the electric windows, and there is a funky radio selection (okay only 2 stations) but no the less,

19.4.2011

I waited a while before buying this game as the reviews were very mixed,i enjoyed the first TDU game and its still a classic as far as im concerned,nothing comes close for a multiplayer car driving game.The new game is a bit different,it takes longer to get used to but persevere and it becomes worth it.Its not as easy to win races and amass loads of cash like the first game,this doesnt matter tho because it becomes very addictive after the first few hours.Ive now been playing for about 3 hours a day for a week and im hooked,it took a while to adapt to the changes from the first game but once you do its very enjoyable.Havent tried casino and dont think ill bother..Also have to say,ive not come

3.7.2011

I have had this for a couple of weeks know so i have play around 50% of the game, overall the gameplay is very good.1) Great off road races and tracks, like the idea of getting paid for drifts etc needs to be increase to earn more though.2) The real world island experience give it a really nice and realistic feel to the drivingThere are a couple of issue i would raise with the game1) unable to sell the cars you have WON - Dont understand why?2) The game speech is two repetitive in the preload to the races3) The selection of cars is a bit low, i would like to see a bigger selects though this will come with DLC i expect4) The in-car camera is rubbish,

12.2.2011

I have been playing this game now for more than six hours and i think it is great. I don`t have a problem with how each cars handle, infact to me i think they handle quite well. Also the graphics may not be top notch, but this is such a big game with so much to do you just have to forgive it. The voice acting is a bit cheesy but it does bring a smile to my face. There are some flaws with online play but the developers are working on it and will put things right, soon i hope.There is also some humor in the game, like getting some plastic surgery done to your face, then having to spend a while playing the game with your face bandaged up.I am very please with this game as it is very addictive,

7.5.2012

I only got the game two days ago and I am pretty impressed with it overall. I rarely enjoy playing racing games, because it usually seems pointless driving around silverstone in good conditions with AIs not even trying to overtake or step down on the throttle, but in this game the difficulty gets harder as you progress and there is a good range of driving conditions. The graphics are brilliant, especially on the cars which look very realistic. On the other hand, I am disappointed with the time lapse, as I seem to be driving at nightime online, which spoils the scenery and driving experience. Also, the other competitors in the championships get on your nerves with their cheesy voices and endless phone calls.

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