Test Drive Unlimited details

[DigitalSpace]

Atari released the following document recently on Test Drive Unlimited due for the Xbox 360 in June. The document has some small screenshots and some information. The features noted in it sound incredible. The Test Drive franchise just might be able to get out of Need For Speed's shadow with this one.

Click on the thumbnail to see the full image:

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/5664/testdriveunlimit5nc.th.gif (http://img296.imageshack.us/my.php?image=testdriveunlimit5nc.gif)

(Credit to Kotaku (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/xbox-360/xbox-360-test-drive-unlimited-screens-151677.php))

[s1lence]

Yeah, I've heard its supposed to be like a MMORPG on wheels. Should be pretty interesting to say the least if it works like they are planning it to.

[njiska]

Yeah, I've heard its supposed to be like a MMORPG on wheels. Should be pretty interesting to say the least if it works like they are planning it to.

Test Drive has been terrible since it's glory days on the Amiga. Looks likes things are gonna change.

The MMO aspect makes it all the better.

[Oobgarm]

If they took that gameplay model, and made a really broad base of vehicles available(i.e. Gran Turismo), it would be the best driving game, bar none.

[THATinkjar]

Despite seeing what I thought was a more recent thread about Test Drive Unlimited, I can't for the life of me find it again. So I'll just post here.

I thought that it might be worth pointing the following out... Eurogamer are reporting (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=66376) that Unlimited will retail in the States for $39.99, but that this lower price point won't make it to Europe. Why? Because of the - and I quote - "lower install base".

Damn you, Atari! I wasn't keen on the demo, and I'm certainly not keen on the price, either. Especially since they're also placing great emphasis on downloadable content, which I am sure will be duly overpriced.

Dang.

[slip81]

I'm downloading the demo as I write this. I've been excited about this game since I heard about and I really hope it doesn't suck be cause this is one of the main reasons I want a 360 so much.

If it really is going to be $39.99 I'll probably piuck it up on day of release, that's not a bad price for any game that doesn't totally suck.

[Muscelli]

looks like its going to be great! I like the vehicle selection as well, pagani, lotus, lambo, all those good ones.. Plus they are looking to catch that lifestyle as well.

[slip81]

Well it's supposed to be out today. Anyone pick it up yet? I'm gonna try and snag a copy while on break, but unfortuneately won't be able to play untill 10:30 tonight.

The demo was pretty fun, and it's only $40, so even if it's not stellar, it won't be a waste of money.

I'm pretty sure you can have online car clubs, so if enough people get it maybe we can get one up and running.

[Oobgarm]

I put it on my Gamefly list so it'll be the next game I get. I found the demo to be a bit underwhelming, but I figured I'd give the final retail version a shot.

I had more fun running into oncoming traffic than racing. LOL

[s1lence]

I'm going to pick it up tomorrow most likely, 40 bucks is hard to pass up.

[slip81]

I got it, and I'm enjoyng it. Definately worth the $40 if you're a race fan, though I would have to say that at $60 I wouldn't have bought it, just because $60 is too much, and I'm still mad at Dead Risinig after letting me down.

The only thing I'm mad at so far is that it costs $350,000.00 to start your own club, and there is no car cusomization, which is lame. Now if someone could meld the MMO openended aspect of this game, with something as deep as Midnight Club 3, then you'd have a $60 game.

[Iron Draggon]

But will the PC version be compatible with the 360 version? If it is, then it will be cool to outrun all you XBOX'ers, but if it isn't, then it will be lame... it's bad enough that we PC'ers have to wait an extra couple of months for our version...

[meancode]

I doubt seriously there will be PC-Xbox 360 compatability. We would have heard it already, and we would have heard it from Microsoft, likely back at E3.

Now I have a question about car clubs. Matt told me that Pete Dorr had one, but I looked and it doesn't show that in the game.

So, has anyone setup a car club yet? I would but I don't have that kind of extra cash, I am saving up to buy a Group A car at the moment.

[Emuaust]

Muwahahahahaah
This game came into my store this morning, I will be busy for the
next few hours!!!

[Half Japanese]

Gameznflix shipped out my copy yesterday so I should have it tomorrow (along with my new receiver!!!!!). The demo was sort of weak, but I'll give it a rental to see how the full game is.

If anyone's interesting in beating my ass, my gamertag is Half Japanese.

[meancode]

I really wish they never released the demo. I am sure it will hurt sales.

The lighting model was almost non existent in the demo, and that ruined a lot. It also didn't have the fun challenges. But mostly, it was the absolute shit lighting that made everything so flat and blah.

[googlefest1]

i hope this kick starts some good sales for atari

[meancode]

So no one with a car club? I guess I will set one up then.

[Princess-Isabela]

I bought it yesterday and the game absolutely rocks!
its one of the most beautiful racers to date, the graphics looks stunning.
today I was playing couple of hours straight and already visited all car manufacturers on the island and unlocked bikes.
gameplay is solid, soundtrack(at least couple of tracks - are pretty cool) its just a great game, I'm really enjoying it.
if you're looking for a new 360 game - this is it, and if you're in states its only $40, totally worth it.

[THATinkjar]

The lighting model was almost non existent in the demo, and that ruined a lot. It also didn't have the fun challenges. But mostly, it was the absolute shit lighting that made everything so flat and blah.

I don't suppose they improved the controls in the full release as well, meancode? The stiff steering really put me off.

[meancode]

The bikes are just as bad, and the driving isn't Forza. But that shouldn't put you off to the game. It is a wonderful concept executed quite well.

I have something over 50 hrs. into the game, almost to the Champion rank. Only thing past that is Ace and I believe you need all 1000 achievement points for that one.

[Leo_A]

Anyone else been spending time with this in recent weeks? The server recently went down so there was a flurry of activity in recent weeks before that happened. Before the end came, I finally got around to investing some serious time in it to enjoy the online aspects before it was too late after this game has sat on my shelf largely unplayed for years.

Since the server closure, I've also done a significant amount of the single player races. About 95% of the roads have been explored, over half the single player events are finished, about 3,000 miles or so have been logged, all of the online components were done achievement wise and I think I gleened most of the fun out of it that there was to be found, and many of the achievements have been earned. I really enjoyed the seamless integration of offline/online, the car physics, the environments, and the racing. Was a good selection half a decade ago even though I'm sure I paid far more only for it to sit on my shelf until now than I would've ended up paying for it in 2012 when I finally really started to play it.

What I didn't enjoy was the lack of variety in missions, the lack of rain (The sky does look like a storm is going to roll in occasionally, but that's as far as it ever gets), the lack of a full 24 hour day/night cycle which means you'll never be racing at night (Although early dawn and late afternoon are there), people's lips in the cutscenes continue moving well after their voice dialogue has stopped, car models and character models look more PS2 quality than 360 quality, no cars parked along city and village streets anywhere, no pedestrians anywhere which makes you feel like you're in a 'Cars' movie where all the life forms are vehicles, birds still appear and fly upwards even when inside tunnels (And no wildlife anywhere else), motorcycles handle strangely, and most all of the man-made landmarks like the remains of the USS Arizona and the memorial created above her seem completely absent (Outside of the natural environment itself, there's nothing more iconic about Oahu than the Arizona memorial yet it's missing and apparantly is also missing in TDU2).

Once I wrap this up, I think I'm going to move on to Burnout Paradise and then TDU2 before they become victims of server closures as well. I have to think Burnout Paradise doesn't have long to live with it being older and EA published. And despite TDU2 being relatively new, it really didn't seem to be recieved well so I suspect it won't be as long lived as the original was (Apparantly it's not much of an improvement above the original and it had a rash of server issues at launch, both of which killed any chance of being really successful when the reviews came in with mediocre scores).