The Fun Bucket

I just got Test Drive Unlimited for the PSP and it definitely does change the way we look at multiplayer racing. In case you haven’t heard of Test Drive Unlimited, it’s an open multiplayer online racing game that takes place in Hawaii. You aren’t limited to boring tracks in the game, but instead thousands of miles of Hawaiian paradise. This is my (unofficial review) of Test Drive Unlimited from my several long periods of play:

The graphics are mediocre. While they aren’t the best that the PSP has to offer, they are good enough for the game itself and graphics aren’t everything. Sometimes if you are going really fast (over 200km/h) and driving on the left side of the road, cars will appear quickly just like they’re popping up out of nowhere and you might crash. This happens rarely and isn’t a big problem, especially if you have a fast reaction time.

The gameplay is excellent first when you get the game but the appeal quickly wears off. Even after just a few days of offline gaming (I don’t have wifi) I’m starting to get a little bored of the game. Basically you can buy houses, buy (or rent) new cars and drive around the same boring Hawaii you’ve been driving around the whole time you’ve been playing. One slightly annoying feature, which probably becomes a little less annoying after you purchase multiple houses, is that whenever you save the game and turn off your PSP to come back and play later, when you come back you end up back at your house. One time I was pretty far away from my first home; up on the northern part of the island driving around and exploring the game and I was going to put my PSP into standby mode but I held in the power switch for a bit too long and it turned completely off. Even though I had saved the game a few minutes later, when I turned my PSP on again I was back home. Obviously, I retained rewards from any races I had won and my mileage counter didn’t lose mileage but the whole getting magically transported back to your house thing gets a little annoying at times.

Another feature that is both good and annoying is the police system in the game. While I prefer a game that’s kind of realistic where you don’t get away with your crimes (speeding tickets, crashing into other vehicles), I find the cops in Test Drive Unlimited focus a little too much on minor accidents than major speeding issues. I’ve went well over 200km/h in residental areas and have only gotten picked up on the police radar a few times. However, if I’m going 20km/h and I *accidently* hit another car when switching lanes or pulling over or whatever, they come after me. The whole police system works by how many badges (police cars) are after you. There are three in total and the more that are lit up at the top of the screen, the harder the fuzz (sorry about that :P) are trying to get you. You can keep going and as long as the bar stays green (that means the police aren’t immediately behind you) then you may be able to evade them and the stars will eventually go away. If you pull over or if the police pull you over (very rarely, I can usually get away if I keep driving long enough on some wide and open interstate) you get charged for the amount of collisions you have encountered, if you’ve been speeding that adds on a little higher charge and for disobeying traffic laws you also get charged. You don’t get your car or house taken away though, don’t worry! Just a fee.

The price:fun ratio of the game is pretty high. For an average-priced PlayStation Portable game, you will definitely get the quality you’d expect from your money. I got the game for about $24 used off eBay (I was lucky) so for me it was definitely worth it but even if you pay $40-$50 for the game, it’s still a good purchase.

Now for online - please take into consideration the fact that I’m on a dialup connection and don’t have wireless internet access, so I just played for a few minutes at the library/town’s wireless hotspot. The online play is amazing even though there aren’t many online and it kills battery life. You have to make a username and password (don’t forget it) and then you can see anyone else in the whole world that’s playing online. You can choose to race them, be an annoying b*tch and keep smashing into them or just randomly drive around. When I was playing, there were about 55 (I think) people in the whole world playing online with their PSPs. I’d imagine the XBOX 360 version has more people online since it seems to be the most popular version. Online play really adds to the value of the game.

Even with all the pros I have listed, the game loses its appeal for people with short attention spans like me. Still a good purchase. If you have any other questions related to Test Drive Unlimited, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try to respond to it with the best of my knowledge. Atari also has an official forum where you can discuss all versions of the game too.

One final note: In case you don’t have a PSP, the game is also available for XBOX 360, PS3, PS2 and PC. I’ve heard that the PC version has it’s flaws and the best version is the XBOX 360 one, but the only versions I’ve played are PS2 and PSP.

[Also... once again I'm sorry that I haven't been posting much here at The Fun Bucket anymore. I haven't forgotten about the website and I don't have a lot of time on my hands. I've been playing a few different games here and there in my limited spare time and before I go to sleep so I should be able to make a few posts on them (like this post) later.]