TDU2 TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED 2 Review

First off let me say that I have not played this game on-line, so this is purely an off-line review, but I have put in about 200 hours of play time.

With this I'm giving TDU2, 4 1/2 stars and a cold cup of tea rating, the tea comes from "oh I'll just do this bit of road, then doh, cold tea".

This is a good thing apart from the displeasure of cold tea.

I will get the niggles out of the way first.

• No names on the map.
• No invert Y-axis, I hate staring at the floor.

That's it really.

So I love driving around the islands of Ibiza and Hawaii exploring and trying to find the car dealerships along with the tuners, hair dressers, plastic surgeons, clothing stores, properties (including luxury yachts), club houses, on-line casino, not to mention the car wrecks and the photos to take. there is plenty to do as there are the obligatory licences to earn for the classic cars the road cars and the off-road cars, these are a great way to learn how to handle the cars and the different surfaces and weather conditions, that you will encounter as you travel the many and varied roads and tracks of the islands, which I haven't seemed to unlock yet as the weather has been dry at all times except on the training.

When driving around trying to complete 100% of the roads you will come across photos opportunities which may require the said weather conditions or a certain time of day or a specific vehicle, a handy feature is the bookmark, so that you don't forget the locations.

The races are split into, straight races against a regular set of opponents, speed traps where you have to set the fastest speed through a set of traps, eliminator races of 7 laps and time trials. All standard for a racing game, but I was so pleased that it was not just racing around a pre-set track, and a lot of these races and other instant challenges such as driving carefully so that your passenger does not puke to getting the annoying business man to their appointment on time, too pleasing the speed freak, take place on the open roads with other road users invariably getting in the way at a crucial point of the race. There are also named AI drivers who you can challenge to an instant race for a pre-arranged price, just make sure you are not driving your VW Beetle when you challenge someone in a McLaren MP4-12C, other A1 cars are available, which leads into that you can walk into any car show room and take any of the cars out for a two minute test-drive as the games name attests to.

I love playing this game without the on-line aspect, and I will not be finished until every bit of road has been mapped and every contest won, there is enough to keep me going whilst I put my up on my 7,000,000 pound yacht.
Enjoy it, I am!

Test Drive Unlimited 2 is now available to buy on PS3, Xbox 360 or Windows