Review: TDU2

I did not play the first Test Drive Unlimited, but racing games haven't changed the basics since Pole Position or Turbo: drive fast, don't wreck, win race. Racing titles aren't real complicated. TDU2 sticks to the tried and true formula for the most part, then picks and chooses some of the better features from popular titles. It has hot, licensed cars, an open-world environment, a limited ability to upgrade car in your garage, and multi-player cruising. It also has some new stuff: discovery points reward drivers for monotonous exploration, players must buy houses to contain their fleet of car, collection points are awarded for real estate purchases, cars, haircuts, buying clothes, and even plastic surgery (above the neck, breast implants are conspiciously absent.) But even with the tried and true mixed with the new, the game does suffer from some famaliar setbacks. The cars have a decidedly arcadey feel to them and the physics are very rough. My Volkswagen Golf GTI is perhaps a good example of this...a car that can literally lose composure at 35 mph. Traffic is another issue...why the hell would a dozen cars and delivery trucks be driving down a dead-end road in the middle of nowhere? Why would cars jam onto the shoulder and roll over at the mere sight of a speeding car? The servers and multi-player online support are decidedly flawed. Last gripe, the npc's either use ridiculous pantomimes or are voiced by the worst voice actors possible. Stick to one or the other...no need to mix the worst of both worlds. Bottom line: TDU2 is a fun driving game with a lot of shit to do but it has short legs.