Test Drive Unlimited 2 is not a good game. Graphically, it’s mediocre with drab environments and obvious texture pop issues. The racing is piss poor. The non-driving sections are pointless with hysterically poor voice acting. There’s only two radio stations in the whole game. And, worst of all, there’s no compelling overall goal.
I know this because I bought TDU2 when it came out in February last year. And, for the longest time, I let it sit on the shelf collecting dust. Recently, though, I finished Mass Effect 3 and found myself needing something to play. So, I popped TDU2 back into my console. It’s still really bad. But this time, I find that I can’t stop playing. No matter how much I want to stop, it’s become my go-to game over the last month. I’ve let other, better games fall by the wayside. I’ve lost hours trying to best yet another challenge. And that’s because, in its own stupid yet genius way, TDU2 is actually fantastic.
Richard writes: "The series may have a cult following, but ten years on Test Drive Unlimited 2 still upsets me. It was one of my most anticipated games ever, with a concept years ahead of what Forza Horizon could achieve. But it remains one of the buggiest launches of a game I can remember, completely tarnishing my memory of it."
DSOGaming writes: "TDU World is an Online Server and Mod Pack Project for Test Drive Unlimited 2 that is currently available for download."
Such an underrated game, the only problem I had with it was the car physics on anything more powerful the a Golf GTI. But to me this was the original Forza Horizon
Game Informer - It's hard to imagine what to do in a car game except race other cars, and yet with Test Drive Unlimited 2, developer Eden Games found a way to expand the genre's horizons enough to offer an experience that's slightly different from your average racer. Eden's ambition came with a cost, but Test Drive Unlimited 2 is a game that I remember fondly and appreciate for the chances it takes.
This game gets a bad rap, but I enjoy it still. The idea was great, I think that if the devs were just better supported it could have been something truly epic.
Would love to see something like this again, especially on a next gen console.
Dear gameinformer,
look up the fucking definition of cult classic,
sincerely,
anyone who knows what "cult" or "classic" means.
Worst handling in a racer this gen. Everything outside of driving is amazing, but the most important thing in TDU2 sucks.
I'm glad Playground Games is making an open-world racer of their own (Forza Horizon), because the TDU games were so promising but never delivered.
Yeah, it's a fact that the game is bad on almost every aspects, but the power of free-ride and random encounters with fellows is still working despite all those technical issues.
This game is wonderful, although it is a paradox. The cars look great, character models are good, not like Uncharted but remeber this is a racing game about cars.
The characters and voice acting are both hilarious and weird. It's nice they tried to add more to the game, but they could have used better writing and acting. I do love how you can walk around with your avatar now unlike TDU 1.
The only part I would call bad is the online. It's very hard to find people and get races going because he game's online system is difficult to understand. What they needed to do was have a search option or put you into a random quick race with other searchers. I've put lots of hours into this game and I still haven't raced against any human players.
I'm looking forward to Test Drive Ferrari but I wonder if my expectations are off if I'm expecting something like TDU. It's all track racing with only one carmaker (although with many cars to drive with).