henke on 28/11/2011 at 19:48
Test Drive Unlimited 2 has some pretty horrendous writing. The story is that you're a vallet who gets caught sleeping on the job but then a lady who's the host for a show about street racing or something promises to give you a shot at becoming a famous racedriver if you take 5 minutes to drive her to the set where the show is filming. That's it. Also your character speaks! Sometimes! Mostly he just shuts up but every now and then he'll say something like "Hello", or "Okay". It feels like he was originally supposed to be the usual mute videogame-protagonist, but then sometime late in the production-process they decided that he should have a voice after all so they gave him some completely unncecessary lines that sometime don't even seem to fit in with anything anyone else has said in that cutscene. The cutscenes mostly feel like something out of Deadly Premonition except not funny or interesting. After the first introductory level you're
kinda given freedom to explore. You're still getting showered in phonecalls from characters telling you to go here and do this and go there and get your driverslicence and blah blah. And tutorials pop up for EVERY little thing. "Here you can participate in a multiplayer race!" "Here you can buy new clothes!" "It looks like you've driven off the road, press BACK to get back on the road!" There is so much handholding it's crazy. Thankfully it seems to let off after an hour or two.
Anyway, stick with it and you'll find that underneath all of that is a pretty decent driving-game set in a
wonderful game-world. The island you race around is really the game's biggest saving grace. It looks and feels real, from the cities, to the suburbs, to the long stretches of highway and small towns. The actual racing missions are so-so, but just cruising around is a delight. Here is a video I recorded of me driving from the big city to a small town in the north, for no particular reason. Sometimes the destination isn't as important as the journey.
[CENTER]<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RzhSTw4BNn4?version=3&hl=sv_SE"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RzhSTw4BNn4?version=3&hl=sv_SE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="700" height="420" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>[/CENTER]
If all you want from a driving game is a Ford Mustang and the open road, then this game certainly delivers. :cool: You'll probably be able to pick it up for about 5-10 bucks on Steam again around Christmas, so wait till then if you're unsure.
june gloom on 28/11/2011 at 20:39
pro driving at 2:14
demagogue on 28/11/2011 at 21:44
Wow, looks like what I do in real life ... except for some reason he's making money instead of just burning gas & losing it like I do. Anyway, this is the kind of driving game I like. I could do without the popups and VOs though.
Jason Moyer on 28/11/2011 at 22:20
How does it compare to the first one? Are the roads still too low-poly in certain places for the physics engine? I thought the first game was absolutely fantastic, but it would also throw up things that completely broke the immersion like elevation changes that didn't have enough detail and ended up throwing the car around like you drove into a foot-deep pothole. Also, and I realize there are licensing reasons for this, the total lack of damage to the player's car also destroys the immersion. Oh, and the handling of the motorcycles was hilariously awful.
Jumping into a vintage Firebird, Lotus Esprit, or a Ferrari 288 and joyriding, though? Good times.
henke on 29/11/2011 at 06:26
I know what you mean about the bumpy roads in the first one. Haven't really noticed it in this one, so I guess the roads have been alotted a few more polygons. And your car does get bruised if you crash into stuff. Though I think it might just be the textures that show damage, not the model so much.
And I'm not even sure there are motorcycles in this one, haven't seen any yet. There are offroad vehicles though. Those handle like rallycars, with lots of powersliding all over the place. A nice change of pace from the more realistic highway driving every now and then.
Quote Posted by demagogue
except for some reason he's making money instead of just burning gas & losing it like I do.
Hah, yeah, that's the F.I.R.M. system. The game's writing does do a half-assed attempt at explaining it.
Mechanic: Also, I installed a F.I.R.M. system under your car. It will track your movements and you'll get a reward everytime you drive dangerously and do daring stunts!That's it. Where's all this money coming from? Who knows. Maybe the government decided it was more important to have awesome driving on the roads rather than safe driving so all cars get the FIRM system, whatever that stands for, installed. Thankfully you can turn it, and most of the HUD, off, if you feel it ruins immersion.
EvaUnit02 on 29/11/2011 at 06:33
One review of the game I watched at release described the non-driving gameplay elements as being a "douchebag simulator". Heh.
EDIT:-
Found the review in question.
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QLc95xoFkQs?version=3&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QLc95xoFkQs?version=3&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>
Muzman on 29/11/2011 at 14:17
Good lord, they tried to make Entourage: the game or something. Yuck.
henke on 29/11/2011 at 15:06
Entourage is a great show you cretin! :mad:
j/k Muz you're not a cretin :(
hug it out bitch :cool:
Vernon on 29/11/2011 at 15:56
Quote Posted by Muzman
Good lord, they tried to make Entourage: the game or something. Yuck.
yeah lol was watching it and thinking I'd rather watch jersey shore
henke on 29/11/2011 at 16:43
>:U
