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Test Drive Unlimited 2

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Test Drive Unlimited 2
European cover art
Developer(s)Eden Games
Publisher(s)Atari
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Genre(s)Driving Sandbox
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer, CO-OP

Test Drive Unlimited 2 (TDU2) is a racing video game developed by Eden Games and published by Atari. It is the sequel to Test Drive Unlimited and the tenth game in the series. The game was released on 8 February 2011 in North America and on 11 February in Europe.[2]

The game suffered from a few bugs during launch, particularly on PC.[3][4] Namco Bandai UK marketing boss Lee Kirton confirmed that a Test Drive Unlimited 2 patch will be released to address various issues in two weeks time.[5]

Gameplay

There is a storyline in Test Drive Unlimited 2 for the player to follow. To progress through the game, the player has to earn experience points to level up through the 60 levels. These points can be earned via 4 categories:

  • Competition (racing, completing challenges)
  • Social (making friends in the game, race against other people, joining clubs)
  • Discovery (discover all roads, take photographs of specific locations, find all car wrecks)
  • Collection (buy cars, houses, furniture, clothing/basic needs)

There are an additional 10 Levels available to those who acquire the TDU2 Casino Online DLC/Pre-order Bonus, these levels are achieved within the casino itself.[6]

The player can earn extra money depending with how the player drives. Driving like a daredevil and performing stunts, drifting through turns at high speeds and evading crashes and the traffic will earn the player extra cash. Exploring the island lets the player find vehicle wrecks which will unlock exclusive vehicles at the dealerships on the island. The player can also walk out of the car in vehicle shops,player houses, clubs and the optional casino DLC. The player's avatar can be altered by changing hair, clothes, physical appearance and their attitude and facial features, and they can also buy houses. Co-op will also make an appearance in the game including a Follow-the-Leader mode. In this mode, players will have to complete a route by driving through checkpoints. When a checkpoint is passed by the leader, the game promotes one of the other drivers as leader. Working together properly is made even more important as only the leader can see the route on his GPS display.

Location

The game is set upon two islands: Ibiza, and Oahu (the setting of the first game). Both islands have been modeled very accurately by using satellite data. Each island has both asphalt roads and off-road routes, translated to roughly two-thirds of all roads being asphalt roads, and the total amount of roads exceeds 3000 kilometers. The islands have new challenges and races to earn extra cash, and also the roads on Hawaii have been modified to make the location interesting again for players who played the previous game. Hawaii has also been renewed graphicswise to stay up to date for the new game, and each island will feature the 24-hours cycle and dynamic weather.

The player can travel between the two islands by driving to the airport on one island, where a cutscene shows the character taking off as a passenger on a plane, flying to the next location on the other island. This air-commuting ability needs to be unlocked by reaching level 10 out of 60 in the game.

Vehicles

New vehicle classes are included, such as SUVs for off-roading. Not all vehicles are obtainable however; clubs can get exclusive club cars when reaching high ranks. These exclusive vehicles can be driven by any member of the car club, and not by players from other clubs. The pre-launch game sported motorcycles that were quite hard to control, and also hard to win races with. They are not present in the launch edition, but may be added in later on.[7]

Vehicles feature cosmetic damage which does not affect the behaviour and technical aspects of the vehicles. There is no option to manually repair the vehicle; the car may get fixed by resetting to the road or visiting a house. Rainfall does affect the handling of the vehicles though, and also influences the appearance of a vehicle as rain washes off dirt. Eden has also spent years working on a new physics engine to ensure each vehicle has its own driving behaviour. New details and functions have been added, such as different headlight modes, turning signals and working convertible roofs. There is also a vinyl-editor which is similar to that of Forza Motorsport.

When pre-order information was revealed, it became known that pre-orders in the United States would get additional bonuses. Among these bonuses are bonus cars, such as special Carbon-edition Aston Martins, an Audi Q7 concept car, Ford Shelby GT500 and Alfa Romeo models.

During E3 2010, Atari released the first part of the list of cars that are available in the game. The list includes various models of Aston Martin, Audi, Dodge, Lotus, Mercedes, and more.[8] All of these vehicles will be purchasable in the final game.

As confirmed on the Official TDU2 Forum, Lamborghini will not be making an appearance in the game, due to licensing issues. Lamborghini made an appearance in the last game.

In December 2010, Atari released the official car list for the game, containing 101 cars.

Motorbikes are not included in TDU2 unlike the previous offering of the game. A future DLC is in the works but there has been no word on a release date as yet.

Multiplayer

Test Drive Unlimited 2 has a similar online mode to the previous game. During free roaming, up to 8 players can join in a session at the same time. Improvements to the online aspects have led to the fix of people quickly disappearing just after entering a session. In shops and clubs, up to 8 players can walk around at the same time. The ability to walk is also present in the new racing lobby. When waiting for every player to be ready to race, cars of the other players can be examined. Also, players can be in the seat of another player's car to show or be shown different shortcuts.

With the launch of the new Test Drive Unlimited 2 website, the FAQ section confirmed that like in the previous game, the game will not require a subscription fee to play online.

Development

System requirements
Minimum Recommended
Microsoft Windows[9]
Operating system Windows XP SP2, Vista SP2, Windows 7Windows XP SP2, Vista SP2, Windows 7
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz or AMD Athlon X2 4400+Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz or AMD Athlon X2 4400+
Memory 2GB
Free space 14GB of free space
Graphics hardware Nvidia GeForce 8800 / ATI Radeon HD 3870Nvidia GeForce GTX 280 / ATI Radeon HD 4870
Sound hardware DirectX 9.0c compliant sound card
Network Internet Broadband Connection

In December 2008, Atari stated that various series, including Test Drive, would be revisited after 2009.[10] Test Drive Unlimited 2 features dynamic weather effects, day and night cycles, and cosmetic vehicle damage. The game takes place on the islands of Ibiza and Oahu. After enough gameplay, players will be able to return to an expanded and updated Hawaii from the previous game.[11]

Soundtrack

Test Drive Unlimited 2 features two in-game radio stations, Hariba Radio and Road Rock.

Marketing

TDU2 Casino Online

Atari will release TDU2 Casino Online on the same day as Test Drive Unlimited 2, which can be downloaded on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace. TDU2 Casino Online includes casino games like poker, roulette, and slots. The player will have a chance to unlock exclusive cars (Audi R8 Spyder and Spyker C8 Aileron) while playing these casino games.

TDU2 Casino Online will also include a track for player to try out the exclusive cars that were won. All prizes and cars won in the casino can be carried over into Test Drive Unlimited 2.[12]

TDU2 Casino Online was also available as a Pre-order bonus at select retailers.

Problems

At release, on all platforms, there have been many bugs reported in the game. Some of these include game save files becoming corrupted forcing the player to start a new profile. Also reported are issues with the multi-player functions such as players being unable to connect to each other. These server issues also prevent anyone trying to start the game in "connected mode" or connected to Xbox Live or PSN. A patch has been released to fix some of these issues, including the activation of the Club feature, which was disabled to correct exploits in the system. [13] This patch has not been released for Xbox or PS3. The Club server is currently offline for both consoles and online functionality is sporadic at best.

References

  1. ^ a b Parker, Laura (2010-08-12). "Test Drive Unlimited 2 shifts to Q1 2011 - News at GameSpot". Uk.gamespot.com. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  2. ^ "Test Drive Unlimited 2 Dated". IGN. 2010-11-26. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  3. ^ "PC Connectivity Issues". Atari. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-02-12.
  4. ^ Test Drive Unlimited 2 suffering troubled launch
  5. ^ "Test Drive Unlimited 2 patch 'in 2 weeks'". CVG. 2011-02-18. Retrieved 2011-02-19.
  6. ^ May 12th, 2010 @ 13:52 By Patrick Garratt (2010-05-12). "Blog Archive » Interview: Test Drive Unlimited 2's Alain Jarniou answers your questions". VG247. Retrieved 2010-09-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "TDU 2 first batch of cars revealed". New Game Network. June 20, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ "What are the PC system requirements for Test Drive Unlimited 2?". http://www.testdriveunlimited2.com/. Atari, Inc. December 2, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2010. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  9. ^ Tom Bramwell (December 2, 2008). "Atari to revisit Baldur's, Test Drive". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
  10. ^ Bramwell, Tom (May 12, 2010). "Two islands in Test Drive Unlimited 2". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  11. ^ "Atari Betting on Test Drive Unlimited 2 Casino Online". IGN. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  12. ^ "Test Drive Unlimited 2 patch fixes login issues, free DLC incoming". PC Gamer. 2010-2-23. Retrieved 2010-2-23. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
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