Test Drive Unlimited Review (X360)

Test Drive Unlimited is huge. More than 90 vehicles, 1000 miles of road, and hundreds of missions and races mean you'll be playing for a long time to come. Just driving around and exploring the gorgeous island of Oahu is a thrill and a large part of what makes TDU so addictive and fun. The gameplay takes some getting used to, but once you wrap your head around it the game is very enjoyable and stands as one of the best racing games on the Xbox 360. For just $40, you can't go wrong.

Massively Open Online Racing

What makes Test Drive Unlimited unique and special is how the single-player and multiplayer have been seamlessly integrated. As long as you are hooked up to Xbox Live, when you start up the game and get in your car and start driving around the island, there will be other human racers driving around and doing their own thing as well. You can completely ignore the other players if you want and just do single player missions, or you can go find these other players and talk to them and challenge them to races and just goof off. Also, there are multiplayer specific events all over the island where you can see if other people on Xbox Live (not necessarily the people in your current game) are participating in and then join with them to complete the race. You can also form car clubs with other players as well as create custom races and challenge other players. You can also buy and sell cars with other players. It is all really, really well put together and adds a unique and fun element to the game. You can turn the online interaction off if you want, but the massively online multiplayer aspect is a large part of TDU's appeal.

Missions

Your main goal in Test Drive Unlimited is to win money and earn clothing coupons so you can buy new houses and cars as well as customize your character. There are a ton of different events to take part in including standard races, time trials, and speed trap events. There are also side missions where you pick up a hitchhiker or a package and have to drive them to their destination within a time limit. My favorite events are the car delivery missions where you pick up an amazing car like an Enzo Ferrari and have to drive it to another area of the map. This gives you an easy and early opportunity to drive some of the best cars in the game, but it also earns you a ton of cash. The catch in all of these missions is that you have to drive carefully. If you drive off of the road or hit other cars, your reward decreases and you can actually fail the mission if you drive too recklessly. This is a nice balance from the full throttle races and it makes the game more interesting than just driving from point A to point B.

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