As I may have mentioned here and there, I’m not particularly good at racing games. Or at least, I lack the motivation to play them enough to become more skilled, usually just dicking around for a bit, completing an easy couple of races and then crashing into something. That’s why my only contributions to our racing reviews are Big Red Racing (which Rik hated) and Car and Driver, (which i jumped on solely for the sake of covering as much as we can of the works of Looking Glass studios, better known for amazing first-person action titles like Thief and System Shock).
That said, I do still get tempted by games on the 2-for-£15 range. And I think to myself “ah-ha! I’ll actually make some progress this time and won’t just shove it in a draw”. So I spotted Test Drive Unlimited, which had one key appeal: a huge continuous piece of countryside (an island of Hawaii) that you can explore freely. You can do races, or just goof about. Open spaces and freedom are big plus points in my book, so I had a go.
And, er, wasn’t very good at it. And now it’s shoved in a draw for the time being. I did attempt some races but sooner or later realised i was having more fun doing this:
[shot of Stoo driving through trees]
I think the town i was looking for was at the bottom of that hill. Maybe.
Oh also the game lets you design your own in-game driver – and there’s only really two worthwile options point. You either create a hot scantily clad chick, or attempt to replicate Jeremy Clarkson.
Oh well, I’ll have another go over christmas.
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You must have won a couple of races if you’re driving that car, it’s not one of the crap ones you’re forced to purchase when you start out (I think).
I was doing quite well until I decided to have a quick spin after a few beers and ended up in a very similar position to that in the picture. The police fines were huge as well.
I think TDU is well worth persevering with, though. One more thing – which of the ‘worthwhile’ options for your in-game driver did you plump for?
November 29, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
I think I went for the scantily clad chick in the end. Hay, if i’ve got to spend time watching them on screen, they may as well be easy on the eye. Same reason i usually build female characters in RPGs. (not in warcraft tho, i draw the line at pretending to be an elf priestess in front of other people).
And yeah, now you mention it, I did make it to the second tier of cars. (which wasn’t especially difficult)
November 29, 2008 @ 6:36 pm
You pretty much have to end up with someone who looks like a model (male or female) – which is a bit ridiculous as most of the people interested in fast cars are old and bald, or look like Jeremy Clarkson (whose look I don’t think you can replicate here).
My guy looks like a bloke from an advert for styling gel or moisturiser. And as such, I’ve cursed him (and me) with a bright yellow car. Test Drive – Hairdresser’s Edition.
November 30, 2008 @ 6:47 pm