Theres an old saying that goes, No man is an island. In crafting Test Drive Unlimited, the return of the long-running racing series, developer Eden Games is taking the phrase a bit, well, literally. Thought TDU takes place entirely on one Hawaiian island the gorgeous Oahu, to be exact no player truly is alone. Ever.
No, Test Drive hasnt gone massively multiplayer in the way Motor City Online tried and failed to do on the PC several years ago. But you will always have other drivers to challenge as you cruise the Pacific-nestled paradise minus the monthly fee. This is accomplished via what the developer calls, Massively Open Online Racing. In essence, everyone with an Xbox Live account is always online. Multiplayer races marked with gold icons on your island-overview GPS map are mixed in with offline challenges as you play.
How does this work in practice? In one of two ways: either you cruise up to a gold-tabbed multiplayer race and enter it, which drops you into a mini-lobby where you can hook up with seven other gamers and battle it out, or and here the option that really excites us you can do a one-on-one challenge.
As part of its ambitious multiplayer package, TDU keeps a constant eye on the nearest drivers with the best connection to you. When you pass each other on the windy two-lane Hawaiian roads, all you have to do is press A to challenge the other player. If he accepts, the challenge-ee gets to plot out your race on the overhead GPS map! Make it a simple straight-shot down the road or plan out a sightseeing Cannonball Run tour of the island: your choice. The loser even has the option of asking for a revenge race, in which case he can determine the race route.
Were unanimously impressed by the scope of what TDU us attempting to pull off, even it its not truly massively multiplayer. Though a couple of things about the core game bothered us in our early online test drive (sorry), particularly the car handling, theres time yet to get it tightened up for the games September release. Last one to the beach is a rotten egg!
~Ryan McCaffrey