I had installed this game few months ago when i had my OCed Pentium 4 with me. But due to occasional slow downs and frame drops i uninstalled it. Few days back, when i search for my GTA IV DVD i found this accidentally and i though of installing it, since i hadn't finished the game before. So i want to give it a try and thought of writing a review of this game.
Eventhough its a quite old game, i still liked it due to its unique gameplay and theme of Test Drive all vehicles in the showroom. As i said, its quite old game it wont need a monster rig to play it at high settings, but still you need a powerful GPU like 79XX to play it with HDR enabled, in which my GPU failed. OK, lets get into the review.
Gameplay - 8/10
This game started with selecting a character of your choice and he travels to miami, where the story ought to begins. The intro scenes were simply annotation of the story, IMO. After he reach miami, we have to rent a car and buy a house. Continue with this, we need to buy a wheel to start racing. Thats it, you set to begin your life in the city. You can compete with other racers on the go, by just flashing the head lights. Or by simply go to a location in the map.The most interesting aspect is you wont be able to get into a location in map by just simply clicking. You have to explore the place once. The map looks excellent. I suddenly felt like i am working with google maps, but after clicking the race i came to know its TDU.
Another notable thing is test-drive. You can visit any car showoom and test-drive the wheel of your choice.I almost drove all the cars in the showroom and explored about 300 miles, which is quite high for the time i played.Cops chase were nice but they were not so harder like NFS:MW. We can easily pass through the road-blocks just by driving the car to edge of the road.Isn't it simple?.The pick-the-model-and-drop-her races were just a stubborn idea.No dating,no flirting. Just drop them in time and get a boutique pass. Who wants that.
The only part were the game sucks is, the races look repetitive at times. Upgrading your car is not in-depth like we did in MW. Its just a whole purchase and fix it. Thats it. If you are a guy who wants to play races with controllers, its a big disppointment. Playing the game with controller is real pain in the ass. Too may controls to remember and no way we can do it in a controller. So forgot about that.
The bikes were only unlocked after we explore all car showrooms, which will only possible by exploring about 600miles, which anyone dislikes for a racing game. Along with racing and other missions you wont find any time to explore the world. And often it is boring to drive the car around the world for nothing. So wont comment on this part, as my game progress is just 45%.
Graphics - 8/10
We wont expect a Crysis like experience with an old game like this. It deserves for what it can. It looks good(look at screenies) and you'll guess it. The characters looks same,say the police, the models everyone looks same and the only difference is their hair and the dress they wear. This is complete B$. Other than this,found no problems. I am playing the game with the following settings.
800x600/1024x768
4xAA
HIGH DETAILS
HDR off
I used to play at two resolutions coz if i feel any jerky effects with graphics i switch to 800x600 and revert back after everything is normal. The only thing to worry about is i am unable to turn on HDR.If i do so, then game starts giving poor FPS,say 16-19FPS. So i never touch it. The blur effect and 4xAA giving enough eye-candy and if you have a card like 79XX or above, you'll turn on HDR and enjoy the game at fullest settings. The cars look shiny and superb. The dashboard view is the most pleasent view to drive in this game. I never use this dashboard view any racing game before this. This game completely turned down my mind.
Sound - 5/10
Complete disappointment in music side. No music while in racing too.Same boring engine sound and GPS instruction. No wonder why i get irritated at times and turn-off my speaker. The only encouraging part is the unique sound for each and every engine. Thats a notable thing in sound part, but i hope no one will hear roaring engine sounds all the time, if he playes for more than a hour. So i simply play my songs and start the game to avoid myself getting irritated.
No plus in this category. Even a cop chase wont do any favour in the sound. Think of NFS:MW where cop chase getting hot with perfect mix of visual and sound. Thats completely missing out in this game.Whatever it is,it has its own idea and they may dislike sound tracks to be played at background while racing, thinking it wil spoil the users's driving experience.I guess they get it wrong.
Overall - 7/10
Apart from few minuses, this game stands tall with its unique phase of gameplay which i never came across. If few dont mind those few worst parts and want to give it a try, i say its upto you. But i like the game, not like other racing games.I like it for its unique theme and its range of cars. No in-depth car modifications and mind-lowing sound traks were been present to boast your game experience but still it has something to do.
If you are a serious racer who likes MW and GRiD, then please stay away from this. This is not a game for you.You try this at your own risk.If guys who like GTA kinda games where we explore more than doing mission, this is for us. Explore,explore till the computers stops you by giving a BSOD.
I am playing this game with the system in my siggy..
Menu screen
Home...
My Benz car..
My Benz car Dash board...
Diva lift...
Irritating model...
Police diva...
Map...Reminds me about Google Maps
Race starts..
Settings i am playing with...
Test Drive Unlimited - A Glance at the game
Linear Mode
