Test Drive Unlimited Critique

WOW!

I was left speechless after spending a good 8 hours with the full game last night. The scope of the game is breathtaking, as is the sense of ownership. The game sucks you in from the very begining and doesn't let go. From the little touches like begining the game at an airport before you fly into hawaii, and allowing you to select your charcter (which you can modify later) from a large list of preset people. It even goes further with the customization once you get to the island and purchase some living space and a car. It feels like your playing with real money in a living breathing world. The fact that the single player is interwoven with a persistent online world only hightens the excitement of crusing the countryside.

I spent a good 3 hours just driving around the entire island, taking in the scenery and taking photographs of cool locations to visit later. I ended up running into a random xbox live citizen who showed me around town. Driving off road with a very cool xbox live guide broke down some barriers of what i've come to expect from internet gaming. The game is truly groundbreaking in this area. Although the car's have some subtle annoyances, all is forgiven once you take into consideration the scope of the game, besides the roadsters sound meaty and handle well enough to be fun and challenging at the same time. The game really shines in the multiplayer mode, with some of the 8 car long distance races being amoung the most fun I've had in a racing game in quite some time. What makes thing's differnt is the amount of room you feel. In the middle of the race you could get swerve off track, go through a few shrubs, over a hill and cut off the competition with your little impromptu shortcut. I have never felt this free and unconstrained in a racing game before, aside from midtown madness.

I joined a car club shortly before I got last night, and I look forward to investing some more time into the bevy of options there. Until then, color me satisfied with amount of fun wrapped up in of all things, a Test Drive game. Baby...i've missed you.