It’s time for another Retro Ad Replay article! This is the series where we head backwards in time to reminisce and celebrate the anniversary of some of the most significant moments in gaming. If you find yourself wanting more content like this, be sure to visit Mandatory.com.
In this February 8 edition of Retro Ad Replay, we’re taking a trip back 10 years to when Test Drive Unlimited 2 first launched on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. That’s February 8, 2011. Developed by Eden Games and published by Atari, TDU2 was best known for its large open world and online multiplayer. It was also widely accessible to racing enthusiasts, casual and experienced. It also included a lot of content for players to get through.
GameRevolution awarded The Sims a 7/10 in our review, giving props to the “open world racing MMO” formula, the “unique balance as a casual racer,” “good soundtrack and music,” and “strong concept and replay value.”
Here’s a snippet from the GR review:
… The single-player is best as a pleasure cruise. Ibiza and Hawaii (more precisely, O’ahu) are mapped exactly to their real-life counterparts; certainly, there are some liberal interpretations of the buildings and terrain, but the roads essentially correspond one-to-one – it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to drive around an entire island (take your pick). Peppered throughout the island are hide-and-seek photo ops and car wrecks that unlock bonus cars, but there’s nothing wrong with taking a Bugatti Veryron and feeling the imaginary breeze as the car glides down a freeway without a care for traffic or mostly lazy cops – perhaps park near a harbor and watch the sunset. It also helps that players can teleport to any place on the map that they have been before.
Those who want more of a thrill ride can drive more dangerously by drifting, speeding into the air, or dodging cars. Doing so increases the FRIM meter and filling the bar allows players to bank money they’ve earned, unless they choose to attempt refilling the bar for even more cash if they can avoid a collision. It’s sort of like playing THE WEAKEST LINK with a vehicle (where a single scratch on it is probably worth your yearly salary). But while it makes freeriding much more fulfilling, it should have been expanded to include more goals, as in BURNOUT, like bonuses for going against oncoming traffic or maintaining high speeds for long periods of time. Also, the few hundred dollars that FRIM awards eventually becomes meaningless as players progress to more difficult championships with $1 million cash prizes.
Check out the Test Drive Unlimited 2 trailer from E3 2010 below:
