Test Drive Unlimited 2 (2011)

Second game from Test Drive Unlimited was changed in many ways comparing to original (and I use the word "changed" not "improved" on purpose) - while the first game of the series was just driving around Oahu the creators of second part decided to extend the territory and offer not only the Oahu roads, but also the Ibiza.

But that?s where the good news has ended - they have changed the whole idea of the game and made it look like some sort of tacky reality TV show and put player in part of one of the wannabe celebrities. The effect is rather comical - while in TDU you might have found plenty of car salons where you could buy some original cars, here the game is concentrated more on clothes, beauty salons and plastic surgery. Not to mention the annoying idea of cellphone ringing f.e. right in the middle of getting through sharp corner. Why? Because someone has the unstoppable urge to tell you about new clothes shop.

Also the idea of bikes as second kind vehicles was dropped and instead we have line of 4x4s and off-road tracks that we can discover. Another new option were side missions, like searching for wrecks of classic cars or making photos of the cars in attractive locations. Weather finally was introduced in TDU2, so you can drive in the rain, during the night or even during the storm. Unfortunately one of the new options was the complete change of the competition races - while in TDU you could have join any race at any time, in TDU2 you have to get the license first for particular class (which means taking part in painstakingly frustrating and pointless tests) to take part in the "event", which is series of races and challenges with common ranking.

And after adding all those new options the creators, in their endless wisdom, decided to cut down on the number of cars available, so comparing to TDU the selection is very limited and most of the cars very similar to each other in characteristics. No wonder there was no Test Drive Unlimited 3...