Great game, always fun to pick up and play anytime!
When the game launched it had over 75 vehicles for you to utilize. The way TDU had you unlock the vehicles seemed so real to me. You had to find the dealerships on the island and save up enough money to purchase your dream car. You could do this by saving money from winning races or selling other vehicles that you had in your garages. Another big perk was the way TDU implemented the Live Marketplace, you where able to download monthly car packages. Or just single cars that you wanted to use in the game, and every car in the game looked great.
The graphics in the game where crisp. Some of the cars had slight flaws, but during a race you never noticed them. The interiors of the vehicles were also great, each car having it's own particular style. Also the ability to change the color of your interior was a great feature. The character models seemed a bit low on detail, and most had the same facial features. The other thing about the game that could have been improved on was the variety of vehicles on the road, that were controlled by the computer. Most of them were either sedans or blue SUV'S. It would be nice to see a more diverse line up of vehicles while driving along the interstate.
While playing the game at first I never gave the radio much attention. In the last couple of months though I have been listening to the games soundtrack, and it's better than I have ever expected. There is a huge variety of music, but the downside is the number of songs on each station. If you play the game for longer than 45 minutes you will hear the same song more than once. If you do find the radio boring you are able to upload your own personal soundtrack to the game and the great thing is you u can see what song is being played on the radio, and instead of using the guide to change songs you can do it in game.
Finally the most intuitive part of the game, the implementation of continuous online play. If you are connected to Live you are able to play online, and the great thing is there is no waiting to get into a room. Everyone who is playing the game you may encounter depending on where you are on the map. The game will generate 3-8 players who are closest to you, and you can decide if you want to challenge them to a race. You are also able to filter who you want to play with. If you only want friends to be shown on your map you can set the game to filter everyone but your friend, same goes with skill level and type of car.
Overall Test Drive Unlimited is a great experience. I was never a fan of the racing genre, but TDU change my perspective on things. I feel TDU is a game everyone should at least rent. Although there are some minor flaws in the game the overall originality of the game will keep you coming back for more.