Test Drive Unlimited

Test Drive Unlimited is an open-world racing game developed by Eden Games and published by Atari. It is the ninth installment in the Test Drive series, and was released in September 2006 for Xbox 360. The PC, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable versions were released in March 2007 (the latter two versions were developed by Atari Melbourne House).

Why It Drives Unlimitedly

 * 1) Lots of licensed cars from prestige manufactures such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Spyker, and much more.
 * 2) There are also bikes you can buy from Ducati, Kawasaki, and Triumph.
 * 3) Deep and in-depth character customization system.
 * 4) Miles and miles of road in Oahu to explore at your leisure. You are free to do what you would like, progressing slowly as you go by.
 * 5) Excellent graphics that still look nice many years later.
 * 6) The game runs well, with a smooth frame rate across all platforms, with little loading times.
 * 7) A good soundtrack that compresses many genres, which is split into five different radio stations that you can listen to in your car.
 * 8) Lots of little nice touches; you can roll down the windows of your car, open the doors, start the engine, and you can even choose the wheels and the colors of the exterior and interior when buying a car.
 * 9) Clever way of making you explore Oahu; car dealerships, real estates, and race events you haven't discovered can be driven to, and when you discover it, you can instantly transport there the next time you want to go there. This means the game gives you a reason to explore without being overly pushy about it.
 * 10) A rewarding sense of progression; in order to store the cars you own, you need to purchase houses, which contain a set amount of spaces in the garage. The more money you earn from the races, the more cars you can acquire, which you can then store with bigger garages. When you look back at when you began the game and where you are now, you'll feel a sense of pride at how far you have come.
 * 11) Awesome online multiplayer; the game was classified as M.O.O.R., which stands for Massively Open Online Racing. This means that when you're connected to a server, you'll see other players in the client roaming in your world. You can then challenge them to a race by flashing your headlights. If they accept, you get to set the stake and choose where the race ends. You can also create your own challenges and send them online, which will appear in the worlds of other players.
 * 12) Helpful GPS and a map of Oahu you can view with a tap of the D-pad. Speaking of them it uses the real GPS system with her voice that says the same line that the real GPS in every language you play the game.
 * 13) Unlike most open-world games, when you drive 15 miles in this game, it feels like you're going 15 miles.
 * 14) The PS2 and PSP versions feature additional licensed music, as well as additional features including a "Quick Race" mode, "Master Points" (which got featured in the sequel as "Free Ride Instant Money" or F.R.I.M.), and Auto GPS.
 * 15) In 2019, a fan-mod called Test Drive Unlimited Platinum was released, which completely revamps the game with brand new vehicles and upgraded graphics.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The PlayStation 2 and PSP versions lack features that the PC and Xbox 360 versions have:
 * 2) * Certain types of cars and buildings
 * 3) * Avatar Customization
 * 4) * Specific brands and types of vehicles like Ferrari, Lexus, etc. (likely due to licensing issues)
 * 5) * Bikes (likely due to hardware limitations)
 * 6) * Manual transmission
 * 7) ** What's worse is that the PS2 version does not support the wheel gamepad.
 * 8) Some of the car specifications are incorrect like the Nissan Skyline (BNR34) GT-R. For example, it has 328 BHP in stock condition as opposed to 276, uses a Left-Hand Drive layout even though no genuine model was ever available other than Right-Hand Drive and it feels out of place since the game takes place in Hawaii, United States (and the car itself isn't legal to be imported in real-life yet due to the country's 25-year import rule).
 * 9) The soundtrack, while great, feels a bit lacking compared to the PS2 and PSP versions mentioned above.
 * 10) No rain and day/night cycles.
 * 11) The avatar animations are outdated even by 2006 standards and the voice acting is hilariously terrible. (A latter trait that echoed even louder in its sequel).
 * 12) The handling model is quite odd, even by arcade-style driving standards.
 * 13) The gravity system is terrible, which is comparable to that of planet Jupiter.
 * 14) Some track events are only available using the game's online servers. To make things worse, the PS2 version requires you to go online for 100% completion, and as the servers were closed a long time ago, it makes it impossible to achieve 100% completion.
 * 15) * Examples of the events are "Banana Split", "Drag Strip" etc. Also, a portion of events can be downright frustrating.
 * 16) Strangely, Club Races that were included for the PlayStation 2 and PSP are not available for the PC and Xbox 360, and are instead replaced with hitchhiking and delivery runs (which were also not included in the PS2 and PSP versions).
 * 17) The interior of the vehicles, specifically for the Xbox 360 and PC, has aged terribly. The same goes for character models.
 * 18) Owned penthouses can't be interacted with.
 * 19) Damage model on cars is nonexistent. Although traffic can be damaged on the Xbox 360/PC version, your car will never be damaged.
 * 20) You cannot sell cars at all, especially if you somehow end up buying the same cars.