Test Drive

Accolade?s PC classic, which became Infogrames? console street racer, is now being reborn under the Atari banner. Right.

Oh boy, another PS2 street racer! Still, the flawed but good-intentioned Test Drive makes it worth getting behind the wheel, if only for a rental.

Back ?n Black
The lack of a number on this version of Test Drive is significant?it?s time for the 15-year-old franchise to start over. The rebirth borrows elements from Midnight Club, Gran Turismo, and its own past, placing players in the guise of Dennis Black, a hotshot driver recruited to drive in underground street races called ?test drives.? It?s arcadey all the way as you squeal through the streets of San Francisco, London, and Tokyo, dodging the law while jumping off ramps and plowing through light poles in licensed cars from Toyota, Plymouth, Chevrolet, and more. In a nod to the original PC game from 1987, some races arm you with a radar detector and challenge you to outrun the fuzz.

Test Drive delivers in fun gameplay but comes up a bit short in everything else. The graphics don?t sparkle; at 60 frames per second, the game moves as smoothly as gamers now expect, but it lacks real visual flash. Engine sounds could be more powerful, and the schizophrenic soundtrack is a mishmash of sample-heavy dance, sanitized rap, and mallternative metal. Controlling the cars doesn?t prove problematic?the analog controls are nice and responsive?but the physics are unsatisfyingly bouncy.

More Spurious Than Furious
Test Drive needed this reboot, and the gritty, underground-racing angle isn?t bad; it just doesn?t feel as thrilling or daring as it should. This could have been The Fast and the Furious: The Game, but even with a narrative and some video segments, the game leaves the player wanting more. It still merits a rent to see for yourself.

Comments [0]

post a comment

Post a Comment