Test Drive 2 in 2008?

By Robert Purchese Published 8 May, 2007

Atari fends off rumours.

Atari was unable to confirm or deny rumours this morning that Test Drive Unlimited 2 is in development and due for release in 2008.

It was speaking in the aftermath of Polish website GRY-OnLine.pl revealing the game, claiming to have received the 100 per cent reliable information from an anonymous source.

Said source reckons we're in store for a new PC and Xbox 360 game that will introduce off-road racing, dynamic weather, and 2,400km of road to saunter around.

Speculation like this is sometimes unfounded, but Atari's response lends a degree of believability. As does the fact that Test Drive Unlimited was one of its most critically acclaimed games of 2006.

Released on Xbox 360 late last year, and followed by PC, PS2 and PSP versions, it lets you jump behind the wheel of some shiny and hugely expensive motors, then put your foot down and burn rubber around a tropical Hawaiian island, "doing" races and building up an empire.

You can do almost anything you please, not having to stick to races or formulas if you prefer, and thanks to a clever bit of integration with that old Internet, you often ran into real people. It all turned out rather well, as our Test Drive Unlimited review will tell you.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (31) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • gizmo #1 5 years ago

    Still playing it now, flippin ace game. Just racing round the island in freeride with a few friends in cars that you each actually own, coming across strangers and racing impromptu along the coast roads, bliss.

  • Cloudane #2 5 years ago

    Seriously.

    Make it smaller - I don't have 30-40 hours to drive around an island that takes a decade to get to the other side.

  • S.J.Rogers #3 5 years ago

    Never player TDU.

    Is it any good or just a bit bland..?

  • SomaticSense #4 5 years ago

    Are we going to get the budget price this time with the US paying full whack? You know, make it fair and all...

    Looking forward to it though. TD:U was a bit basic, but still great fun.

  • Hog-lumps #5 5 years ago

    Make it smaller - I don't have 30-40 hours to drive around an island that takes a decade to get to the other side.

    But I thought the colosal map was one of the key features that differentiated it from other driving games??
    Edited by 1 at 08/05/07 @ 11:15

  • Zomoniac #6 5 years ago

    TDU was amazing. Get rid of the pop-up, smooth out the jaggies and ditch the silly you-bought-things cut-scenes unless you can make the character models better and I'll be happy. Also, it might be TDU2 but it most definitely isn't Test Drive 2, it's Test Drive 96731 or thereabouts.

  • Cloudane #7 5 years ago

    Hog-lumps, it is a nice feature... for people who have a lot of (gaming) time on their hands.

  • SomaticSense #8 5 years ago

    No. It'll actually be Test Drive 96732. Get your facts straight next time... :p

  • SomaticSense #9 5 years ago

    "Hog-lumps, it is a nice feature... for people who have a lot of (gaming) time on their hands. "

    Well there is always the fact you can click on a nearby landmark (car showroom, house, race) which'll instantly move you to that location Oblivion-style. But I suppose you had so little gaming time to figure that one out, eh? Or even to play the game....
    Edited by 1 at 08/05/07 @ 11:26

  • OnlyMe #10 5 years ago

    I was hoping there was going to be a Test Drive 2 REMAKE in 2008.

  • HarryB #11 5 years ago

    make the physics more realistic, made the driving experience a bit shit but a very good driving game, not racing game.

  • Talha #12 5 years ago

    For me, the only thing lacking in TDU was that the racing was bland and generic. Just fix that and I will be happy.

  • sickpuppysoftware #13 5 years ago

    Shouldn't they be focusing on the PC patch for the existing title first?

  • Der_tolle_Emil #14 5 years ago

    I would very much like to see a sequel. The game was good.

  • [maven] #15 5 years ago

    Higher resolution terrain / streets (for fewer sharp bumps) and I'll be happy...

  • X201 #16 5 years ago

    I'll take this opportunity to mention the Test Drive group on Eurogamers.

    I'll start a Eurogamer club if enough peeps show up.

  • Feagle #17 5 years ago

    The same thing in a different setting and even that would be good enough...

    A great game.

  • space_ace #18 5 years ago

    more like 1988 =)

  • sharky_ob #19 5 years ago

    1st game was indeed great. I've been playing it again as I recently got the official wheel, ready for Forza 2. Force feedback adds a lot to any driving game.

    Shame my 2nd 360 is now dead....

  • Subquest #20 5 years ago

    Unlimited was a landmark in it's scope and vision of a driving game, lets hope they iron out the following:

    The driving models obviously.
    Smoothing of elevation - no more microjumping as you ascend or descend.
    Improved force feedback realism when using a wheel setup.
    Optional damage model on player cars.

    To the guy who said make it smaller - sweet jesus mate, theres a million games out there on a smaller scale, stick to those if it upsets you.

  • radoxxx #21 5 years ago

    "It was speaking in the aftermath of Polish website GRY-OnLine.pl revealing the game, claiming to have received the 100 per cent reliable information from an anonymous source."


    anonymouse source - bhahha this site is full of garbage info. "Reliable information" hahaha even polish Atari partner (CD PRojekt) knows nothing about TDU2. They DON't HAVE any "secret sources" of informations. They are just bunch of liars. WHO would tell THEM about TDU2? Eurogamer knew NOTHING about it! IGN knows nothin about ii . BUT GREAT da badass site from country where dogs are barking with their asses knew!! Wake up people! They just want cheap publicity nothing more
    Edited by 1 at 08/05/07 @ 14:06

  • mkreku #22 5 years ago

    Oohh, I would really love an even bigger Test Drive Unlimited! :D

    Seriously, I loved just cruising around enjoying the wonderful island. Picking up a hitchhiker here and there, race a couple of sports cars from time to time and earning those achievements.

    Very much look forward to this. I played it on the PC, by the way. No pop up at all. No jaggies. And higher resolution. LOVELY!

  • SomaticSense #23 5 years ago

    radoxx, what in sweet HELL are you going on about??

  • Machetazo #24 5 years ago

    "dynamic weather."

    Good idea, but I was a bit disappointed when I turned my 360 on at night to play TDU, and to my dismay, the ingame sky was bright sunshine, with scarcely a cloud. Totally shot any immersion to bits. I haven't played it as much since. I wanted to drive by headlight/moonlight. :(

    Can't claim it's not a damn enjoyable game, though.
    Edited by 1 at 08/05/07 @ 14:26

  • HarryB #25 5 years ago

    good for killing time and great fun when you find someone cruising around who fancies a little muck about :)

  • kangarootoo #26 5 years ago

    @Cloudane

    But how does the size impact your experience. If you never drive to the other side opf the island, what does it matter whether it is there or not?

    /thinks a bit after initially being a grumpy sod

    I can actually see how perhaps a large island means that there is less chance of you meeting other players.

    /eats hat

    So, lets discuss maturely now I've put my dummy back in :)

    If there were more players in the game, would make the larger island ok with you, or are there other issues associated with it?


    @radoxxx

    You make the internet smell bad.

  • YourMessageHere #27 5 years ago

    I'd love the game if they'd made the PC version controllable with a keyboard. It's ever so easy to have a go at the likes of NFS but at least cars were entirely controllable without having to use a pad or wheel. TDU on most of the interesting cars is a matter of twitch, twitch, veer into shrubs and lose race. The less said about the bikes the better. Also another game that suffered from anti-fun AI.

    Nonetheless, it's a very nice idea. More of it with these things fixed would be great.

  • Whippee #28 5 years ago

    phee this news smells bad

  • Subquest #29 5 years ago

    @YourMessageHere

    Don't mean to deride your choice of input mate, but this game has pretentions of being a sim, and whilst it has a way to go before it's perfect, adding key control is probably low on their list of priorities. The way I see it, if your gonna play games on your PC, particularly a driving sim (don't get me wrong, it's no GTR), buy some appropriate input peripherals.

  • Ryze #30 5 years ago

    Cool. More reasons to spend too much of my wage on expensive games and consoles!

  • Ryze #31 5 years ago

    a USB 360 pad will set you back... relatively fuck all - compared to that PC that runs (a legally bought copy of) TDU.