Test Drive: Eve of Destruction Preview

As any good fan of driving and racing knows, there are a ton of potential racing games out for the PS2 that you can select from, but unfortunately the titles that seem to really push taking a car and destroying it through derbies or high speed demolition racing are slim to none. The most recent entry into the market was Destruction Derby Arenas, which met with mixed feelings, so when you’re in the mood to take a perfectly good automobile and destroy it, what are you to do? Well, the Test Drive series has always been one that stood out as a decent racing title, and now they are entering the metal bending fray with their newest release known as Eve of Destruction. The main question on everyone’s mind of course is probably “is it any good”? Well, I just got done playing the heck out of the demo, and from what I’ve seen so far … the answer is yes.

According to the developer, Test Drive: EoD is going to blend the best of racing and demolition driving in over 25 different events when it hits shelves here in a few weeks. In addition, there will be over 30 cars to play with and unlock (including school busses, ambulances, and postal trucks), and while nothing has been mentioned in regards to online play … it will come complete with split screen multiplayer for up to four drivers wanting to test their nerves in such events as Demolition Derby, Suicide (where half the cars go one direction on the track and the other half go the other way), straight up demolition racing, where points for crashing are just as important as winning, and finally … a decent Figure 8 race which oddly enough hasn’t really been done since the original Destruction Derby for the PS1 from back in the day.

One thing that I was particularly impressed with is how smooth the game handled and controlled so far, regardless of which car I was using. The four events I just mentioned were the ones that were available in the demo, and in each one there was only one car that I could play with. Still, each different vehicle drove well, and had a cool kind of drifting effect as you went around dirt turns that felt pretty accurate. Crashes and collisions were also done well, with cars getting banged up, flipped, and dropping parts as they got mangled up as you would expect them to do. And … since the name of the game here is wrecking … I also didn’t notice any collision detection issues so far which is a VERY good thing since you will be doing quite a bit of colliding as you go.

Graphically, EoD looked extremely sharp, as most Test Drive titles do, and there were some great additions that were added into the game that you will notice. As mentioned earlier, cars will realistically get dinged and smashed up as you go, and pieces can and will be lost. One thing that I thought was particularly neat was the fact that the developers didn’t forget to add in some good physics for the driver as well, as getting hit will send him careening around in the driver’s seat which not only added to the experience … but it also looked very accurate as well.

Test Drive EoD is slated to hit shelves on August 28^th, and you can bet that I will be one of the ones to pick it up. There will be a good, detailed career mode included, and also the ability to run single races as well as multiplayer, and it’s looking like one of those driving games that you’ll be able to come back to time and time again. Do we finally have a decent demolition derby / car crashing game to slate our destructive driving appetites? From what I got to see so far, the answer is “yes”. You driving fans should keep an eye out on this one.