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”? Considering everything that was done to the game to really give the player a ton of options and high speed wrecking, I’d say the answer is yes.

Test Drive : EoD blends the best of racing and demolition driving in over 25 different events with over 30 cars to play with and unlock (including school busses, ambulances, and postal trucks), and while no online play is included … it is complete with split screen multiplayer for up to four drivers wanting to test their nerves in all of the fun filled, car smashing fun. Basically, you can opt to race either by yourself or with friends at various dirt tracks and state fairs in such high octane smash fests as the figure 8, the suicide race (one half of the field goes one way while the other half drives in the opposite direction), or even the forward / backward race, where the first lap is run forwards, the second is run backwards, and so on just to name some of the events that you can participate in. Also, anyone who has played Demolition Racer will know that winning races earns you points on the board, but in EoD the other part of this game is destruction. Winning races and unlocking tracks is one thing … but to really get into some new cars you will need to drive violently. You earn points for this at the end of the race, and unlockables are earned by accumulating points … not just winning races. 

The main portion of the game revolves around the career mode, which is really where the gameplay shines out. In the career run, you start off out in the boonies on your little trailer, then take the car out onto the state roads to drive to the salvage yard for new vehicle purchases, to your next event, and eventually (after enough rank is achieved through competition) to such places as the upgrade shop to tune up your vehicles or paint your own logos, time trials, the trailers of other racers to challenge them, or you can head over to the local hangouts to challenge other drivers to street events to help win additional cash to help buy new cars or to repair the ones that you currently own.  

One thing that I really thought was done well was the way that the car balance worked out in the game. There are different categories of vehicles, like muscle or compact cars, and some of them are built lighter and faster while others are a lot heavier but don’t run as fast. These issues really come into trying to select the right car for the job, or not being too hasty in selling a slower but more heavily armored vehicle, since the races that you will run at your events that you go to are random, and you never really know what you’re gonna be up against. I made the mistake of only having one car a couple of times, and the result was either a lost race due to not having enough speed or possibly getting wrecked out in a demolition derby too soon because I wasn’t heavy enough. You also have to watch your cars when you repair them, because each time their overall damage capacity will continue to drop, so only using one car and repairing it soon can have some bad consequences since it won’t be able to take the punishment it needs to in order to get ahead.

From an overall handling perspective, EoD does a great job. At first, I thought it was a tad bit drifty in the controls when zooming around turns, but you also have to keep in mind that most of the tracks you will be running on are made of dirt which is expected when you are running these kinds of races. After a couple of runs, I got the hang of it, and it actually turns out to work well. In addition, you can really feel the handling differences when using a compact car versus a hurse, which helps in determining which vehicle best suits your driving style.  

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. Also, I was really impressed with things like debris from hay bales or tires that will actually fall off and roll off onto the track which can cause some additional mayhem since they can slow you down if hit and can also cause your car to go careening into different directions that you don’t really want it to go.

Test Drive EoD is one of those games that racing fans like me who enjoy the dirtier, more destructive side of racing have been waiting for a while. This game does a great job in capturing the bang up, figure 8 style of racing versus the norm, and with all of the cars and the events that you can run, it gives you something to do if you have a lot of time to play, or just a few minutes before heading out to work or whatever. NASCAR only fans may not think it’s what they’re looking for, but if you enjoy wrecking and racing even if it’s not your number one thing … this game provides plenty of fun and smashing that will definitely last you for a long time to come. 
 

Gameplay: 8.1
The career mode is long and detailed, and it offers up more to do than just go to your next race. You can unlock new cars both in career mode and in single race mode, which was a plus if you just want to do some quick playing, and they added in such neat vehicles as the hurse and school busses and there are a ton of events to compete in both emphasizing racing and crashing.

Graphics: 8.5 
The cars and environments look great, and there were some great additions that were added in like debris strewn on the track or pieces of the car falling off. Also, there were some great driver physics added in, and he will bounce around and jolt when hit from any angle.

Sound: 8.0
The car and smash sounds were good, but the announcer tended to get a little repetitive as races went on. Also, the music soundtrack in my opinion wasn’t very good at all, and I usually turned it down and just kicked the PC on while I drove.

Difficulty: Medium
The cars were balanced well, and in addition the game will get more challenging as you progress. Some of the races felt like you were going to have to try them a ton of times, but since most everything that happens is seemed to be either random chance or luck, this can flip quickly.

Concept: 8.5 
While this game may not appeal to oval track or strict racing fans, people like me who enjoy the dirt and demolition will no doubt enjoy this game. It’s the first one on PS2 to offer a decent figure 8 track as well as other vehicular wrecking modes which were not only nice to have, they were done well too.

Multiplayer: 8.5

The single player mode is a fun experience, but the multiplayer mode of course can be more fun since you’re running with a friend. All of the events and cars from the single player mode are accessible, and they give you quite a few of them up front to mess with too rather than having to unlock them.

Overall: 8.3
While it may not be for everybody, EoD provides a great wrecking racing experience that I personally think is better than any other one out to date. Fans of this kind of thing should definitely go pick it up, and even if this style of racing isn’t your main thing to do … definitely give it at least a rental if you enjoy racing to see what you think.