It’s interesting how game genres and specific franchises choose to evolve each generation. RPGs get more epic. Action games become more immersive. First-person shooters get faster and look more realistic. The trend goes on from there, with racing games shooting for pretty graphics and vehicular growth (that is, more vehicles crammed onto one screen). Look back on the transition from the original Driver to Crazy Taxi, and from that game to Grand Theft Auto III. Isn’t it amazing what new hardware and a few years can do for a genre?

The new generation has allowed developers to expand our racing games again. For the creators of Test Drive Unlimited, the Xbox 360 MOOR released last fall, it meant being able to produce an online world unlike any other. MOOR, the moniker applied to this genre-defining racer, stands for “Massively Open Online Racing.” That’s a quick and easy way to sum up the experience, but it fails to describe the game’s leading values. Drive anywhere – across 1,000+ square miles – and race any real player at any time just by flashing your headlights.

When a next-gen game is ported to an older console, it’s not hard to think that changes are going to be made. Obviously graphics needed to be downgraded, though not much as you might have expected. The car models look great, featuring almost as much detail as those offered in Gran Turismo. For any developer to achieve that status, you know they’ve put a lot into the game.

Fewer cars are on the road than in the Xbox 360 version, limiting the number of bumper-to-bumper collisions. You’ll still crash – there are plenty of traffic lights and electricity poles to guarantee that. There are also the strange, tough-as-nails bushes that stop vehicles dead in their tracks. They cannot be driven through, only around.

On the bright side, the controls of Xbox 360 are present in this version, giving PS2 players the same level of vehicular depth as its next-gen counterpart. Steering feels rigid for the first 30 minutes of play, but after that the game controls very naturally. The reason for its initial stiffness is because of the overemphasized controls of most other racing games. Most gamers are used to an arcade style of driving (myself included). I consider this game to be an arcade racer but its mechanics have more in common with a simulator. The combination is great.

Like a Rockstar

Test Drive Unlimited doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. The cars truly are the stars. Hot rides from leading manufacturers are emphasized from the start. At the onset you are nothing in TDU’s world, but you have 150,000 credits to spare. Credits are used to purchase cars, upgrades, and housing complexes. One credit isn’t that different from a dollar, but the neutral currency allowed developers to skew vehicle prices however they please.

As a new citizen of Hawaii, you start off without a ride or a place to stay. Your first objective: rent the coolest vehicle available. The Ford GT, Dodge Viper SRT 10, Aston Martin D89 Volante, and Mercedes-Benz 55 AMG are ready to be driven.

Next stop: one of three car dealerships. Head over to Ford for a Mustang GT. While you’re there, you can also take a look at (but cannot yet afford) the Shelby Cobra Concept and Mustang GT-R concept. Alfa Romeo is your second option, offering the GT V6 for under 40,000 credits. The Saturn Sky is that manufacturer’s only sports car. Its small size and sleek exterior are to die for, but its firm handling could lead to death. Not actual death – no one dies in this game. But you are guaranteed to die out of several races.

After a vehicle has been selected, cruise on over to the realtor for your first home. The cheapest one is 100,000 credits, nearly emptying your wallet. The next step: complete as many objectives as possible. They include (and are limited to): racing, racing, and more racing. No lame games of hide-and-seek. No time wasted on a Crazy Taxi knock-off. Test Drive Unlimited is all about cars and what cars do best.

Master Ps

Since the PS2 version took an extra six months to get here, the developers wanted to add something that couldn’t be found in the 360 edition: Master Points. Racing game fans are no strangers to the concept of scoring points for reckless driving. Master Points work the same way – drift, slipstream, score airtime, or just cruise the island for instant point growth. You’ll earn the most points for winning race competitions, a challenge that doesn’t require dangerous maneuvers but doesn’t discourage them either. There is one exception: some races do not allow you to drive off the road. Staying on course is tough, but an off-road meter starts to fill the second you disobey the rule. If it fills the race will end, leaving “quit” or “restart” as your only options.

Bowling Ball Effect

Racing games have changed a lot over the years. The Burnout series showed that there is no end to the possibilities of virtual wrecks … so long as you don’t involve a real car manufacturer. Some are stricter than others, but most manufacturers don’t want to see their vehicles demolished in a game.

Test Drive Unlimited is filled with licensed cars, hence the elimination of vehicular destruction. When you crash, cars bounce back, skid off the road, and continue on as if nothing had happened. Head-on collisions have a bowling ball effect. The two vehicles are tossed back and lifted into the air immediately after impact, almost like bowling pins after a strike.

Though it won’t help you avoid collisions, the Auto-GPS will help you locate important destinations. The system lets you track where you’re going and where you’ve been. Test Drive Unlimited’s massive world would be impossible to navigate effectively without this feature. However, the cool map from the 360 version has been reduced to a more simplified cartoon layout. As a result, the switch from map to game world is not nearly as dynamic.

Gameplay: 7.5
Faster than the previous Test Drive games and more expansive than any other third-party racer, Test Drive Unlimited is an enormous, larger-than-life sequel. You could drive for miles and miles, hour after hour, and still not have cruised every road or shortcut. The controls are great, and the car lineup couldn’t be better. However, this version cannot compare to the next-gen experience had on Xbox 360.

Graphics: 6.3
Test Drive Unlimited succeeds as being a virtual car commercial. The car models are great – superb renderings and excellent interior and exterior details ensure that every vehicle looks accurate. Gearheads will be able to decipher individual models just by their taillights.

That’s the good 35% of the game. There’s also an in-between 10% when chilling in your virtual apartment. The remaining 55% isn’t very appealing. Oahu is free of load times as promised (while cruising – there are brief load times before and after specific races). But the world doesn’t look good. Trees are stiff and pixelated, the mountainous and woodsy areas are boring, and if you look off into the distance, you’ll see the world fade in like a game from the PSone era.

Sound: 7.0
Loads of engine sounds and a rock/techno-oriented soundtrack.

Difficulty: Medium
You won’t complete this game in one sitting. Most won’t finish it in 10 sittings.

Concept: 7.0
A PS2 port of last year’s innovative MOOR (Massively Open Online Racing) game.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Limited options and a less-than-massive structure are not as cool as the Xbox 360 edition’s open-ended online world.

Overall: 7.5
Those of you with an Xbox 360 should pick up that version right away. If you’re without Microsoft’s next-gen console, don’t think of this version as being the one you settle for – think of it as a great racer that pushes the boundaries of the previous generation. Compared only to PS2 racers, Test Drive Unlimited is fantastic. The content is amazingly deep. If there’s a sports car you’d love to drive, chances are it can be found in this game. That can be said for a lot of racers, but it’s not every day that the vehicles handle uniquely and look very close to their real-world counterparts.