14 DAY TRIAL // Test Drive Unlimited 2 is a complicated game, aiming to deliver some pretty tough racing events while also schooling the player in the finer points of social interaction and wealth accumulation, with the beautiful Spanish island of Ibiza serving as the backdrop.
And, after playing a few hours of it, it's hard to tell whether it manages to mix the two pretty different goals in a harmonious way.
First off, it's clear that both the first-person social life and the driving could have used an extra layer of polish.
The driving is not bad by any means, but it takes some time before one gets accustomed to the slightly floaty cars and to the rather unforgiving structure that relies on big penalties for being off the road during official events.
There's also the small problem of using the HandBrake, which has much more of an effect than I expected on the car trajectory and can make some of the corners very tough to get around.
I don't know if it's only the default handling scheme or whether the entire model is the problem, but Test Drive Unlimited 2 has the potential to make gamers pretty mad at times.
It might take a trial run or two in order to learn a race before it can be won, depending on the assistance level the player has chosen, and even then it feels like a race-long struggle with the car rather than the feeling of being in control one gets in the new Need for Speed or in Gran Turismo 5.
But the biggest problem Test Drive Unlimited 2 has is the non-driving sections, where the player avatar needs to move (no bobbing here) in order to change clothes, explore his house or talk to other characters.
The graphics really let the game down and all the characters have dead, almost terrifying faces and bodies that appeared to be sculpted in wax.
Here's a look at how the game plays"