Test Drive Unlimited for PC - Hawaiian tour : PART 2!

(This is the second part of the entry regarding Test Drive Unlimited for PC. For the first part, look for the post before this.)

In the previous post, I talked about some general overviews of TDU from a perspective of a temporal sick minded gamer (read: me). Today, let's go to the beginning of the game itself where you start your career in the game until the point where everything becomes fairly repetitive. This entry is going to be filled with snapshots (beware: high bandwidth connection required!) with a storytelling style in order to describe the storyline to you clearly.

I created a new profile in the game so that I can make a fresh start enabling me to capture the initial moments in the game.

Let's begin at the airport:



There are some cutscenes in the beginning, showing some people in the waiting hall, then we've got an announcement regarding the departure to Hawaii.


While queuing for the ticket checking, you're presented with the option to select a character. This is the crucial part as if you're a type of person who concerns about your in-game appearance, your selection will affect the types of gears, attires available in the game and your driving style (Okay, I made that last one up!). Anyway, just select the one you like most ( and yes, that sexy babe is a potential racer, so beware!)

Whoever you choose will become the main character throughout the game progression. After this part, there are more cutscenes in the plane, some takeoffs, view from your plane of Hawaii and the landing. The whole thing is set up similar to a beginning of a movie...it's a story about you.



We have arrived, yay! The cutscenes will bring you straight to the next point in the game: renting a car.


There will be some scenes of you arriving at the rental car agent, after which the game will prompt you with this:


There will be a few nice cars for you to choose from. The car is actually meant for you to get yourself into the next point in the game: buying a house. To rent a car, choose a car you like, and select the duration of rental (10 or 20 minutes). During this selection, you will notice that you already have some cash with you (around $200K).



As shown above, the game will prompt you to follow the GPS indication in the map right after renting a car. This will be the first time you ride in the island. Off you go, then.



I like to take the opportunity to show something here. I choose the in-car view to demonstrate a feature that allows you to further set up your seating position. In the Game Options, select Game Settings/Seat Position to access the option for adjusting the position and the height of your seat. It's like having to adjust yourself with your new ride, you just gotta make sure everything feels comfy for you. Yes, this feature also allows you to feast your eye on the interior details of the car.


Tadaaaa! The result is shown above and it's obvious that you can see more details than before. I believe that whoever owns a 21" or above will be able to see the gear position (P, R, N, D and S), fuel meter and temperature gauge clearer.

Continue driving to the indicated destination on the GPS map (roughly 2 km from the airport). When you arrive, there are cutscenes showing you in the real estate agency, making your way to your first purchase of your home.


This is the menu showing the available houses from that particular agency. You can browse the menu to look for your house of choice. As I've mentioned in the previous post, you can take a virtual tour of each house before you decide to take one. Don't forget to check out the garage capacity and of course, the price. Obviously, the amount of cash in hand determine which house that you can buy (if it's insufficient, some house will print out an indication in red colour, indicating your inaffordability).


Got what you want? Proceed in your purchase and there will be some cutscenes showing your arrival at your new home.


The next step is to purchase your first car in the island, which is why you will be prompted with a message shown above. When you click 'Next', you can select from a few car dealers available at the beginning of the game. In my case, I select an Audi dealer.


Ooops, just to show you something: this is the map of the island in the early stage of the game. As you progress, there will be more information available on it. The map itself is beautifully rendered and mipmapped; just look at the light reflection at the sea around the island. Talk about attention to details here folks.

Okay then, back to business. Helloooo Audi!


There will be cutscenes showing your arrival at the dealer shop, before you're prompted with the message above. Are you ready to make your first purchase?


Similar to the process during the car rental, you will be provided with selection of cars available at that particular car dealer. You will also notice individual specs of each model, and pricetag that it carries. If you select a car, you can have a virtual tour of it too. You can play around with its power windows, opening left and right door, moving your view around its interior etc. The most important thing is you can test drive it too! It's like purchasing your car in real life: you need a sufficient sneak peek of the car you desire before you decide to buy it.


There are a few more steps required in purchasing a car. First, the game will ask you whether you want it to come with stock tire rims or sporty, customized one (if available, with extra cost).


Second, you're prompted with the option for the paint colour (other types of paint come with extra cost, if available).


Then, you will be given the option to select the colour setup for the interior, which in my opinion adds extra value for TDU. I haven't seen this feature yet in other car racing games eg. Need For Speed.

You can always go back to the previous steps by clicking 'Cancel' just in case you want to change something.


If everything else works out fine, you are ready to buy your first car. Remember, the whole procedure is similar if you make you future purchases as you progress through the game.


Having bought your first car, the game will instantly point you to the next step: pitting you against other racers in a predefined race point. Follow the GPS map, the race is not too far (about 2.8 km only) from your current position in the map.

I would like take the opportunity to show you what types of driving view available for you in the game. There are 6 of them (including the one you already know, the in-car view) and you can pick the one that suits you most.

Bonnet view.....

Bumper view, with nicely positioned speedometers and RPM meter (the indicator varies according to the maker and model of the car. If it's a Ferrari 430, you know it's Ferrari 430 and not Enzo). No generic metering model here folks!

Behind-the-car view.

Much closer view behind the car.


A special type of view where the camera follows the movement of the car if it swerves left or right. I personally think it's not suitable for driving and racing as there's not much view you can see in front of your car. This one is probably meant for capturing some dramatic moments while you're racing using programs like FRAPs, I don't know.



So, back to the game and off you go to the race point indicated in the GPS map. When you're nearing the location of the race, you will notice the flashing indicator as shown above. In TDU, be on the lookout for any indicators like this as it indicates that you are about to bypass a race point and you can join it by pressing Enter. The type of race is shown in the middle of the flashing logo.

So, when you're close enough to the indicator, your GPS map will signal you with 'Enter'. Press Enter and you're in.


This is a typical interface when you are joining a race. It details all information about the race: the mission, prizes, levels, car categories etc.

One nifty feature here that I like is the ability to change your vehicle. It means that if you happen to bump into this race with a car that belongs to a different group, you can change your car with any car currently in your garage that match the group required by the race. This eliminates your need to jump into your garage, select the right car and jump back in the race again.

Of course, at current stage, you only have your first car. Don't worry, as this race is meant for the right car group. So, if you're ready, let's burn some fat tires!


The first race is actually very easy and you can actually win it if you do it right. Just race with the guidance of the GPS map as it indicates the route the race will take.



During the race, you can pause it by pressing the default button 'P'. The menu also gives you the option to resume the race or restart it again. If you somehow grow 'chicken' during the race, you can call it quits and never step your foot in the island again. Okay, just kidding! Just quit.


So, there you're, your first victory! First place will earn you most cash and a gold trophy, second place; a fewer cash with silver trophy and if you finish third, a few bucks for you and a bronze. The trophy will be indicated in the map as well, showing your achievement in the events that you've taken. You can always try the same race again later if you wish though.


After finishing your first race, the game will direct you back home, using the GPS system. When you're close to destination, you will see an icon on the road in front of you, as shown below. This indicates you house, and you can enter it by pressing 'Enter'. Now, it's your time to relax.




Welcome home! This is your interface when you're at your house. This is where you manage your progress, properties (car, clothes), appearance etc. Just don't expect that you can be interactive with anything in your living hall though. It's just there for realism purposes. Now let's take a look at each menu shall we?


Under 'Garage', you will be taken to guess what... your garage obviously. Here you can view your collection of cars complete with their specs, any upgrades, car groups etc. However, they are limited to the capacity of the garage which means that your other car must have been stored in your other houses. This of course, happen when you purchase more houses later. To view all car, you need to visit all your houses.


Again, TDU provides a shortcut to this. Each garage however, contains a list of all your cars under your collection. Selecting any car which is not stored in the current garage will bring up a prompt, asking whether you want to visit the garage that actually store the selected car. If you agree, you can jump to the new garage instantly.


'Info' menu brings you the current status of the game w.r.t. your progress. You can read news, statistics, rankings and even photo album. Your photo album will contains photos taken using the in-game photo snapper which I've mentioned in the previous post.


'Trade' menu is basically a place where you can sell, buy or download vehicles. If you a short of cash, you might want to let go some of your cars, which is something I won't recommend. You can get money by easily repeating any race you've won just to get quick cash though.


When you hit 'Character' menu, you will be brought to your dressing room. Yes, it is comparatively better than the one in GTA: San Andreas. This is the place where you can change your garments and facial appearance.


By default, you have no extra garments available; those that you wear are the default ones. To purchase new garments, you need to successfully complete a hitchhiker delivery mission. Each successful mission awards you with several tags which enables you to buy clothes from any garment shops indicated on the island map. Any purchased garment will be stored in the closet.


The options available are Upper Garment, Lower Garment, Shoes and Sunglasses. Believe me, you can be pretty stylish if you have purchased enough.


Under 'Biker Gear' menu, you'll get what exactly every biker needs, as shown above. Again, you need to purchase your biking gear and helmets to enjoy this feature.


We come to the best part that is modifying your appearance under 'Modify' menu. First of all, let me say that the total makeover is only restricted to your head and face (don't expect some liposuction or those from Nip/Tuck TV series kinda thing!). However, you'll be surprised to see how TDU allows you to modify your face to some degree. Varieties are inevitable here folks!

You can add goatee, moustache, widen you jaws, enlarge you forehead, complete with different hairstyles and hair colours etc etc etc. I mean, just try it and you could end up with a totally different you (I'm outta words here!).


Well, that's about it in you so-called TDU home. At this stage, you've basically completed the steps required by TDU before you can freely roam the island and enter various events independently.

You'll be prompted with the message shown above, motivating you to enter any event on the map. To access the map, you have to be on the road, therefore just quit the house and you're on the go.

With a quick cutscene, you'll be outside your house, on the road. I personally assign 'M' to access the map (depends on your setting in the game options), so if you have a similar setup, pressing 'M' will bring you the map.


Here you can see the available events around your vicinity. You will not be able to see all events on the island at the moment as you haven't explored every nook and cranny in the island. You will notice that as you progress through the game, your exposure on the island increases, revealing more events to participate, more spots to visit (car dealers, houses, real estates, garment shops, tuner shops etc).

In the picture above, you can see icons indicating the types of mission or racings available. Hovering the pointer above any one of them reveals the information pertaining that specific event. For example, in the picture above, Jennifer only accepts a vehicle with two seats if you're planning to pick her.

Do you notice an event with a gold trophy icon with it? That's the race you've won earlier.

The map includes the facility to filter any types of events, hot spots, zooming in and out and even access to the online mode. Explore it as it is the biggest tool for you to complete the game smoothly.


Just in case, if the race you want to participate happen to be on the route you've never taken before, you'll be prompted with the message shown above. Basically, this is how TDU helps you expand your areas of exposure; you have to drive manually to the scene. If the route somehow has been taken by you (maybe you stroll the island a lot before entering any event), accessing any event is easier; TDU will automatically bring you to the event without asking you to drive there.

So, there you go folks! From this moment on, you're on your own to conquer the whole island. You're free to roam every roads, entering any events in any unspecified order. As I've previously mentioned, things will get repetitive from here but I can assure you that you will not notice it much. TDU has quite a good balance of gameplay with some other side attractions that makes you feel your trip on the island is like a never ending story.

All the best!