This is just my brief review of Test Drive. A more detailed rage report regarding this game is due out soon on the much larger, better gaming and entertainment site, Pinkiesparadise.com

(Please visit if you haven’t yet!)

In my quest to briefly review and grade everything I play or do – I present to you the not-very-thrilling racer, Test Drive.

It could be false memory but I remember really enjoying the Test Drive games on the original PlayStation. In fact, I know I liked the series even more than the popular, Ridge Racer or Need For Speed series.

So what went wrong?

I have no clue but when I saw this lumped in a stack of games I purchased from goodwill I was excited. What good memories – surely the ps2 reboot would be just as fun, no?

IT IS NOT.

The “story” is just mind numbingly stupid. The cool cars aren’t really cool at all. They feel like tanks and the tracks and A.I. has no personality at all. So sure there are five other cars out there but you still feel like you’re racing alone.

Year Released: 2002

Developer: Pitbull Syndicate

Publisher: Infogrames

System(s): PlayStation 2 / XBOX / Windows

Type of Racer: Arcade/Street

Other notes:

Pal version is titled, Test Drive: Brotherhood of Speed

Starts off in: San Francisco

Finishes in: Monaco

Main Protagonist: Dennis Black

Dennis Black is some underdeveloped character that you can’t really connect with because the writers either A.) Didn’t give a shit or B.) Didn’t give a shit. I’ve seen more character development in my daughter’s cartoons. She is two years old.

RATINGS:

Amount of cars: 8/20

Story: 8/20

Controls: 14/20

Sound: 12/20

Graphics: 12/20

Overall: (54%)

This game is forgotten and rightfully so. There are just so many more arcade racers on the ps2 that’ll offer a more exciting experience. After realizing cars take no damage at all I ended up turning the game off and just playing Gran Turismo 3 because it’s just a billion times better. Obviously.