Review: Unlimited Test Drive 2 THE last month or so has been dominated by talk of handhelds. Sony?s NGP, Nintendo?s 3DS, Microsoft?s Xbox Mini... You?re quite right ? the last one?s made up, with Bill Gates? reluctance to gamble on a miniature version of the 360 the only thing stopping this competition from turning into the final scene from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.As it stands, the two Japanese giants will have to square up alone. It?s Godzilla versus Mothra with Nintendo, like that dirty big lizard in the fi lm, looking likely to come out on top.
Why? Their machine comes out fi rst and almost twice as many people bought the DS than bought the PSP. That?s a lot of indoctrinated gamers already twitching for their next Nintendo fix.
Yet the public will decide. Those lucky enough to live in Birmingham can get a glimpse of the 3DS by attending The Midlands Expo next Saturday at the International Centre (midlandsmcmexpo.com).
It will see the fi rst public outing for the 3DS in Europe, with a raft of games also set to be on display including Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, Super Street Fighter IV 3D and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D.
In case you were wondering, the device plays in 3D.
A game that doesn?t play in 3D is Unlimited Test Drive 2, the week?s big release from the Namco/Atari nexus. I Lap up the thrill of speed on Ibiza was amazed to read that this is the tenth game in the series.
I can just about remember the last one, released in 2006 on the 360, PS2, PC and PSP.
That had you flying around the island of Hawaii. This time the action is transferred to Ibiza.
That?s right ? you?ll be speeding on Ibiza (for many, not an entirely new experience). Those familiar with the Balearic party island will find many of the game?s locations eerily familiar, with more than 3,000km of road on offer throughout the game.
I spent the first three hours hoping to find The Terrace at Space for a quick G&T.
The developers have added a storyline to the single-player mode. Unfortunately, it doesn?t involve seven sleepless nights, a stolen wallet or a fat girl from Milton Keynes, so I found the whole narrative rather unrealistic.
Where the realism does kick in is with the cars, with countless makes, models and classes on offer. The more success you have, the better cars you can buy.
The motors do get damaged when you crash them, though this rarely impairs their performance. As always, the game?s mainstay is the multiplayer, boasting enough modes to keep you at the wheel for a couple of weeks.
There?s a social side too, with rewards for joining groups, hunting for missing cars and taking pictures about the island. I?ll leave that for the obsessives. For me, there?s enough here to make this worthy of a fifty quid outlay. The
game is no way an Aston Martin...but certainly a very good Beemer.
