GTPNewsWire
Contributing Writer
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- GTPHQ
This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:
This article was published by Adam Ismail (@glassjaw) on May 31st, 2018 in the Features category.
Mirror Mode: Test Drive Unlimited
- Thread starter GTPNewsWire
- 42 comments
- 7,690 views
- 210
- Earth
- BadFlounder
- BadFlounder
I loved this game at the time. Taking that full lap around the island was quite a fun challenge in traffic.
- 423
- York/UK
- mekonrider
Awesome game for its time. One day my dream of car game set in the real world with sim handling will come true. Until then, Forza Horizon will have to do.
- 273
- Slovakia
- palqo
- DeliriousRex5
Forza Horizon just doesn't have that spatial feeling as in TDU, especially from inside the car. Even when I loaded perfectly good FH3 designs to FM7, they looked very weird. The physics is better in TDU as well. But, yeah, what else is there.
- 17,879
- Florida
- GranTurismo0517
- RandomCarGuy17
I won't ever forget this game, I still enjoy going back to it every so often. I play this more than the 2nd TDU that came after it.
SestoScudo
(Banned)
- 3,000
- Australia
- Decepticon 47
Put so much hours into this game. Test Drive Unlimited, PGR3 and PGR4 good old days of 2006 to 2008.
glassjaw
Premium
- 1,472
- PA
- pioneerspine
- pioneerspine
Many of these games I cover for Mirror Mode are either childhood favorites or ones I've discovered much later on. The only issue with that is that I never had a PC growing up. So I'd love to cover PC sims that I know were hugely influential, like GTR and Richard Burns Rally, but I wasn't there.
However, I invite my colleagues to wax poetic about their favorite PC sims for Mirror Mode, because that's something we should definitely explore. Guys?
Corsa
Premium
- 2,104
- United States
Many of these games I cover for Mirror Mode are either childhood favorites or ones I've discovered much later on. The only issue with that is that I never had a PC growing up. So I'd love to cover PC sims that I know were hugely influential, like GTR and Richard Burns Rally, but I wasn't there.
However, I invite my colleagues to wax poetic about their favorite PC sims for Mirror Mode, because that's something we should definitely explore. Guys?
As in get poetic here in this thread under your article, or submit resources and opinion to you for a new influential PC sim article?
- 27,387
- Toronto
- NewAesthetic
- SlipZtrEm
Many of these games I cover for Mirror Mode are either childhood favorites or ones I've discovered much later on. The only issue with that is that I never had a PC growing up. So I'd love to cover PC sims that I know were hugely influential, like GTR and Richard Burns Rally, but I wasn't there.
However, I invite my colleagues to wax poetic about their favorite PC sims for Mirror Mode, because that's something we should definitely explore. Guys?
If I hadn't embedded myself exclusively in a Mac ecosystem at home a few years ago, I'd do it. I suppose I could always try to use CrossOver: I installed it immediately on the iMac just so I could play the original Roller Coaster Tycoon...
The problem there for me is that my PC sim racing days were very specifically about only certain aspects of titles. F1 2002's folder became all about mods, with the earliest iterations of sports car racing from what eventually became SimBin. NR2003 was only played for online purposes, so couldn't tell you much about it anymore.
Obviously GPL would be a good target, but I wouldn't even know how to get started for that these days.
For lighter material, I'd definitely entertain the idea of revisiting Viper Racing, too.
We tend to discuss the Mirror Mode titles in the editorial section, and that may or may not influence where it heads next. It's @glassjaw's baby though! 👍
- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
One of the cool things about TDU is that it really was the first game of it's kind, it was so far ahead of it's time in so many ways. This isn't often mentioned, but perhaps why it got the chance to be successful on the Xbox 360 is because TDU (Sept 2006) was released nearly a full 8 months before Forza Motorsport 2 (May 2007) . There certainly were not a lot of good racing games available post launch on the 360, Project Gotham 3 (Nov 2005) was out but that's really about it. A lot of people just bought TDU to pass the time until the first Forza game on the 360 came out, and they were pleasantly surprised by just how great TDU was. TDU was one of those nice surprises, and it had something very unique, special about it to the point where it quickly became an enduring driving/racing title, a instant cult classic favorite.
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- 472
- Melbourne
- Senator2655
- Senator265
Now this is one game that NEEDS a remaster and I still go back to it and have all dlc for it. Great game,e 
glassjaw
Premium
- 1,472
- PA
- pioneerspine
- pioneerspine
I completely forgot that TDU predated Forza 2. What a strange time. There was PGR 3, NFS Most Wanted and Ridge Racer 6 at launch, and then you had TDU followed shortly by NFS Carbon, right?
I will say PGR 3 stands as one of my favorite launch titles ever. That game truly felt like the next generation realized. Between the interior view and graphics, the detail of the car models and cities, the Gotham TV aspect, and that it was basically unrivaled in terms of polish for years after it launched. Loved it to bits.
- 1,971
- Seattle, WA
That is absolutely right (at least according to my fading memory lol), Carbon was ok, Most wanted was better but I wouldn't hold either of those games up to PGR 3. I still to this day have a copy of TDU and my old 360 is in storage, some day I will also revisit TDU for the sake of the fond memories I have of playing it. TDU also had a slightly better car list than TDU2 as well.
I hope Bigben follows through with TDU3 some day and the game comes to fruition, it makes me feel better that Alain Jarniou is at the helm of this project, he was the lead programmer for TDU 1.
- 912
- Brazil
I spent countless gaming hours on the first game, all the way back on PS2, by myself.
The size and scope of the map blew me away! Suddenly GTA: San Andreas felt tiny, also it was my first time with a cockpit view on a 3D racing game.
But still the game was very limited, I hated the absence of a manual transmission on the PS2 version, and the lack of Shadows was glaring(only the cars had shadows, the objects on the map had the ground texture around them darkened and that fooled nobody).
Still, just driving around that whole map was just amazing for me, and the showrooms and garages as well, very little racing games puts attention to that kind of detail.
TDU2 is a disgrace in comparison and I didn't even bothered to buy it because somehow they managed to screw up the driving physics.
The size and scope of the map blew me away! Suddenly GTA: San Andreas felt tiny, also it was my first time with a cockpit view on a 3D racing game.
But still the game was very limited, I hated the absence of a manual transmission on the PS2 version, and the lack of Shadows was glaring(only the cars had shadows, the objects on the map had the ground texture around them darkened and that fooled nobody).
Still, just driving around that whole map was just amazing for me, and the showrooms and garages as well, very little racing games puts attention to that kind of detail.
TDU2 is a disgrace in comparison and I didn't even bothered to buy it because somehow they managed to screw up the driving physics.
- 521
- Russian Federation
- S15Fox
TDU is clearly one of the best racing games I've ever played; I don't have an exact order for my favorite games, but I'd surely stick TDU in my top three. Up to this day, I have nothing to complain about in regards to this game (well, besides how PlayStation consoles got a rather cut version of this game, but that didn't ruin the experience much, unless you've managed to play the version for Microsoft platforms first). Heck, I even have to admit I genuinely enjoyed delivery missions (even though ones involving boxes were too hard for me); car delivery missions were definitely my favorite ones, I liked them even more than actual races.
I really wonder if TDU3 will make it to handheld platforms, at least to Switch. PSP port of TDU, despite various cuts that were made for this game to work on a portable hardware, was so good compared to many other racing titles for PSP, I'm sure I can claim that TDU is objectively one of the bst racing games for the console and the most broad one, rivaled only by GTPSP. I've spent a ton of hours in it - even though it's the most inferior version, I loved it to bits simply because of how much it offered compared to other PSP titles without of serious sacrifices in quality.
I really wonder if TDU3 will make it to handheld platforms, at least to Switch. PSP port of TDU, despite various cuts that were made for this game to work on a portable hardware, was so good compared to many other racing titles for PSP, I'm sure I can claim that TDU is objectively one of the bst racing games for the console and the most broad one, rivaled only by GTPSP. I've spent a ton of hours in it - even though it's the most inferior version, I loved it to bits simply because of how much it offered compared to other PSP titles without of serious sacrifices in quality.
- 37
- Brazil
Nice article, but, TDU 1 servers are not offline anymore. Officially they are dead, yes, but there is an unnofficial server running, called Project Paradise.
Plus, there is also projects in development, like TDU Platinum.
Edit: on PC. Sadly Xbox360 is still offline. But on PC, the game still lives.
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- 3,584
- Connecticut
- SPhilli
- SPhilli911
I loved this game. I played endlessly just free roaming around the island. Having the garages for all your cars was great too, something I wish the Forza Horizon series would do. Speaking of Horizon, TDU was way a better open world car game anyways. 
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