Eden Games' 2011 open-world sequel put a broke valet on two islands with a huge road network, then spent years trying to fix bugs and server problems.
Eden Games built this 2011 racing game and Atari published it. Players build a character on Ibiza and Oahu, earn licences in three vehicle categories and compete for the Solar Crown, while reviewers gave it mixed scores and its online servers closed in November 2018.
Released in 2011, Test Drive Unlimited 2 is an open-world driving game from Eden Games, published by Atari for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It sends players across the islands of Ibiza and Oahu in a bid to win a championship called the Solar Crown, and it marks the nineteenth instalment of the Test Drive franchise.
What is Test Drive Unlimited 2?
Test Drive Unlimited 2 follows the 2006 original, arriving on 8 February 2011 for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It continues the series' open-world approach, letting players drive, race and socialise across a large island map.
Players control a customisable avatar. The game blends single-player championships with free roaming, online races and the chance to meet other drivers.
A huge open-world playground on two islands, undone by launch bugs that a fan community spent years working around.
Which islands does the game cover?
The game is set on two islands: Ibiza, part of the Balearic Islands in Spain, and Oahu, which returns from the first game. Both were modelled largely accurately using satellite data. Between them, the road network runs past 3,000 kilometres (1,864 miles).
Roughly two-thirds of the roads are asphalt, with the rest made up of off-road routes. Each island has a 24-hour cycle and dynamic weather, so the same road can look and handle differently through the day.
Travel between the islands is handled by air. Players need to reach Level 10 before they can use the ability, which shows the character boarding a plane in a short cutscene. Airport interiors and car dealerships are places where online players can meet, and a later DLC added the option to change islands instantly.
How do the vehicle categories work?
Cars fall into three main groups. Category A covers modern asphalt cars, category B covers off-road vehicles, and category C covers classic cars. Each group is split into numbered subcategories such as A7 to A1, where a lower number means a higher quality car.
| Category | Vehicle type | Subcategories | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Modern asphalt cars | A7 to A1 | Lower number means higher quality |
| B | Off-road vehicles | B4 to B2 | New in this game |
| C | Classic cars | C4 to C1 | Lower number means higher quality |
| M | Motorcycles | Not numbered | Sold as downloadable content |
Off-road B cars, which run from B4 to B2, are new to this game. Classic C cars run from C4 to C1. Motorcycles belong to an M category that was sold as downloadable content rather than included in the base game.
What is the plot?
The player starts as a broke valet driver working for Tess Wintory, the host of the 2011 Solar Crown championship. Tess is first angry about a late arrival, then recruits the player to race, partly because she is also a contestant and wants the rivals weakened.
To enter the championship, the player must earn licences from instructors for each category. Marco Luzzini teaches category A, Jane O'Mahan teaches category B and Todd Bishop teaches category C. Todd takes the player to a used car dealer, and the first home is a run-down caravan.
As the player climbs the ranks, money from races buys houses, cars and clothes. Rivals race the player head to head, with their prized cars wagered on each result. At a moderate standing, the championship shifts to Oahu, where Tess and her father Stuart Wintory, who also sponsors the event, rig the competition. The finale is a colossal time trial around Oahu.
How did the online features work?
The free roam mode supports up to eight players in one session. Players can wait in the racing lobby, walk around homes and shops, and examine other players' cars while they wait for everyone to be ready.
Players can also sit in the passenger seat of another player's car to show each other shortcuts. If one player triggers a police chase, others can join it, either as drivers trying to escape officers or as officers trying to make arrests.
Why did the game have problems at launch?
The game suffered from recurring bugs, particularly on PC, and the studio disabled multiplayer because of connection and server issues. Corrupted saved game files could force players to forfeit their progress and start again under a new profile, and some players could not connect to each other at all.
Atari announced save corruption fixes for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 10 March 2011, with console patches following on 14 March 2011. Problems persisted, though, and players were still reporting them as of 8 October 2012.
Atari sent console patches to Microsoft and Sony for approval, and the PC patch restored the Club feature, which had been disabled to close off exploits. Xbox 360 players then reported network problems after one update, and the PlayStation 3 patch that followed a few days later restored access to MyTDULife and Clubs.
The PC edition also drew criticism for its token economy. Vehicles cost 80 Atari tokens each on PC, and the smallest bundle of 400 tokens cost US$5, so virtual cars carried a real-world price.
Where did the online servers end up?
Online services shut off in November 2018, which ended multiplayer and the TDU2: Casino Online expansion. The casino DLC had offered roulette, blackjack and slot machines, with in-game currency converted into casino chips.
Modders restored online functionality for the Windows version through mods such as TDU World, TDUniverse and Project Paradise 2. The official casino is no longer accessible, although some of its features came back through private server mods.
How did critics react?
Critics gave Test Drive Unlimited 2 mixed or average reviews on Metacritic. Scores ran from 2 stars out of 5 at The Escapist up to 8.5 out of 10 at Game Informer, and most reviewers praised the open world and online interactions while criticising the execution.
- Destructoid gave it 4 out of 10, calling the world full of bugs, the gameplay glitchy and the core mechanic broken
- Eurogamer gave it 7 out of 10 and called it fantastic escapism
- Game Informer gave it 8.5 out of 10 and praised the blend of open-world and online play
- GameSpot gave it 7 out of 10 and felt it did no one thing better than more focused driving games
- GameSpy gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars
- IGN gave it 5.5 out of 10, a middling result
- The Daily Telegraph gave it 7 out of 10
- The Escapist gave it 2 stars out of 5
IGN criticised the ugly character models and the voice acting, which it expected would grow intolerable through constant repetition. Oli Welsh of Eurogamer praised the atmosphere but found the theme strained by a game preoccupied with image and status.
Rory Manion of GameSpy set the game against rivals. Fans wanting exciting racing were pointed to Shift from the Need for Speed line, Burnout Paradise, or Hot Pursuit, while the best driving model belonged to Gran Turismo. The sticker shops, she argued, could not match Forza for customisation.
Jon Denton of The Daily Telegraph described it as a flawed but notable effort from Eden Games, arguing that what players do inside the open world defines it. Steve Butts of The Escapist was harsher, calling it a wreck weighed down by a laughable economy, yet admitting that it had quirky charm.
How well did it sell?
BigBen Interactive estimated sales of roughly 1.8 million units as of December 2016. That estimate predates the November 2018 server shutdown, so it reflects the game's sales during its active online years.
What came next in the series?
The third Test Drive Unlimited game, Solar Crown, was revealed on 7 July 2020. Unlike the earlier games, Kylotonn is building it under the KT Racing banner, with Nacon as publisher. It was released on 12 September 2024.
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