After beating Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy earlier, I decided to chill out for the rest of the evening with some Test Drive Unlimited. I'll be writing about this in detail on MoeGamer sometime soon, but I wanted to talk about one specific aspect that I've found especially appealing.
Test Drive Unlimited, if you're unfamiliar, is a 2006 open-world driving game in which the core appeal is the fact that you can buy and drive a wide variety of cool cars from many different manufacturers. The Test Drive series' unique selling point since its inception on 16-bit home computers has always been the fact it makes a real effort to make you feel like you're really sitting in these luxurious vehicles — and ever since I played Test Drive 2: The Duel on Atari ST, I found myself wishing that I didn't have to worry about actual racing, and could instead just drive around a world and explore it.
Of course, I also recognised that the technology of the time probably wasn't up to the job. Test Drive 3: The Passion made a brave attempt, but was ultimately a bit of a mess. Test Drive Unlimited, however, which came out some sixteen years later, absolutely nails what I always wanted from the series: while there are races and other events in which to compete, you can also just drive around and enjoy yourself. In fact, in order to unlock all the game's content, you'll need to do that. Unlocking the ability to purchase and ride motorbikes, for example, is dependent on you having driven to each and every of the car dealerships in the game, and the only way to find the events in which to compete and earn money for your car collecting addiction is to, you guessed it, drive around.
There is a fast travel system, where you can instantly warp to anywhere you've previously visited, but in order to unlock somewhere for fast travel, you need to drive there first. And doing so is a lot of fun; this evening, I did little more than drive around the game's virtual recreation of O'ahu to take a grand tour of the car dealerships, but I really enjoyed the experience. The varied scenery, the different road systems, the unique challenges that flinging a Lotus Esprit around these roads presented with me as I explored.
While I did have a "goal" in mind while playing tonight, I've had quite a few sessions where I've done nothing more than just drive, because it's enjoyable to do so. And sometimes it's lovely to have a game like that; a game where what you do doesn't really matter, but it's fun to engage with regardless. If you're in need of a good way to relax and unwind, I recommend finding a game that works like this for you!
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