Test Drive Unlimited’s design vision is clear, yet unclear all at the same time. There’s certainly a place the development team wanted to take the game and there are times where it is very clear. But, just when you’re starting to really get a feel for the game, you’re slammed with elements that make you question if anyone sat down and asked, “What makes a racing game fun?” Sure, TDU has cars, events and lots of courses; at the same time each of these elements is flawed and while the game is playable, it isn’t always fun – especially when compared to the dozens of other racing games already available on the 360.

One of TDU’s more impressive visual aspects, aside from the car models, is the presentation of the entire island of Oahu. While I’ve never actually been to the island, a lot of what is present in the game matches what I’ve seen on the Travel Channel and episodes of “Dog the Bounty Hunter”. Nearly 100+ miles of road wind you from gorgeous mountaintop vistas and beautiful shore-side drives. You’ll also travel through several large cities, small towns and even a few tunnels. Really, the only flaw I found graphically, besides a few small technical issues like some pop-up and a few framerate drops, were the character models. Oahu may be a pretty island, but it is inhabited by some of the ugliest people I’ve seen (at least in the game, for all I know the real Oahu might be populated by super models).

Catching on to one of the latest trends in driving games, TDU features a handful of radio stations that present everything from Classical music to Metal. With the exception of the Classical station, there really isn’t much music on each station. On some stations I was able to count as few as three songs, while a few had maybe four or five. Considering the length of some of the races (some last as long a 30 – 45 minutes), the lack of music leads to some dull moments. The musical selection is mostly made up of songs you’d hear on your local college radio station. Some were okay, but others were pretty bad. If you have songs stored on your 360’s hard drive or through Media Connect, it might not be a bad idea to break them out while playing.

Test Drive Unlimited's aim is the world’s first massively multiplayer driving game. And, to that extent the game succeeds. You are given hundreds of miles of road on which to race against friends and online competitors. In addition, the online experience meshes seamlessly with the offline, single-player component. However, the more I played TDU, the more I began to wonder if the developers became so wrapped up in crafting a new experience that no one stopped to look at the basics.

For starters, the driving engine and driving game don’t seem to blend together all that well. TDU goes for a more sim-styled gameplay model similar to Project Gotham Racing. At the same time, many of the events would lead you to believe that it was more of a Need for Speed-styled arcade model. You often have to dodge other cars while driving on the road and sometimes will even find yourself being pursued by police. Neither of these gameplay elements lend themselves well to a sim-styled driving experience, at least if you’re a casual racing fan – which is something TDU needs to be successful. Weaving through traffic can be a pain, especially when faced with a road full of slow moving vehicles. And, if the police are able to set up a roadblock, you might as well just pull over and start emptying your wallet since there isn’t much chance that you’ll slip through their fingers like you can in NFS: Most Wanted.

Besides not really fitting the engine, they don’t add much to the experience either. Sure, its fun to see other cars on the road while in Free-Ride mode, but seeing them during races is pointless, especially when the bank of slow moving cars can kill your race times. Some races even require you to avoid hitting traffic or going off the road, adding nothing but frustration. There’s nothing more infuriating than getting to the end of a long race only to slam into a car coming over a hill, either knocking you out of the race because you lost too many points on a meter or delaying you for a few precious seconds.

When not participating in Checkpoint and Versus races, you can try your hand at several side challenges. Most involve ferrying someone from one point to another before time runs out, though others have you either running through speed traps or delivering cars to people around the island. Of the challenge types available, the first two feel rather pointless. While completing them all does earn you a few Achievement points to help boost your in-game and 360 Gamer Scores, the reward isn’t worth the effort. Rather than earning cash, you receive coupons that you can use to buy new clothes for your driver. Again, the only real worth for doing so is to unlock an Achievement – after which you won’t even care what your character is wearing because you won’t see them all that much.

Actually, in the long run, the character customization aspect doesn’t really matter unless you want your car club to have matching shirts or something and feels like a cheap in-game advertisement angle. There are more customization aspects for your character than your car. I may be in the minority here, but when playing a racing game I’d much rather a few body kits or decals rather than an Ecko Unlimited T-shirt.

Of all the side events present in the game, my favorite by far are the Transport missions where you’re required to bring a car from one point to another. The payout for these seemingly easy missions is usually big provided, of course, that you can get the car there in one piece. The novelty of having to actually be careful and follow the rules of the road is refreshing and more of a challenge than you’d think.

If you’re good at more sim-styled racing games, you should have no problem jumping into Test Drive Unlimited. You may not win every race on your first try, but you should manage just fine once you’re used to the road layouts. Casual fans, of which I count myself among, will have more of a learning curve to overcome. Most of the time it is just a matter of getting a better car, though there is certainly some skill involved. If a rival car gets ahead, it isn’t likely that he’ll hang around for you to catch up. He may run into a car while racing through traffic (if it is present), but in a close-course race, if you can’t keep up you simply won’t win unless you get a better car.

Braking and cornering are two of the most important skills you can learn in Test Drive Unlimited. Mastering these skills will not only allow you to get a little luck on your side when facing tougher opponents, but can also help you scrape off a few valuable seconds when facing some of TDU’s stingy race times. Expert cornering is all about timing and knowing your car and requires nothing more than practice.

Generally, the controls are tight and responsive. Handling is dependent on different car types, but none felt all that loose or hard to control. A few driving aids can be set in the Options menu. Each offers varying degrees of skid control and really helps when trying to quickly dodge traffic. The option can also be disabled if you’d rather not use it.

For $40, Test Drive Unlimited offers a lot of value for racing fans. However, while TDU is a good racing game, it's far from a great one. While I applaud the developers for trying something new, at the same time I would have liked to have seen a little more effort put into the driving engine. The idea is there, but it really feels like the game’s concept was put before making the game accessible to a larger number of players.