The Test Drive series has been around for quite some time now, faring from pretty good, to pretty awful. Luckily, they are hitting closer to the glory days of Test Drive 5 in this version for the next generation consoles. While there is a decent multiplayer mode, the meat of the game is in the story mode, where you play as Dennis Black, a Brit with spirit. You meet a handicapped ex-underground racer who wants you to be the wheelman for his crew lays your objectives out. The missions are pretty cut and dry, leaning towards the pass or fail outcome. The real question is whether or not you should shell out your own cash for this, in a long list of other racers available? The answer really lies in your taste. If you want fast, arcade style action, YES! If you're a sim buff wanting to tinker with your machine, NO! Finally, if you're just a casual racing fan, you will enjoy this as well. Here's what Test Drive has to offer.

Graphically, this game won't give any real racer a run for its money. The cars and tracks look fantastic in the replay, due to the nice camera placement - but on the other hand, the game looks pretty bland from the driver's point of view. The car models look decent, but not particularly accurate to scale. Lighting on both the Xbox and PS2 version showed promise, but failed in the reflections and shadows department. The game does move along fast and at a smooth frame rate. You also have the "Driver" effect with pedestrians running in your path, but moving at the right time - sorry gore buffs, no GTA3-style killings here. With the lack of any collision damage or particle effects, Test Drive just looks rather average. The tracks are rather large, but seem to look similar, if not too similar throughout the entire race. Thankfully the game does other things better.

The audio is excellent with some fine engine sounds that audibly vary with each of the different cars you use. You know whether you're driving a muscle car or a little Japanese sports car just by listening to the purr or the roar of the engines. You are also treated to voice over dialog throughout the game's story mode, which gives more of a 'being there' feel to the game. The music provided is full of bands that Infogrames has signed on for years, for some that's okay, but for me I need more variety in my racing music. Unfortunately the PS2 owners are stuck either listening to the music provided, or just turning it down. Xbox owners are treated with the custom soundtrack options. While this feature is limited to randomizing or selecting what songs you want, not to mention repeating the same song if you don't finish the race before the song is up, it is still a nice inclusion.

The game handles quite well, just not realistically. You won't tell much difference from the big tail ended muscle machines, to the slick; smaller, sports cars when cornering, which you should as far as weight is concerned, which is a big bummer. Besides that minute detail, the game does play fast, responsively and very appropriately. You won't be caught throwing your controller due to the games fault, just maybe the fault of your own. The cars' A.I., while challenging, can seem pretty dumb at times, as they will not risk ramming you off the road instead of creaming you into the guard rail on a tight turn. The game features a fair variety of modes from the single player race, story mode, and a decent multiplayer mode. Besides the Story mode, you won't notice much meat in the other modes. They are rather average and plain. You do have a nice selection of statistical ratings you can peruse through at your leisure.

Overall, if you need another racing game, Test Drive should cure your fix for a little while, and is a must buy for fans of the Fast and The Furious movie. The game could've benefited from upgrades and damage, but maybe in a sequel. We'll just have to hope.