Test Drive Unlimited Is Coming Back After Bigben Interactive Acquire Rights From Atari Group

TDU Forever!

TEST DRIVE is making a return!! The rights to the future of the brand have been bought by Bigben Interactive from the Atari Group.

The last game to be released in the long running series was Test Drive Unlimited 2 (TDU 2) back in 2011. Coming 5 years after the release of the cult classic Test Drive Unlimited (TDU) which is still played to this day by a loyal following on the PC mainly due to the talent and generosity of the modding community.

And those fans and many like them will be delighted to hear that Bigben has plans to develop new titles in the Test Drive Unlimited franchise. :happyspin:

We are more than confident with respect to the quality of this franchise, which is loved by so many players[...]Our teams are very enthusiastic at the idea of being able to work on this license, which has already proven its worth - the game Test Drive Unlimited 2 sold 1.8 million units.

– Alain Falc, CEO of Bigben Interactive

TDU 2 by many of the previous title’s fans was seen as a bit of a step back despite it’s second island location of Ibiza, improved graphics, roads quality and dynamic weather, because of the handling.

However there are many out there who very much enjoyed their time with, or still play TDU 2, so it’s not a one flavour works for all.

And of course, the Forza Horizon series of games have certainly improved on the open-road/open-world formula that the TDU games evolved, but even still to this day, the environment size is seen as a bit of negative, and the same has been said about other games such as Midnight Club Los Angeles.

The Crew is a game that has been developed by numerous members of the original and second game and it’s easy to see that yet again the environment size is one area where they really excel. However, the driving feel and world physics are an area that doesn’t exactly let it down, but it does take a bit of the shine off.

In conclusion then it appears that the best blend for an open-world game is something with:

authentic handling with options to tweak as player requires

complete freedom

great road quality – no stair like hills and blocks for kerbs

support for keyboard, pads and wheels (clutch and shifter would be nice too)

dynamic day/night & weather

customisation to allow players to make the vehicles their own

lovely engine sounds

accurate details of car interiors and instruments

So simply put: a mix between TDU/2 and The Crew’s environments + Forza Horizon handling + DRIVECLUB weather effects and vehicle detailing + Forza/NFS customisation + RaceRoom Racing Experience engine sounds.

See, simple!

*a hat tip to The Compensator for letting us know about this :tipshat: