|
Test
Drive 6
PLAYSTATION
Produced by: Infogrames
Developed By: Pitbull Syndicate
Reviewed by: Abby
2/22/2000
Article
Discussion Forum
 First Impressions:
I have
not played Test Drive 1 through 5; however, after playing
Test Drive 6, I don’t think I missed anything. It is not;
however, your typical car racing game. The cop chases, ticketing,
and betting components of this game add elements of thrills
as you step on the accelerator for that need for speed.
There are lots of cool cars to choose from, and each has
its own feel. Graphically the cars look realistic and I’ve
seen better scenery, but the music; however, was well thought
out.
The
objective of play is to wager an amount to race against
and win the races; thereby winning the betting pool to obtain
enough credit to purchase new cars and upgrades in higher
classes.
Graphics:
The graphics were pixelated and blocky in some areas. The
cars looked realistic. After crashes, it didn’t seem like
your car suffered any damage to cause you to slow down or
turn poorly. Like any racing game, you race the same courses
over and over again.
Sound:
The
soundtrack contained features from Eve 6, Kottonmouth Kings,
Empirion, Cirrus, Lunatic Calm, q-burns, Gary Numan, and
Fear Factory.
Gameplay:
The
single-player mode consists of 4 choices: single races,
tournament races, challenges, and cop chases.
Single
races and tournament races pit a player against 5 other
AI cars in the same class. To upgrade to another class of
vehicle, the player must win enough credits to purchase
the car. Before starting each race, you must make a wager
of which the other 5 cars will match. The top 3 cars across
the finish line receive the credit payout. Credits can be
earned in any of the other modes of play and can be applied
to your pool of credits to be used in tournament mode. The
higher classes of cars have higher performance and also
cost more.
In Challenges,
players race a pre-determined course. Credit rewards are
earned if the course is completed in a certain time.
In Cop
Chases, you play the cop and chase the other 5 cars, giving
them tickets as they are caught. Credit is rewarded from
tickets, and can be applied towards an upgrade, or the purchase
of a new car. Upgrades can be in the form of engines, brakes,
tires, and suspension. In the 2-player race of Cop Chases,
players take turns being the cop.
Also
in the 2-player mode is a Quad Race, which is a best-of-four,
four-race tournament. Lastly, another 2-player game is Pink
Slip: a race for the pink slip of your opponent’s car.
Multiplayer:
The
2-player experience is similar to the 1-player experience.
This may tell you how often I play racing games, or how
good I am at them, or maybe how difficult it is to get the
hang of the controls, but I played against my husband for
an hour, and neither one of us could finish higher than
5th or 6th place. Needless to say,
we need more practice.
Marketing Efforts Towards Women:
It seems like it is hard to compete in the highly saturated
car racing game market. There are so many titles out there,
they all end up pretty much the same. The 40 unique real
licensed cars did look like the real thing, though.
|
