While other racers may not have some of the issues TDU has - they also don't have the all-important FUN that TDU has.
Gamespot Says:
Test Drive 7.8
Project Gotham 8.8
NFS 8.4
MotoGP 8.2
Ridge Racer 8.1
Test drive is better than any of these other games. No longer do you have the limited and closed tracks of Project Gotham...and the cars actually look like cars instead of that plastic look from PG (Don't get me wrong, I loved Project Gotham, but it was not an 8.8 compared to a 7.8 for TDU). And Ridge Racer...come on, it's scope is so extremely limited it's not even worth comparing to a game the size and scope of TDU.
TDU is just big and fun. And that's the most important thing. And you can play around with it because it's in a world, not on a track.
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Okay, it has been a long time since I originally submitted this review. As much as I loved it before, recent racers have made me realize what a mistake my 8.9 score was - TDU deserves a 10. Burnout Paradise, PGR4, Forza 2, DIRT, GRID, and a slew of other top notch racers have been released. And I just couldn't get into any of them, except maybe DIRT (for that off road fix) for awhile. And I really have tried, but TDU changed what I expect from a racer. It is still the best racer out there. It strikes the perfect balance between realism and arcade fun, and it doesn't depend on a gimmick to do so.
The open world racing, overall immersion, functional fun, and online experience are still unsurpassed. TDU's online has turned out to be a high point. Instead of having to "go online" by some control mechanism, you just are - if you are connected. And you don't have to have a monster friends list to meet and play the online portion which is completely 100% seemless with the single player portion.
The races range from massive to short. You can test your skill on a track, on a circuit around the whole island, or on a short drag section. You can do time trials, vehicle deliveries, passenger deliveries, and a great variety of races. And they are user friendly - meaning once you have found a race you can go straight to it at anytime without having to drive all over the huge world - a feature that was missing from Burnout Paradise and absolutely killed that game.
The cars were fantastic. Again, a great variety. And they each sound unique in a fun way. In fact, there are some cars, like the Ford GT (my favorite) and the Zonda that you will drive just for the fun of hearing them. They also handle diffently in all the ways you would hope. And motorcycles as well. Would you believe I sold this game in anticipation of other racers coming out, but I've had to buy it again because nothing else measures up.
Now I just have to wait for TDU2, which is supposedly in development, but no details. It is rumored that they will have over twice the kilometers of road, allow off road racing, and have dynamic weather and a damage model. Those rumors read like a wish list for the only features missing from TDU. And their abscence is why I originally gave TDU an 8.9. But now, I've revised it to a 10 because it must be a 10 if no other game in the genre is quite this fun. The exciting thing is that these are important features that, if implemented correctly without taking away any of the things that made TDU great, would make TDU2 the ONLY full featured racer in existence and EASILY the best racer EVER.
Now, to be honest, there are a couple other things that need to be done - like adding some more race tracks to the world and changing the head movement speed so you can actually use your head to monitor your racing competition (like PGR4) - but the bottom line is still that no other racer is quite this good.
Come on Eden, bring on the TDU2.