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Test Drive Unlimited PSP info and images come into view

This isn't a racing game. Really, it's not!

Test Drive Unlimited PSP info and images come into view

Okay, it is another racing game for PSP. But keep your foot on the brake rather than rush off into the distance screaming hysterically – there are two good reasons you should stick around for at least a couple more paragraphs.

One, Test Drive Unlimited is being created by Melbourne House, a developer with an enviable track record when it comes to producing engaging, first-rate driving experiences. (And if you want additional pedigree – 1a, if you like – the game is already out for Xbox 360 and it's universally regarded as a fine achievement.)

Two, it's online. As in the central premise of the game is to play online against other people, rather than it features a bit of an online multiplayer mode.

There is a four-player wireless option, sure, and even a single-player game, but the core of the title is to choose from the 30-odd recreations of some of the world's most exciting performance machines, personalise them, and then meet and race other drivers along the 1,000 miles of road on offer.

The setting is as real as the cars, given that the developer has satellite mapped the entire Hawaiian island of Oahu. And the exotic backdrop is certainly fitting when you consider the roads are going to be mostly populated by Aston Martin, Mercedes, Saleen, Shelby, Jaguar and Lamborghini's latest and greatest.

You're able to personalise these cars by selecting the options from the manufacturers' actual catalogue and you can further upgrade them with aftermarket parts, provided you visit the appropriate tuning shop. You'll also need to buy new homes and garages to store them.

But rather than get sidetracked with turning into a simulation of the rich and famous, Test Drive Unlimited doesn't forget its roots. As such, expect a healthy variety of game challenges and races that are quickly set up in order to entice international players into a little wheel-to-wheel action.

The cynics (assuming they've read this past the first sentence) will no doubt claim this is just another PSP racing game. Our feeling is that if it's anything like the Xbox 360 version, the overall experience is actually very different – you get a genuine sense of inhabiting a virtual world.

It's a similar sensation to that of a massively multiplayer roleplaying game, albeit with cars instead of orks. And that, the developer will tell you, is the intention.

But whether or not the PSP manages such a feat won't be known until the game is released next February.

Joao Diniz Sanches
Joao Diniz Sanches
With three boys under the age of 10, former Edge editor Joao has given up his dream of making it to F1 and instead spends his time being shot at with Nerf darts. When in work mode, he looks after editorial projects associated with the Pocket Gamer and Steel Media brands.