Quote: Originally Posted by Motoki The user metacritic scores were not kind though. Seems like the users disliked it way more than the critics which is usually a red flag for me. Is there some particular issue with it? ETA: Oh man, reading through those user Metacritic scores there's a whole mess of them that ripped this game a new one 8 ways to Sunday.

I didn't play it on launch or close to it b/c of the reviews - they were BRUTAL, for the most part.
Namely, the game got slammed for lacking features; Internet connection problems; bugs; broken quests and races; crazy physics for racing (especially when compared by many to TDU1); tough difficulty (especially when doing the License getting missions to start the game) [the tough difficulty on License getting races is still present, BTW]; coming w/ Securom Internet DRM activation; and other kinds of madness.

A lot of this got overhauled in numerous patches (like many of Eden's other games), before the DLC actually got released.
Eden Games has been known for releasing buggy/broken products [see Alone in the Dark (2008 Reboot)].

For $5, it'd be silly to pass this up. Last time I played it, I had a BLAST w/ it online. I really didn't deal w/ other online players much (since many were online and many were just doing the solo races and that stuff).
I just did the "solo" missions, races, and whatnot - for the most part.

It can be tough to get a MP race going, anyways - if anybody's actually even online playing this! Especially now, since the game's OLD.

If you have problems trying to connect online or dealing w/ online hackers/cheaters - just create another profile and put that profile in offline mode.
Playing offline, you'd just miss out on online players all over the game-world(s); and unable to do custom MP-based competitive races.
On the map, you'll find spots that are either SP-based (that's most spots) or are MP-based (which are lobbies, more or less). When offline, you can't do the MP stuff; only SP. When online, you can do both types of missions - up to you.
What the game probably should've did was let the MP spots on the map always be accessible and easy for Friends to contact each other and Quick-Travel to those spots to get a race going.

I do not know if TDU2 Steam-version comes w/ Securom DRM anymore, but if I was you - especially if that could be a factor for you and all (should be, I hate 3rd party DRM on Steam-versions) - you might want to look into it and check the Steam forums to see if it comes w/ it still.
Hopefully, they removed it. I don't know truly, though. No clue.
It's definitely worth looking into and asking around to those who actually bought it from Steam today.

EDIT:
I'm gonna check to see if online servers for game-playing are up. I'm gonna play this thing, if it is.

EDIT 2:
Yup, there's people playing, here & there - wonder if it's 'cause of the sales.
I'm on the Hawaii map here (you have to level-up enough to unlock this);
I wonder how things are in Ibiza (the starting map).

EDIT 3:
IMHO, this G4TV review (for X360 version) is spot on:
http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/6...ited-2/review/

Quote: FTW or DNF? Assigning a score to Test Drive Unlimited 2 was extremely difficult. The actual driving experience itself—the very thing that the entire game is based around—still feels stuck in second gear compared to refined racers like Gran Turismo 5, Forza Motorsport 5 and anything that Criterion touches. The UI is a burden to navigate, minor glitches plague the whole experience, and the cringe-worthy character animation and dialogue sabotage the cool that the rest of the game works so hard to establish. But there’s simply nothing else like TDU2 out there. Or, rather, there are several games that capture aspects of TDU2—Burnout Paradise’s free-wheeling open rides through island environments, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit’s cops-and-robbers chases, Gran Turismo 5’s endless collect-a-thon—but nothing puts them together into one overly ambitious package the way TDU2 does. It might not be the best racing game out there, but by god, it’s the biggest. And because TDU2 isn’t a sim-heavy gearhead tunefest, it’s much more likely to attract that more casual following that it will need to really maximize its stellar social aspects. Hardcore racing enthusiasts will gripe about the floaty handling that makes even the most precision-engineered supercar feel like a Chevy Impala. But those who just want to pick up and play a racing game will delight in the flash and spectacle of the cars and environments, not to mention the absurd cartwheels that accompany even the most minor crashes. For all of TDU2’s faults, none of them are severe enough to ruin the experience. And for all of its hokey weirdness, there’s a strange charm about it that will keep you coming back for more. It’s a game you’ll want to like, and if you can approach it on its own terms and enjoy it for what it is, you won’t find that hard to do.