Test Drive 5

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Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000038I9W
• Item Weight: 1 pounds
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: October 9, 1998
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,159 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PlayStation | Edition: Standard

Amazon.com Product Description

Test Drive 5 pushes driving to new limits by adding high-resolution graphics, branching roads, shortcuts, nut driving, andphotorealistic graphics with Multi-Dynamic Environment Mapping. Three new difficulty levels, customizable vehicles, and the addition of arcade and simulation modes provide an even deeper racing game experience than in previous versions. There are 28 licensed vehicles and over 17 real-world tracks. The 28 licensed cars include 14 exotic sports cars (all capable of speeds of 180 mph) and 14 vintage muscle cars. The 17 exotic tracks feature accurate re-creations from real-world locales. Racing modes include single race competition and multiple league modes.

GameSpot Review

Let's face it. Racing games are a dime a dozen on the PlayStation. Heck, they're a dime a dozen no matter what platform you're playing on. That said, it takes a special kind of racer to separate itself from the pack. Is Test Drive 5 that special kind of racer? Hmmm. Good question.

As previous incarnations of the Test Drive series have revealed, the cars in TD5 are all about power. Like EA's Need For Speed series, Test Drive 5 offers you some hard-core horsepower to take the twisties with. Not only does it give you the cream of the crop, chosen from today's most desired cars, it also gives you a healthy selection of the muscle power of yesteryear, hence the choices: beauty or beast. As with any other racer, pick your car and off you go.

Like any decent racer worth its salt, TD5 offers you the usual opportunities to test your driving prowess: single race, time trials, cup race. While quick starters will aim straight for the single race, the real meat is found in the various cup races. There are six different cups to try to win: championship cup, era cup, challenge cup, pitbull cup, masters cup, and the ultimate cup. Each cup has its own particular criteria for winning, and your success will determine what secret cars and tracks are unveiled for you. If playing by yourself isn't enough of a challenge, you can always go to the split-screen two-player mode.

The controls in TD5 are as basic as they get, with the L2 button functioning as a hand brake, which helps a great deal in controlling your car through power slides. However, the cars control kind of heavy, and analog really isn't much better. Without any sort of tactile resistance in the analog pad, you'll find yourself tapping the thing as much as you would the regular D-pad.

The graphics in TD5 are better than the majority of the racing games out there. Each car is rendered nicely, and the game even uses a neo-specular highlighting, which is inconsistent in its appearance. Sometimes the effect is used, while other times it is not. The frame rate is kept up at a respectable 25 frames per second though, which is pretty good when you consider that there may be up to six cars onscreen at once. There are also some pretty nice lighting effects when you're driving at night.

Unfortunately, the problem with Test Drive 5 is that it tries to be too many racing games at once. It's a tactic that doesn't really pay off; while it emulates other games fairly well, it doesn't do anything particularly well. It tries to be Need For Speed III, without the pure speed rush that NFSIII gives you. It even offers a take on NFSIII's pursuit mode, only in TD5, you get to be the cop. It tries to be Gran Turismo-esque in both its graphic presentation and simulation aspect. However, without GT's extensive customization options, TD5 comes off kind of shallow by comparison. At times, incredibly enough, TD5 even tries to pull a San Francisco Rush. An inclusion you'll soon discover when you're zooming down a hill, one huge step at a time.

Now, all of these things would be great if the game weren't so darn difficult. While controlling your car is fairly easy (despite the extremely heavy handling), the computer AI has this amazing way of being able to blow by you as if you were standing still. It's almost as if your car has no acceleration whatsoever. It's difficult enough to try to keep up with everyone, let alone pass them, but scrape a wall, and your race is over. Sure, there are shortcuts on every track, along with multiple paths, but this game is way too cheap to be much fun for long.

In the end, when you think of all the other games that Test Drive 5 tries to emulate, you're thinking of at least three other racing games that you should purchase before you go for this one. While not a dismal failure by any means, the cheap AI and unbalanced gameplay ensure that Test Drive 5 remains rental material at best. --James Mielke
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent game, May 10, 2000

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This game is excellent - easy to learn yet challenging to win. It will take sometime to master but the AI will not let you win everytime no matter how well you drive. Progressive capabilities allow new and interesting circuits and tracks to open up as you become more adapt with each car. Worth the purchase price!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a really good game, May 18, 2003

By	frank ippolito (birmingham,al) - See all my reviews

this game is really awsome. for a ps1 game the graphics are just really good for example the italian job game on ps1 is very blocky but this game is not blocky and for a ps1 game very smooth. the car selection is great, awsome play back value with enough selections of game play like my favorite, the drag race, this game is really good! also i got this game for a bargain ...! so if u have a ps1 or if u have a ps2 and want a good racing game this is one for u!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Test Drive 5, the racing game king, August 20, 2004

A Kid's Review

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Test Drive 5 is perfect, it beats all of the series, even the new Test Drive, it has around 30 vehicles such as the Viper, the Corvette, and a secret Hot Dog Dune Buggy. My favorite vehicle is the Viper GTS. I have this game on PS1. There are 30 locations like Russia and Hawaii, and secret levels like Bez's Flat Circuit, I'm not lyin' about that, it's hidden. The soundtrack is from bands like Pitchshifter and Fear Factory. There is an all-new cop chasing mode. All other racing games can be fun, but this one is my favorite. This game is better than Need for Speed and Gran Turismo. Tell the people who made this, I said it rocks. Allthought it's neglected today, I never forget about it. The weather affects and the details are perfect. My favorite level is, oh I can't decide, they're all unique. Accolade is the maker of this triumphant game are known as Infogrames. I just loooooove it.

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