Test Drive 4 Demo

Back when 3D graphics were still a novelty and most racing games involved Mario Karts or Sonic the Hedgehog, the Test Drive series was one of the few out there that introduced a bit more realism into the equation, albeit not that much, in retrospective. However, it did feature a decent number of real-world cars, which were modeled as close to reality as the technology at the time allowed it.

Test Drive 4 featured pretty much the same kind of experience as the previous episode, but it added new cars, new tracks and a variety of gameplay improvements to make the racing feel more interesting. However, the biggest additions are always the new car models, which were modeled after their real counterparts and even set up to respect some of the original specifications from the manufacturer, such as top speed, torque and various other such parameters.

Hence, you could drive around in an angry Dodge Viper, or make a run for it in the beautiful Chevrolet Corvette from 1998. You can also find a Jaguar, a Pontiac and even a Shelby Cobra, which should satisfy almost any kind of taste when it comes to era and design. However, the number of horsepower you have roaring under the hood mean nothing if you are not able to make use of them properly, which is why it is important to learn how to safely handle the rides out on the road.

Speaking of which, the six available tracks can provide you with basically any kind of scenery, given the fact that they are spread through countries like England, Switzerland, Japan and, obviously, the USA. Depending on the location, you can witness anything from urban settlements, to wild forests and mountain vistas, all of which aim to make it a real pleasure to drive around in a super car.

However, you might not appreciate the pixelated landscapes as much as you would have almost two decades ago, given the fact that today's PC monitors are a bit too big for the small resolutions the game runs at. The vehicles themselves are very low-poly models as well, which means that you shouldn't expect too much geometry out of them, or any kind of reflections.

Test Drive 4 may have gotten old in the meantime, but that doesn't mean you cannot enjoy its simplicity even now. Despite that, the nostalgic are the only ones who might give the game a go nowadays, since today's technology makes it very difficult for the younger public to swallow anything like this.