Test Drive 6 Preview

What's new to the Test Drive series other than the usual graphics and car roster update? One of the coolest innovations in Test Drive 6 is the multitude of obstacles on the road that you must either ram through or avoid altogether. Plus, to add a bit of flavor to the series, Test Drive 6 features shortcuts like those found in Beetle Adventure Racing and San Francisco Rush.

Test Drive 6 looks as though it's coming together quite well. However, it doesn't really look or play much differently from Test Drive 5. Accolade admits that it has kind of gone as far as it can with the series on the PlayStation. The company's trying to make some of the game's visual effects, like reflections and lighting, look better. The new obstacle feature is pretty cool: You get to smash into tables and chairs outside of restaurants. The team hopes to add people walking down the sidewalks to give the game a more realistic look. The new physics model for the cars wasn't in place in the version we saw at E3; there's no telling how differently the cars will handle once the new physics model is finished. One really cool thing that the team is going to do is make the money system a little smarter. Each race, you'll be putting up money and betting against opponents. If you ever run out of money, you can always go for the last-ditch effort and bet your car. Of course, if you lose your car, then you lose the game. While all this sounds good, we'll have to wait and see how it actually turns out. Test Drive 6 is scheduled to be released this holiday season.