Like its entertaining 2006 predecessor, Test Drive Unlimited 2 seems unwilling to shoehorn itself into one particular racing category. It straddles the line between arcade and simulation racing, emphasizes both aimless cruising and championship pursuits, and includes a lifestyle sim and a massively multiplayer online community on top of all that. It’s a hefty package, no doubt.

But what this follow-up feels like, above all else, is a casual driving game for hardcore car aficionados. It’s an experience for people who love to admire well-built vehicles and mingle with others of their kind. And while neither its campaign nor its racing ever manages to outpace the competition’s, TDU2 does offer a totally unique ride on Xbox Live.

Community and competition pull equal weight online in Test Drive, as the winding, open roads of Ibiza and the Hawaiian island of Oahu let you connect with other online users in several ways. See a friend or random player driving by? Flash your headlights to offer an impromptu race, which is randomly generated from that spot, or invite that player into your car for a co-op cruise around the island. Eight-player race and co-op events — such as a “follow the leader” race where only one driver can see the next checkpoint — are also scattered around the island, and while you’re waiting in the lobby, you can walk around and enter each player’s car, as well as interact with other in-game avatars.

But the TDU2 experience goes beyond simple races and leaderboards. Up to 32 avatars can interact in specially designated locations, and you can create and post challenges that earn you credits every time someone tries and fails to top your time. Out favorite online feature, though, has to be the clubs, which let you team up with other racers to achieve common goals. These help create a sense of community for like-minded car lovers and race fans, and they go a long way toward making the game a worthwhile driving experience.

Which is a good thing, because while TDU2 has a solid racing model and its multiple handling options bridge the gap between arcade and sim sensibilities, it never feels as precise or as detailed as genre leaders like Forza Motorsport 3 or Need for Speed: Shift — or nearly as exciting as, say, Burnout Paradise. Unexpected spinouts and bizarrely intense crashes frequently threw us for a loop, while vehicle-performance upgrades feel largely superficial. We like the variety brought by the newly added off-road racing segments, but sadly, they come at the expense of the first game’s bikes, which are now M.I.A. And despite the many event types — including point-to-point and lap races, checkpoint eliminations, time trials, and speed-based objectives — the actual driving often feels like more of a leisurely stroll than a rousing battle to the finish line.

The game does deliver a ton of single-player content, including a couple of dozen multi-event championships and cups, 100 side missions (usually driving people to destinations), photo challenges, and the ability to purchase houses, apparel, and even plastic surgery. But you get a real sense of quantity-over-quality here. The campaign’s lap-of-luxury reality-show premise — where, as a former valet, you’re now racing against the ultra-rich elite for cash — is pretty grating, with corny cutscenes full of hokey, wooden character performances. And unfortunately, you really can’t avoid this peripheral junk because campaign progress earns you cash and experience used to unlock additional features, all of which helps you enjoy the online side of the game.

If you don’t have an Xbox Live Gold account, don’t bother with TDU2: its offline content is decent, but hardly worth the amount of time it takes to amass snazzy cars and houses. But if you love cars and want to share that affinity with the world, you’ll really enjoy its online options, which offer a tremendous leap over those of competing racers. We just wish the actual racing shared the depth and excitement of these considerable community features.

On Xbox 360

+ Great, innovative online community and racing features.

+ Dozens of hours of content between the campaign and online options.

- Bland racing with occasional handling issues, plus a lame campaign approach.

? Isn’t “Tess Wintory” the best name ever for a spoiled-rich character?

7.0