The game purports to offer the thrill of driving a selection of testosterone-charged real cars in some of the world's most scenic locations. But instead of hitting top speed on the open road or doing doughnuts on the Vatican's lawn, you must race a bunch of veteran professional drivers around a number of preset tracks with hairpin turns. Even that could be fun, but here the tracks are missing the shortcuts and power-ups of an arcade racing game, and the cars are missing the accurate physics and customization of a simulation racing game. This "neither here nor there" approach applies to all of Test Drive 6, a game that on the surface is packed with features, most of which, on digging deeper, add nothing to gameplay.

Play modes include single and groups of races where you wager money or your pink slip; cop chases where you try to pull over speeding cars; and two-player mode. The economic system by which players purchase and upgrade cars seems out of place, and the game's graphics are merely passable. --Jeff Young

Pros:

• Great soundtrack, including the entire video for Fear Factory's remake of Gary Numan's "Cars"
• Nice collection of new and classic hot rods

• Too shallow for a racing simulation, too difficult to be an arcade game
• Poor handling cars and poorly designed tracks