Though far from realistic, each vehicle handles, reacts and even sounds palpably different to the last. Take a Jag E-type out on the road and you’ll know it’s a classic car just by the steely roar of the engine. There’s a reasonably irritating fly in the antifreeze, in that the licensed cars are - at the stern behest of their manufacturers - entirely indestructible. You can absolutely trash the poor NPC saps on the road (their vehicles are familiar-looking fabrications), but every player is driving something from another universe. This isn’t TDU ’s fault, and to have plumped for damageable replicas instead of the real thing would have halved its appeal, but it adds a slight note of surrealism, which takes the edge off all the attention to detail.

Partly, that’s because the robustness of the cars, the openness of the world and the total lack of concern for human life gives TDU something of a GTA vibe. Hitting a lamppost at 160mph and coming to an immediate halt with neither the car nor the post receiving so much as a scratch on their paintwork feels pretty weird. It’s particularly aggravating when this happens mid-race. Laboriously reversing away from the unyielding pole you’ve hit takes ages, usually losing you the contest, and simply doesn’t feel in keeping with your car’s ability to survive a ten foot drop unscathed.

There’s an inherent conflict at TDU’s heart. It’s both a game in which you can get away with ludicrous cartoon stunts and one in which you should be a faultless driver who would never, ever have hit that post in the first place. Once again, it stems from the difference between racing and driving. The game’s almost designed more for you to cruise around the streets, stopping at lights and sticking to the speed limit, just enjoying your car. The driving is in real time, so a 60 mile cruise (a mere fraction of Oahu’s tarmacked girth) sticking to the speed limit will take about an hour. It’s Microsoft Flight Simulator for cars.

Though the huge playground means this works remarkably well as a single-player game, it’s the online element that elevates TDU from interesting experiment to actual triumph. The races are so much more compelling when you’re thrashing a real person who thought he was better than you, while losing means you don’t get any money - it actually goes to your rival.

Even on the smallest scale, it makes a massive difference. If there’s someone watching, you’ll likely pull a dramatic handbrake turn to change direction rather than a careful three-pointer. Or, if you’re taking a casual Sunday drive and someone suddenly burns by you, you’re a strong person if you can resist the urge to chase them down. Because spontaneous bouts of playful or angry dodgems with strangers are so common, the indestructibility of the cars becomes a boon at times. After all, player-killing in a game where losing could cost you $600,000 would be horrendous.