Think racing games and each platform has its own hero product.
For Xbox it’s the Forza series, either Motorsport or Horizon. Move over to PlayStation and Gran Turismo rules the roost whilst PC players continually get behind the wheel of games like Assetto Corsa Competizione. Hell, even those gaming on Nintendo Switch have Gear.Club to keep them happy. And after a bit of a crappy release of Gear.Club Unlimited 2 on Xbox, they can keep it.
But bubbling around beneath those behemoths is a driving franchise loved the world over; a bit of a cult racer that has laid dormant for more than a decade. That franchise is Test Drive Unlimited.
Test Drive Unlimited first launched to the world back in 2006, followed by a sequel, Test Drive Unlimited 2 in 2012. That latter game had major issues initially – some would say it was a botched launch – but was slowly fixed up to ensure a community could continue to race.
Now, after much anticipation – and huge delays over an initially promised release – we have Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. With Nacon and KT Racing bringing their expertise to this driving experience, surely it can’t fail? Well…
I can’t sit here and pretend that Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is in a great state. But this is an MMOR – massively multiplayer online racer – a live service experience that will, and must, change over time. That’s all we can hope for too, as while the underpinnings of Solar Crown are there, hidden away, the rest of it is currently in a bit of a shoddy place. We’re going to blame servers, but thankfully that’s something which can be fixed, and during our time with the game so far, they have been. Slowly and surely we should see Nacon and KT get on top of the live service bugs and turn this into a proper podium racer.
With that said, we’ve had huge fun with Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. And frankly, we’re long enough in the tooth to overlook initial game crashes and server problems. For when this game works, it really works. It’s that which we’re focusing this review on.
So, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is an always online racer. Set in a 1:1 replica of Hong Kong Island you are recruited by the organisers of the Solar Crown. This is a futuristic corporation who oversee all street racing, settling on the roads of Hong Kong to allow for such, with Alyss, your AI companion, helping you navigate the great map. After an initial opening cutscene or five, and working through a limited character creator, you’re left to roam the streets; slightly empty streets full of pop-in. It must be said that those roads occasionally slow Solar Crown down to a crawl too, especially as things are overpowered by high-rise buildings which cause the game to stutter and tear.
Thankfully, away from that, Solar Crown runs nicely. It’s mostly smooth, as fast as a racer needs to be, slowing down as you navigate tight routes, roaming the streets, casing joints for hidden secrets, events, garages and more. I’ll be honest though, I didn’t realise that Hong Kong Island was quite so wet and sunlight hours were so short. The vast majority of our time here has seen us with headlights and windscreen wipers on full. That’s probably something KT needs to address.
As with all racers, your ultimate goal is to partake in races, crossing finish lines before all others. And those races will see you going up against AI racers, as well as those who populate your world. While online racers predictably cause chaos at the first corner, the AI needs some work. You’ll probably find them either running away with things at the front, near untouchable, or lagging way behind. It feels like there is very little in between and we’d expect KT Racing to switch up that AI going forward.
Races are plentiful, coming in a variety of event types. You’ve got standard circuit racing, point to point events, time trials, and more. We particularly like Domination – checkpoint racing which sees racers earn points depending on their placement through gates, as well as some Hot Head events which brings leaderboard ranking chases. Whatever your poison, there is more than enough to get involved in with Solar Crown, as you look to prove yourself a champion.
Progression comes in the form of levels, with those opening new races and events, car types (you’re going to have to work to get behind the wheel of a hypercar) and Hong Kong Island itself. It feels well paced, with just enough content available, prior to new unlocks opening up. And with many, many hidden secrets – Radiant Prizes, level increases, car wrecks – scattered around the map, there’s plenty to keep you busy. This is certainly one of those games that can fast see the hours whiled away as you go on the hunt.
In Solar Crown, the pleasure of fans will dictate your success, but so do a couple of Clans – the Sharps and the Streets. These are two unique racing organisations that bring a bit of a ‘street racing community‘ vibe to Solar Crown. You’ll get to ensure your clan comes out on top throughout, whilst also being able to go head-to-head with Clan members, in what should be seen as a play on pink slip racing. We’re not sure that the relationships with these Clans are massively appealing, but again, it adds to the content.
Of course, for all the fluff surrounding them, the cars are the stars of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. And there are plenty of those too, from Daily Drivers through to Off-Road machines, Grand Tourers, Supercars, Hypercars and the like. But, as of time of writing, whilst there are tons of real-world marques available, don’t expect to see much more in the early hour racing aside from fields full of the overpowered Audi TT RS 2017. Four wheeled drive is king in Solar Crown, so much so that it’s near pointless to come to the grid with anything else. It’s similar in other classes too, with what seems to be a stand-out option powering away from the rest of the grid. That’s a shame too as most of the cars available feel unique to the next.
There are many other cars you can play around with though, and all of them can be upgraded, both in terms of performance and cosmetics. You’ll need to unlock the gear on offer, but move through levels and you should be able to pimp your ride to your own personal specs. If liveries, external and internal colourways and more are your bag, Solar Crown is fairly deep here. There are tons of differing car setups, driving modes, etc.. to enjoy too.
So, for the most part we’ve been left impressed with Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, but obviously there are problems. We’ll continue to skirt the server errors as they seem hit or miss, but this is definitely a game full of bugs and glitches, so much so that it’s tricky to be confident that what you are partaking in will be worthwhile, a save bug always at the back of your mind. Perhaps that will mean the loss of a few minutes, or hours, of work, And further to that, there are visual problems too; we’ve driven through steel fences without issue, have collided head on with other cars that have popped up right in front of us whilst we were doing 200kmh, and have been slowed to walking pace by a tiny barrier, races ruined. Expect to be a little frustrated by what Solar Crown offers.
And there’s no doubt that this is a game that can, at times, feel like something straight out of 2015. Cutscenes and character models are extremely low rate, whilst any voice acting feels faked and dialled in. Some car models are poor too, although mostly those are of any NPC taxis that are found trundling around Hong Kong in free roam. I guess it depends how much emphasis you personally put on those things, as to what you are going to get out of Solar Crown. For us, it’s the racing that we’re mostly interested in, alongside the opportunity to freely explore the world. With that in mind, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown very much excels.
Ultimately, a dozen years on from Test Drive Unlimited 2, and nearly half a decade from initial announcement, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown launches with problems. But if you can look past the glitches, the bugs, the low-quality cutscenes, slow lifestyle elements and the numerous server issues, you’ll find a wonderful driving experience.
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown lets you explore a brilliant Hong Kong Island, partaking in some great racing as you go. Only time will tell if further additions to this MMOR are able to build things out some more.
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is now available – https://www.thexboxhub.com/is-solar-crown-the-test-drive-unlimited-redemption/
Purchase Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/test-drive-unlimited-solar-crown/9n4fs2g67zw7
