Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown review — Unlimited disappointment

Can you believe it’s been 12 years since the last Test Drive game? Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is the third mainline entry in the Test Drive Unlimited reboot series and was announced back in 2020 from publisher Nacon and developer KT Racing. Fast forward four years and this ambitious open-world racing simulator with MMO elements is finally ready to launch. Or is it?

You might be wondering where our review for Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown has been. Not only were the servers unavailable for multiple durations during the review period, we were also informed that an entire data erase would occur due to a critical bug found on the developer’s end. This means that all of our progress was deleted. Even now as we speak, with the game technically being live for Gold deluxe edition owners, the servers are down and fans who bought the game can’t play it. I really hope you didn’t pay $80 for a game that you can’t even play…

Well if it wasn’t obvious already, this is an online-only game, meaning you need Nacon’s servers to be up as well as an active PlayStation Plus membership to play the game. Oh I forgot to mention you also need to create a Nacon account and link it to your PlayStation account in order to even play. How annoying!

This is only the beginning of a slew of technical issues present with the game, because it’s just not a very good experience overall, at least right now. The immediate thing you’ll probably notice is how blurry the visuals are. It doesn’t look good at all, despite being a current-gen game only (sorry PlayStation 4 owners). The cars have this weird glow to them, almost as if a filter has been applied, and there isn’t quite as much detail as you’d expect on these machines as you would in Gran Turismo or Forza Horizon. The character animations are also stiff and clunky, with the voice acting being laughable at best. This is not to mention the horrendous pop-ins that occur as you’re driving through the world or in a race.

Frame rates can take a hit during races, even in performance mode, but are mostly stable at 60 FPS. There is a quality mode but even in that, the game doesn’t look that good. Load times are decent, but this all depends on server conditions. A major complaint I have is how miniscule the text on screen is. It’s disappointing that I have to squint my eyes or sit closer to the TV just to read the tiny words on the screen. The entire UI is a bit of an overwhelming mess with too many different tabs and icons.

For the most part, the audio design is decent, and is what you’d expect. The game features a dynamic soundtrack that adapts to the player’s actions, creating an immersive and engaging experience. There’s a radio station as well, with varying channels. The sound effects are realistic and varied, from the roar of engines to the screech of tires on different surfaces and in different weather conditions.

Alright but how does the actual driving feel and what the heck is this entire game about anyways? The narrative here revolves around the Solar Crown competition, a prestigious racing event where drivers compete to prove their skills and attain elite status. It’s really nothing to write home about but instead sets up the stage for why you’re there to begin with. It gets the job done. After a lengthy prologue where you customize your goofy looking avatar and race in an orange Lamborghini Huracan across a recreation of Hong Kong island, it’s time for you to start climbing the ranks. 

One of the standout features is the game’s emphasis on lifestyle and social interaction. But other than being able to deck out my hotel room in swag, I wasn’t able to test out the social interaction part much during the review period, given the game wasn’t live to the public.

Your initial wad of cash allows you to choose between one of three starter cars: a Ford Mustang GT, a Nissan 370Z, or an Alpine A110. I’m more of a JDM guy myself, so naturally I went and purchased a bumblebee yellow 370Z and off to the races I went. Every car handles differently, obviously, for the most part, but drifting is where I think the game can improve the most. Pressing Square to employ the handbrake often results in me spinning out, but again, this can also be a skill issue on my end. I’m not an expert arcade racer fanatic and I played this with a DualSense controller, not a racing wheel setup.

There’s roughly 100 different cars to grind for and purchase at launch, which is decent. You got your German BMWs and Audis and American muscle cars like Ford and Chevy, and even supercar brands like Bugatti and Ferrari. Everything is locked behind reputation levels, which is the main form of progression in the game. Aside from racing in time attacks, sprints, and elimination modes, you can cruise around Hong Kong island to find wrecked cars, speed trap events, and hidden caches. Since this is a live service game, there’s also daily events and seasonal activities to partake in as well. And because this is an online only title, it’s only fitting that you get to race against other live players, as there’s an in-game PVP betting system during races.

It wouldn’t be a complete car racing game without customizations. Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown has all the quirks and features of a racing sim, allowing you to upgrade performance parts, change the paint color, design the interior looks, etc. A major standout feature of the game is the existence of two clans: the Sharps and Streets. Other than granting you some exclusive vehicles and clan-specific attire, it doesn’t really affect the outcome of the story. One gimmick that I found interesting was that you can use a radial wheel to open the windows, use your turn signal, or even deploy a spoiler. It doesn’t add much depth to the actual gameplay but a cool feature nonetheless.

As with any other racing game, there is an inevitable grind. The first 5-10 hours of the game are quite generous I’d say, and it’s not until you pass reputation level 20 that the grind becomes imminent. Super cars and hyper cars start to cost a lot more, and winning races award you with peanut amounts of cash.

It’s nice that KT Racing has provided a roadmap for the next year for Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, featuring new events and modes, along with a Battle Pass-like system for players. But it seems their number one priority right now should be squashing bugs and making sure the servers are stable and online. There’s more times than I can count where a server error would prevent me from joining a race or even booting up the game. We want to be able to play the game, please!

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