Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown

Open-world racing games have become fairly commonplace in recent years, but before the likes of Forza Horizon or The Crew rolled out, we had Test Drive Unlimited. Despite innovating many staples of the modern open-world racer, the franchise has laid dormant since 2011, so there was a fair amount of excitement when a third entry in the series, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, was announced back in...

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown doesn't scale the heights of other virtual tourism open world racers in recent years, but it's an enjoyable driving game in its own right, even with its rough edges.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown offers up a lot of fun both on the track and in its simulated world. A lot of work was put in to make Hong Kong Island feel like a realistic place with far more exploration than one is used to in a racing game. Some of those elements don't hit perfectly, but the on-track performance is what counts the most and Solar Crown largely succeeds there. Races are fun and e...

Despite my issues connecting to servers and the poor graphical performance on PS5, I’ve quite enjoyed my time on Solar Crown’s Hong Kong Island. The driving mechanics are easily the best the series has ever had, and the cars sound and feel viscerally dynamic. It’s a shame that a game that places such a strong emphasis on realistic immersion and map detail is dragged down by poor graphical performa...

Disappointing, that's the best word to describe Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown. Its handling is solid and it has a large open world filled with a variety of events and activities for you to explore, but technical issues, poor visuals and other frustrations just bring it down.

Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown isn’t just a racing game, it’s a lifestyle game. Developer Kylotonn has endeavoured to recreate Hong Kong Island along with its opulent luxury and underground street scene, and while the driving is where Solar Crown truly shines, it's the lifestyle and technical aspects of the game hold it back.

I find it impressive that the Test Drive series, which started way back in 1987, is still alive and kicking to this very day. Put this into perspective: Test Drive is older than Sonic, Ninja Gaiden, Prince of Persia, and many others. After many ownership changes over the years, Test Drive is now owned by Nacon, which entrusted the franchsie’s revival to KT Racing, the same folks behind the ever-im...

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is a really tough game to sum up in its current state. The game's vast open world and asphalt driving physics give the title a solid base to launch from, and we definitely think this series still has something to offer that differs from the likes of Forza Horizon and The Crew. However, Solar Crown's issues run deeper than launch-week server load, and the game needs...

If this game came out in 2012 I'd probably have nicer things to say. It could potentially have been ahead of the pack back then. But now, in this day and age where developers have taken the formula and ran with it, having created racers in the same vein that are more impressive in almost every way, KT Racing have sadly finished in last place.

Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown is a frustrating mess of conflicting, grindy systems made worse by a dull open world and unexceptional racing.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown's technical issues, both online and in performance terms, do a disservice to a novel, detailed game world.