After more than a decade, Test Drive Unlimited received a reboot in an attempt to revive what is one of the oldest racing franchises. Solar Crown reintroduces the open-world, arcade-style car racing game emphasizing the fan-favorite lifestyle-building aspect, but how good is it actually?
Graphics
Developed by Kylotonn Studio, the game seems promising if you watch the official trailers and screenshots; however, the first-hand experience is totally different. Players are allowed to have different expectations, but when I play a modern racing game, I look for top-notch graphics for the environment and vehicle models. Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown failed to convince me that it's better than its competitors in this regard.
What I'm saying is this doesn't feel like a 2024 racing game. If you talk about the vehicle models, they look fabulous and appear to be a fairly accurate representation of real cars. Having said that, the reflections and shadows need a lot of work. While some cars have a decent reflection effect going on in favorable lighting conditions, others either appear bland or have no reflection at all.
The environment is another aspect that disappointed me. After playing games like Forza Horizon 5 and Grid Legends, which were released years ago, TDU Solar Crown is somewhat of a downgrade in comparison. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad-looking game; the graphical fidelity just doesn't seem on par with these older titles, and the bad performance makes things even worse.
Score: 3/5
Performance
If you don't recall, let me remind you that this game was initially planned for a 2022 release, but the developers kept pushing the dates until now. And the game still isn't finished. It's a poorly optimized game even after all the beta tests and years of delay.
Even worse, the game was mostly unplayable on launch. Players paid a premium for early access so they could experience the new TDU installment early, but they were greeted with never-ending server issues that are persistent to this date. For a time, I wasn't able to play the game because of constant login errors and connection timeouts, as was the case for many other players around the globe. The problem is still there intermittently; I hope the developers resolve it before the full launch as more players are going to come online. What would it take for studios to add an offline mode to games these days?
I played the game on a powerful enough rig (AMD RX 6800 XT and i7-12700K) but failed to get a stable performance even after tweaking the settings and updating drivers.
That is to to say, FPS is there, but it's not stable at times. I average 70 FPS on open roads and dip down to 50-55 in cities (using Medium quality settings). I've noticed that switching the camera to first-person POV significantly hinders the frames and the game starts stuttering. Apart from visual bugs like traffic disappearing right in front of you, sometimes the environment renders slowly, affecting the immersion.
Score: 1/5
Gameplay
You cannot ignore the graphics and performance in a racing game, but when you move further and start looking at the core aspects of gameplay, you'll enjoy your time in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. It shares similarities with the Forza and NFS franchises and will pull you in if you're an arcade-style racing game fan.
There are different types of races and events to take part in all across the Hong Kong island; you can drive at high speed through speed traps to earn money; discover roads, Meeting Points, Dealerships, and Gas Stations to earn XP and level up your character to unlock new vehicles. There are even treasure hunt car wrecks you can discover to unlock new cars for free. Car customization (i.e. cosmetics and performance tuning) can be done at Workshops across the map.
Before each race, you can select a suitable car and tune it to your liking. You can choose from a variety of tires and driving modes depending on the race types, track, and weather; most importantly, you can change Driving Assists like guided track lines, gear shift, ABS, and traction control. Make the driving more difficult, and you'll be rewarded with more money (just don't go overboard). For instance, you'll need some traction control (TCS) enabled when the asphalt is wet to drive effortlessly.
As you progress through the levels, new tasks will appear for you across the map. Complete these and you'll eventually be able to join a clan. You can either join the Sharp clan which takes pride in being the elite luxurious, or the Street clan if you want to side with the rebellious group. Don't think much before choosing as there is no major story impact (because there is no story); just follow your aesthetic.
Joining a club will not just give you access to their unique clothing style. It allows you to compete in clan races, challenge other online opponents in a head-to-head race, race against clan members, and unlock new rewards as you increase your influence level. Now, let's talk about some of the negatives.
The pace of the progression is good; however, the tasks get stale over time as you reach higher levels. For instance, most of the secondary tasks after hours of gameplay were to finish x amount of races at first place with a certain car. I'm missing the 'lifestyle' approach of TDU here (more on that below).
Starting or restarting a race is too drawn out in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown. Waiting for 10 seconds and then watching a cutscene just to begin a race gets boring very quickly. Furthermore, you cannot pause a race because this is an online game.
One thing that I and several other players have experienced is that the AI or NPC cars you compete against are too powerful at times, and there is no difficulty setting so you can't tune them down. You'll notice this, especially during off-road races. For some reason, the AI vehicles are impeccable in these scenarios and your best bet is to use off-road tires on your vehicle if you want to win the off-road competitions. Collision physics feels off whether to talk about hitting other cars or environmental objects. Once I even ran into an invisible barrier during a race (thankfully, I didn't lose).
Score: 4/5
Story
If you're looking to indulge in a narrative, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown doesn't offer anything substantial in that regard. There is a story proceeding and lore that the game is based upon but that's about it. At the end of the day, it's a racing game and the majority of players including me don't care much about the story.
You are invited to Hong Kong to join the Solar Crown organization and compete for them. A Lamborghini Huracan is given to you temporarily to give you a glimpse of what you can achieve later down the road. Soon, you join a clan as discussed previously to take part in more races and rivalries. That's where it ends basically. The characters aren't interesting and I found myself skipping most of the cutscenes. The tasks, however, are very useful for progression and help you explore the map.
Score: N/A
Lifestyle and Vehicles
We've covered the racing aspect of the game; let's now dive into lifestyle, something the TDU franchise is remembered for by the fans. The older games were known for their open-world setting and the player's ability to build their domain. Solar Crown has some of these elements, but they're not as detailed.
You get an apartment where you can change your clothes and check out the calendar for upcoming events. In TDU 2, you were able to do much more with your living space (for instance, customizing wall art and flooring, like a simulator game). You cannot visit a real estate agent to purchase or sell a house. These are small things that added depth to the previous game and players enjoyed the immersion.
Those looking for a sequel to play may be a little disappointed as the developers didn't build up on what was successful in the last games. Initially, I liked the idea of going shopping for cars at specific dealerships. But soon it became fatigued by the process of visiting the dealership, walking up to different cars, checking their stats, and then deciding whether or not to purchase.
A menu with a listing of cars would've made everyone's lives a little easier by making the shopping experience not so boring. Furthermore, it'd have been easier to compare cars before buying them. As of now, there are no transport missions, meetings, nightclubs, or gambling, but they'll be added in future updates. The game in its current state seems more racing-focused rather than lifestyle.
You'll find yourself drawn more towards buying vehicles to competing well in races to earn money, meaning it's not that easy to be a car enthusiast and collector in TDU Solar Crown. Speaking of cars, they sound great and look amazing besides some unsatisfactory reflection effects. There is a wide variety of vehicles, from daily drivers to hypercars, and you'll have to spend hours playing to collect all of them.
Score: 2/5
Verdict - A disappointing entry with potential
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown can be a good racing game to buy but only if the server issues are completely taken care of. It's very unprofessional of game development studios to sell unfinished products. In addition to that, they also need to do performance optimization so the game runs smoothly.
If you're a TDU veteran who is expecting a sequel, you will be slightly disappointed by Solar Crown. That said, the game incorporates the core concepts of its predecessor and things are likely going to get better in the upcoming seasonal updates with the addition of the new map Ibiza, Clan Wars, and Casino. New players will enjoy the game if they're here for cars and races, but the poor implementation of the lifestyle design may be too dull for them to like.
[Disclosure: A free copy of the game was provided to PGG for review purposes.]
For more on TDU, check out Best ways to earn Reputation and level up fast in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown on Pro Game Guides.
Published: Sep 10, 2024 06:50 am