Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Review (PS5) – The Test Drive Unlimited IP has remained dormant for over a decade. Now Nacon is publishing its revival Solar Crown with KT Racing taking the reins from Eden Games.
Have KT given it a worthy revival? I’d say it would’ve been best if it remained the way it was before.
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Review (PS5) – Test Drive Limited
Ah, These Visuals Take Me Back
You’re a racer on Hong Kong Island. Thrust into the world via some very uninteresting cutscenes from Solar Crowns CEO Vivian.
The story is so one-dimensional though that it doesn’t even feel worth mentioning. Which isn’t different from most racing games to be fair, but it’s still nice if it’s not terrible, or done more creatively. Akin to Gran Turismo 7’s cafe, a simple way of creating a purpose for your racing.
You get to customize your character quite thoroughly but there isn’t much point, considering the models are graphically from the PS3 era. It actually reminded me of PlayStation Home which I found weirdly nostalgic in a funny way.
Ultimately though, you’re in the car or first person most of the time. And when you do see them they have no voice and just stare blankly as someone converses with them in a cutscene. So I probably wouldn’t waste my time with it.
Leading on from the character models I would love to tell you that the wide open world of Hong Kong Island was gorgeous with car models to die for. I’d love to, but I certainly can’t.
Although I quite liked the vibe they were going for with the neon-lit streets. It’s let down by the poor visuals and bloated 1:1 scale Hong Kong Island map. Along with dated design ideas that I’ve seen pulled off better in the NFS series on PS2.
All NPC traffic follows the same route at the same speed and distance from each other. And with very few different car models, and it makes it look oddly jarring and unnatural. It hasn’t found the balance between a volume of traffic that isn’t a nuisance to a volume that makes it feel realistic or alive.
Mixin’ Up Those Car Models
The draw distance of street lights trees and railings can’t be more than 100 feet most of the time on performance mode. Trust me, quality mode isn’t much of a looker either and performance takes quite a visual hit when compared.
That’s not to say you gain much of a performance trade-off. You do get 60FPS at times but I found myself receiving noticeable drops almost constantly with the most severe ones dropping into the low 40s creating a very visually unappealing hiccup-y mess.
It seems like the effort was put into the showrooms housing the cars first and foremost. The graphics seem better while in there. These are where you purchase and look at cars.
Better In Than Out
This is okay if you’re a real gear-head, but in a game that has sold itself on getting out there and driving various luxurious cars across large open-world maps it sort of misses its audience.
The racing as a whole felt generally dated and unsatisfying to my hands. The driving itself was simplistic, I found myself not even having to use the brake or handbrake to make any of the turns presented in a race. Letting off the power was all that was required.
Most races were strangely short it felt like they were over before they even began. Combined with tracks placed point to point around very basic areas of the map were extremely straightforward.
Not The “Prettiest” Damage I’ve Seen
It’s weird smashing into an NPC traffic car and lightly bumping off them even at 200 mph and the damage to your car is negligible. The small bit of damage detail they did bother to put in again looks sub-par. It’s roughly the same as smashing into the side of a building.
Driving through destructible objects was more harmful than smashing into said buildings or cliff sides. Both of which you can slam into to utilise a quicker corner, as the destruction is non-existent and non-punishing. That with non-threatening AI made most races a breeze.
I found it quite funny that there was an on-by-default racing line. Considering you keep your finger hard on R2 most of the time. Which is a shame because the trigger effects for braking and accelerating feel pretty satisfying.
Form Over Function
There is a fantastic amount of luxury and high-end cars on show here. With roughly 100 at launch with more promised you’re hardly spoiled for choice in this regard.
The showrooms are a fun way to view and purchase cars, but cumbersome and slow to navigate which becomes a chore.
Unlocked at level 12, clans give a bit of a unique twist to the genre. This adds an extra layer to progression where you aren’t only driving your level up. You’re actively battling against rival clans for extra perks and money.
It’s the freshest thing about the game that I’d have to say was the only thing designed in a fairly decent way where I wanted to keep playing. Something that at least sets it apart from similar games such as The Crew: Motorfest.
It’s such a shame that in most ways, the game is at least solid. It just doesn’t evolve the format in any way, in fact it regresses it. An impressive 1:1 map that feels bloated because of the lack of new or interesting things to do is one of the examples of taking a good idea and not implementing it in a meaningful way.
It’s a shame that’s the case for most of the features in it.
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown is now available on PS5.
Review code generously provided by the publisher.