In 2006, the Eden Games teams made history in racing games with the Test Drive Unlimited license on Xbox 360, PC, PS2 and PSP. An innovative title, allowing you to race cars (and motorcycles) in an open world environment, on a 1:1 scale. For this first opus, the playground was the island of Oahu in Hawaii, offering hundreds of kilometers of roads to drive the most beautiful cars on the planet. Test Drive Unlimited was clearly ahead of its time, halfway between arcade and simulation, with a strong emphasis on the RP (role play/role-playing game) side. It was possible to go to a car dealership to test and buy your vehicle, to put on the indicators, to remove or replace the hood of the car, with the possibility of buying houses, visiting stores to buy clothes and even going to the hairdresser or to a surgery clinic to have a facelift.
Test Drive Unlimited highlighted the Lifestyle side, luxury and beautiful cars. And its sequel, in 2011, will extend this even further. The concept remained the same, with always a map on a scale of 1:1 with a gigantic MAP. For this second opus, Test Drive Unlimited 2 took us to the island of Ibiza, for the first part of its adventure, and made us return to Oahu for the end of the title. The Lifestyle and RP sides were even more highlighted, with the arrival of the legendary Casino allowing you to play games of chance and win (virtual) money as well as new cars and motorcycles.
Test Drive Unlimited is a monument in the history of racing games, because beyond its RP features, much more realistic than current games where you buy your car via menus, it offered new technical features such as an interior view with the passenger compartment of all vehicles faithfully reproduced, real functional rearview mirrors in this interior view, and the possibility of playing online or offline.
Unfortunately, a few months after the release of TDU 2, the Eden Games studio closed. A large part of the teams will then create Ivory Tower, to work on the spiritual sequel to Test Drive Unlimited: The Crew.
More than 13 years later, the legacy of TDU is immense, since it is thanks to this title that we have the The Crew licenses, but also Forza Horizon. Although to date, no production has managed to offer us the same formula as Unlimited, with this RP and Lifestyle side greatly highlighted. It is therefore the KT Racing teams that have this heavy task.
Directed by Alain Jarniou, who was already the Game Director of TDU1 & 2, Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown intends to regain its throne and offer players a new opus that preserves the soul and the atmosphere so particular and unique that we had on the first two games. With its release just days away, it's high time to take stock.
- Test conditions:
We tested Test Drive Unlimied: Solar Crown on PS5 between September 2 and 4, 2024, after around twenty hours of play. Since this is a multiplayer-only title, we were able to test it on the game's servers before their official opening on September 5. Some essential online features of Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown will therefore not be able to be covered in this test, such as the social interactions that will be at the heart of the game.
Test Drive Unlimited is back
This third episode invites us to participate once again in the legendary Solar Crown tournament. Introduced in Test Drive Unlimited 2, the Solar Crown is a major competition bringing together the best drivers in the world in a heavenly place to drive the most beautiful cars in a championship that rewards style (for the Lifestyle side) and driving.
From the beginning of the game, you must create your character, with a much more advanced editor than at the time. You are then contacted by Vivienne Hughes, the organizer of the Solar Crown who will make you take an admission test aboard a sublime Lamborghini Huaracan.
Once the challenge is complete, you embark on Hong Kong Island to begin your adventure. From the first minutes, you feel the soul and atmosphere of TDU. The bling-bling aspect is present, with good music, a futuristic side, beautiful cars, there is no doubt, the codes are respected.
The new playing field is much smaller than Oahu and Ibiza. The KT Racing teams do not have as many resources as Eden Games at the time. It is therefore necessary to make some concessions. The MAP is therefore more modest, but it is much denser. Hong Kong Island is faithfully reproduced, with a lot of details, and almost no empty areas. We are entitled to a main city, villages with narrow streets, but also major highways, beaches, jungle, mountain roads. Although this map is smaller, it remains large, pleasant and varied, promising us great hours of competitions and walks.
As soon as you arrive in Hong Kong, you are invited to the Solar Hotel, a luxurious establishment specially built for the occasion. This is where you can go to the hairdresser to change your haircut, your beard or even your face. You also have a clothing store to take care of your style. As well as your room, which will be your HUB to access your stats, your objectives and your garage where you will be able to display up to eight cars.
Unlike the first two TDUs, you cannot buy properties or visit several hair salons and clothing stores on the island. The idea of this third opus is to highlight the "social" side between the participants of the Solar Crown. Hence the fact that KT Racing made the risky choice to offer a title that is only multiplayer, online, and not a game with the possibility of playing solo as was the case on TDU and TDU 2.
From the first turns of the wheels, the soul and the atmosphere of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown are confirmed. In addition to the Lifestyle side that we find at the Solar Hotel, it is the whole RP part linked to the automobile that is offered to us. You have real dealers all over the island to go and buy and even test your cars. You have workshops, to improve your cars. Everything is done in the game, and not via simple menus. What a pleasure!
You have gas stations to clean and repair your vehicles and make quick trips. It is always possible to activate your turn signals, remove or replace the top of your convertible vehicles, but also to turn on and off your headlights, activate your windshield wipers, etc. These may be just details, but they make all the difference and allow for a clearly immersive experience for all car enthusiasts.
It is also the return of the interior view, where each of the cabins is very faithfully reproduced. As well as the sound of the engines which is much more convincing and realistic than most other open-world racing games to date.
All that Hong Kong can offer you
On the exploration part, here again, the soul of Test Drive Unlimited comes back at a gallop. As mentioned earlier, this map of Hong Kong is very pleasant, offering varied panoramas that we enjoy exploring. You will have many activities to do, such as photos, radar challenges with speed records to beat, but also places to find and the return of the famous wrecks. Once you have found them all, it will be possible to assemble them to obtain a unique vehicle that will join your collection.
You will also have to discover all the roads on the island as well as the different points of interest (dealers, gas stations, workshops, etc.). You will have a long time to complete all the "sides" that are not directly related to the competition. However, we will regret the absence of the small missions that made TDU so charming with the hitchhikers to take home or the car deliveries that are no longer present in this third opus.
Concerning the races, we find many events that made TDU's heyday. Of course, you have the traditional circuit races where you have to do several laps on the same track, and the "sprint" races that go from point A to point B. We have the time trials, and the domination events which are races where you will have to cross the different checkpoints in the lead to score as many points as possible. Similarly, we will regret the absence of speed tests and eliminators are no longer present in the game. We hope that this will arrive with the next updates and seasons each quarter.
A driving pleasure, for car lovers
It is still an important part of the game: driving. And, clearly, this Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown does really well on this point. Like The Crew and Forza Horizon, which are arcade games, Test Drive wants to offer more realism. We are not in simulation, but halfway between arcade and simulation, offering four driving styles to players:
- In Novice, you have all the aids that are activated at 100%. Anti-skid, traction control, brake assist, automatic gearbox and the ideal trajectory displayed in real time.
- In Confirmed, you have all the aids that are activated, but reduced. You are still in automatic transmission, but the anti-skid, traction control and brake assist are reduced, asking you to be careful when approaching a bend.
- In Expert, everything is deactivated. You are in manual transmission, you do not have anti-skid, traction control and brake assist and you have no indication for the ideal trajectory. You will therefore have to dose all of this to avoid going off the road!
- In Custom, you will be able to choose and configure everything according to your preferences.
Of course, you will earn more or less experience points and money at the end of the events depending on the driving style selected. Up to +33% gains for drivers in Expert!
Whether in Amateur or Expert, Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown offers more realistic driving than The Crew and Forza Horizon. Don't expect to drive through a forest or a field in a Ferrari Pista. Each tree hit will slow down your vehicle considerably. The same goes for driving on grass during races: every obstacle can be destroyed, but this will clearly make you lose time. In an off-road SUV, this will be less noticeable than in a supercar, especially when driving on grass. But if you tear up trees or bus stops, you will also suffer a loss of speed.
For road driving, don't expect to take turns at 200 km/h by skidding like in Burnout by keeping your foot down on the accelerator pedal and turning hard. If you brake hard as you approach a turn, your car will go straight ahead and not turn. As in reality, you have to anticipate your turn, brake beforehand, take your turn at the right angle and accelerate again as you exit it. Driving is much more pleasant and enjoyable, even if it is more technical and complicated.
The other essential point is that we can clearly feel the change in vehicles. A Ford Mustang, a Lamborghini Countach and a Porsche Cayenne Turbo will not drive in the same way. They will not have the same weight or the same behavior. The Alpine A110, which offers propulsion, will not behave like a Nissan GT-R in four-wheel drive.
Finally, regarding your car collection, do not expect to drive 50 cars in less than an hour. Test Drive Unlimited is aimed at lovers of beautiful cars, to highlight their passion for automobiles. You will hardly win any vehicles during your adventure. Most of them, you will have to save up and buy. This is again very different from The Crew or Forza which sometimes allow you to win up to 4 cars in one event. What we already found in TDU 1 & 2, it’s this progression side, where we chain the hours and the races to pay for our dream car and this desire to do the maximum of kilometers with each of the vehicles that we have hard earned.
Everything for the clan
During your progression in Hong Kong, you will earn reputation points. You have 60 levels to climb to become a legend of the island and the Solar Crown. From level 12, you will be able to join a clan to occupy your days a little more outside of the tournament.
The clans are the main new feature of this third episode. They are two rival groups, the Sharps and the Streets, who compete in unofficial Solar Crown events. The Sharps represent luxury, class and elegance. For them, business is important, as is image and racing. They see themselves a bit like the Elite of Hong Kong Island.
For their part, the Streets are less conventional. For them, you have to make an impression no matter what, even if it means doing dirty tricks on the track. It’s street culture, there are no good manners, only victory counts, even if it is achieved by breaking the codes.
The Sharps and the Streets compete in the Solar Crown, in the official events on closed roads. But to go further, you will be able to officially join one of the two clans and participate in clan events that are not part of the tournament. These events are done on open roads, with traffic, they will be more dangerous and will earn you, in addition to reputation points, influence points that will make you move up in the hierarchy of your clan. You will have, in total, 50 levels to climb, as well as 5 important members to beat to become a legend of your clan.
Overall, we find the same categories of events as in the Solar Crown tournament, the only difference is that the races are done on open roads with four members of Sharps and four members of the Streets and you must not win for yourself, but for your clan. This allows to bring a second competition into the game, which will be done in cooperation with other players.
The questionable choice of the game only online
Unlike TDU 1 & 2, Solar Crown is an online multiplayer only game. You must therefore always be connected to the internet and it will not be possible to play offline to do your shopping on your own. KT Racing justifies this choice by the desire to highlight the "social" side and push players to interact with each other, play together and race against each other. To put it simply, they want to push this aspect much further, already present in the first two games.
With TDU 1 & 2, it was advisable to always be connected, to meet other players on the map, race against them, challenge them in 1 vs 1 duels or even to join clubs. But it was also possible to play the entire game alone on our side and even play offline so as not to meet anyone on the island. Of course, we lost a lot of interest, but at least players had a choice and it was possible to have solo progression.
Unfortunately, it is with great regret that we note that this is no longer the case with this Solar Crown and that this will inevitably divide opinions. Because yes, from now on, all competitive events (circuit races, sprint races, domination) will be played against other players. If players are missing, AI will complete the list. This leaves little room for novices and players who are not used to playing to win. The chances of winning are therefore low.
Beyond performance, online races are often chaotic and even if you have the perfect race, you are not safe from being taken out by a driver who is not very fair-minded. There is therefore a good chance that many players will be frustrated and will not experience any pleasure in the entire “competitive” part of this Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown. Fortunately, victory is not mandatory to progress in the game.
In each event, the objective is to achieve the best ranking, but you will not be obliged to win the race. To progress in the adventure, you will have to increase your reputation and influence level and this is earned by participating in events and exploring Hong Kong. Moreover, you will earn a lot of points on exploration and sometimes, you will no longer have any events available and it will be mandatory to explore the island to unlock the rest of your adventure.
To carry out this test, the servers were almost empty, since they were not yet open to players. We therefore carried out all the races against AI. And unfortunately, even on this point, it is not going well. The AI is indeed catastrophic. First, you cannot choose the difficulty. From your first race, you will race against “amateur” AI. If you win, you will do your second race against “intermediate” AI. If you win again, you will be directly facing “confirmed” AI. And, if you win three or four races with the “confirmed” AI, you will definitely be facing “expert” AI. The problem? The balance is completely ruined.
Whether it's against "amateur" or "expert" AIs, we have competitors who are much faster than us and who are almost impossible to catch. If by some miracle you manage to take the lead, and you don't make any mistakes, there is a good chance that you will finish the race with at least a 10-second lead (whether with the amateur or expert AI). On the other hand, if after a minute, you are still not first, you can forget any chance of victory. The AI will automatically take off and easily put you 10 seconds ahead (again, whether in amateur or expert). If you are third, you will be 10 seconds behind the first two and 10 seconds ahead of the others behind you. Clearly, on this part, it's really not up to scratch.
So there are still solo events, such as exploration, radars, time trials, wreck searches, as well as clan events that are done in teams. But will players be happy to invest in a full game, only to be certain that they won't have much fun with the main part of the title, namely the races and the competition?
For our part, and having far too many hours on the clock on the Test Drive Unlimited license, it's frustrating and we hope that an update will arrive very soon, offering players the possibility of experiencing the adventure entirely solo, entirely online or, as on TDU 1 & 2, with a happy medium allowing you to be connected, to cross paths with other players, to interact with them, but to do all the events solo on our side (and with an AI that works well).
The other problem with multiplayer-only games is that in the event of a server outage, or during maintenance, it becomes impossible to play. During the period of our test, no problems to report. We once encountered a small problem with a lobby of an event that did not load the first time, but which worked immediately on the second try.
A convincing technique, despite some imperfections
We repeat once again, Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown does not have the same budgets as its main rivals with The Crew and Forza Horizon which are both two in the AAA category. For its part, KT Racing offers a generous and promising AA, offering nice graphics, without being the biggest graphic slap that you will see on current consoles. It remains quite uneven, with some really nice landscapes and other less impressive moments.
Overall, the game runs relatively well in performance mode on PS5, we did not have any major bugs, crashes or particular issues over about twenty hours of play. On the other hand, there are some optimization issues and drops in framerates in certain passages of Hong Kong Island.
We appreciate the highlighting of the DualSense features, allowing you to feel the acceleration and braking power on the adaptive triggers, or the gear changes and the roar of the engine in the haptic vibrations.
The return of Ibiza, the casino, and the motorbikes!
Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown is a service game. From its launch (September 5 for players who pre-ordered the Gold edition, September 10 for the Silver edition, and September 12 for everyone else), the title will offer solid content and many hours of gameplay. But of course, KT Racing's goal is to continually feed its title with free updates, every three months via a season system. The first will start on September 12, and the next ones are planned for December 24, 2024, March 25, 2025, and June 25, 2025.
The studio confirmed the return of Ibiza from season 02 on December 24. This MAP expansion will not offer the entire island of Ibiza as in TDU 2, but it will focus on the city of Eivissa and its surroundings, still reproduced at a 1:1 scale. The casino will also be back in season 04 on June 25, 2025.
KT Racing has already confirmed that the return of motorcycles as well as properties to buy is also under consideration and in preparation for the next seasons. All for free, of course. And that alone is enough to make us want to play in the months to come.
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