Okay, before I get into this review, I want to touch on two seemingly unrelated but oh-so-relevant points. Firstly, I’ve been on a real high lately when it comes to gaming. From comedy games like Thank Goodness You’re Here to retro cartoon throwbacks like #Blud and even a new favourite Metroidvania title in Crypt Custodian, it was only a matter of time before I came crashing down again.
Secondly, and possibly most importantly, I love car racing games. Some of my fondest memories of gaming through the years, from PS1 days till now, have been thanks to racing games. While that love is definitely not reflected in my skill level, it’s still a type of game that I do enjoy. Or did.
After 13 long (yet not long enough) years, the Test Drive Unlimited series has finally screeched back onto the scene with Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown. However, I can’t help but feel that this series should have stayed parked.
Now, I’m not going to do you guys a disservice by stretching this on for longer than it needs to be (something the game didn’t care about at all, I might add), so I’ll jump straight into things. The first thing you need to know about Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown is that the game is online-only, so if you thought you could hop in and start burning rubber anytime you wanted to, think again.
And yes, I fully understand that many games have always online restrictions, and for the most part, I don’t usually care. But when it comes to Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, the servers mirror the game.
For the first three days, I had the game installed and ready to go, but I couldn’t even play thanks to an unyielding combination of server maintenance and/or issues.
And before anyone comes at me, during this time, the game was already available to play in early access, which means anyone who shelled out for the Silver and Gold editions of the game would have been able to play… only couldn’t…
When I finally did get behind the virtual wheel, I quickly realised the not playing part was actually the highlight.
The game starts with a trip down memory lane, offering character customisation that’s as nostalgic as it is pointless – why would you walk around an empty Hong Kong when you could be driving? It’s not like the game offers you anything to do on-legs.
But I digress. After creating your character, you’re invited to the Solar Crown motorsport festival in Hong Kong, and after a few practice races in a sweet Lambo, you’re dumped in the open world, in a basic car, to go off and… race?
Throughout the game, players compete in races to increase their reputation, unlock the next area, and then do the same. While this gameplay loop isn’t inherently an issue, coupled with all the other issues that I have with the game, it feels incredibly tedious – which isn’t something that you want from a game that’s all about racing.
But that’s the thing: in Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, the racing is just barely okay, and I’m using that word liberally here. The black and white of it is that none of the cars in the game take any damage, no matter how hard you smash them into other cars or the environment.
There is also no difficulty slider at all, which means every race is a mystery. Did I lose to a professional? Or was that AI just having a laugh? You’ll never know, and frankly, you won’t care because your reward is basically the same, win or lose.
Hong Kong itself is also a weird ghost town, and while it’s cool to see a place I love in a racing game, it’s hard to enjoy when it’s so completely lifeless. As for the cars, well, the graphics make them look like something you’d pull out of a cereal box, and the character models are best left in the last gen.
In the end, I tried really hard to like Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, but between the server hiccups, the uninspired gameplay, and the game’s overall meh factor, it feels like the developers decided to take a long drive down memory lane… and then fell asleep at the wheel.
If you’re craving a racing game, do yourself a favour and look elsewhere because in a world with so many great racing games I just can’t get over how little effort Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown really put in to be seen as anything other than a relic of the Xbox 360 era.
