Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Review — Pure Driving Bliss?

Where the Gran Turismo franchise delivers the razor’s-edge of racing accuracy and the likes of Need for Speed produce the frills and thrills of high-action racing, the Test Drive franchise was all about the culture of driving and the love of the vehicles. The franchise has been quiet for quite some time, but is back with Solar Crown, a reboot of sorts for the once-headlining series that adds some new features to the Test Drive Unlimited world, but is it worth a spin?

As an elevator pitch for Solar Crown, the game leans into the open-world massively multiplayer racing game genre, the game allows you to immerse yourself in a luxury driving experience: purchase cars directly from dealerships, customise them in workshops, display them in the garage of your Solar Hotel suite, and of course, race them. Due to this emphasis on showcasing and appreciating your cars, developer Kylotonn has opted for an always-online approach, which will undoubtedly ruffle a few feathers. It’s annoying, there’s no way around it. But it kind of makes sense given the way the world and events of Solar Crown are constructed.

The open-world of Hong Kong island is available to learn, race through, and explore to find items and collectables. You’ll discover races peppered throughout the island, dealerships that sell all types of licensed exotic vehicles, and some more off-the-beaten-track races such as offroad rallies and other challenges. Going from wandering around a high-end dealership in a first-person perspective, scoping out your next big purchase, buying some clothes, to then screaming down the highway in a Lamborghini Aventador creates a great connection between the game’s non-racing world and streets, which is something missing in many games in the genre.

The actual gameplay itself is solid, with some responsive driving controls and great controller feedback to make you feel like you’re wrestling with a powerful street beast or Italian hypercar, and the reputation system that awards you for good driving really does feel in line with your driving skill development, rather than a cheap currency system.

The social aspect, which is a big portion of the game, is where it falls a bit short. You can challenge other drivers, showcase your vehicles to them, and take them on in a variety of challenges, and there are a lot to choose from. It’s fun, it’s just nothing we haven’t seen before, with the likes of The Crew and the Forza Horizon games doing very similar social components, albeit a little better.

As a pure driving experience, TSU Solar Crown does feel original, with a meticulous amount of detail and polish going into the look and sound of the cars, with the sensation of speed particularly well captured in the game. Pair this with the great controls, and it’s a great driving experience; the tacked-on social portions and always-online element just didn’t need to be so heavy-handed. At the time of writing, there are some changes being made by the developers, with patches and updates fixing some of the technical elements and matchmaking. But as a purist driving game, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is an extremely good time, despite the always-online requirements.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.