Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Review – Wasted Potential

Unlimited Test Drive: Sun Crown Don't know what I want to be. It's a game full of frustrations and inconveniences, and while hurtling down the motorway at nearly 300km/h is fun for brief moments, that doesn't make up for the fact that it feels stitched together at the last minute by incompatible parts. fact. This attempt to combine racing and role-playing elements was ambitious, but it never caught on with Test Drive.

You're a promising driver, handpicked by the Sun Crown, an elite Illuminati-like organization on Hong Kong Island. They are tasked with climbing the ladder by participating in races on a vast open world map.

You're introduced early on to two rival clans: the Street Clan and the Sharpe Clan. The former is a trendy underground faction with a love for nightclubs and neon lights, while the latter is into formal wear and high-end penthouses. But this is entirely superficial, because while your choice to help one person over another results in a constant tug-of-war between each player, it has little impact on the story. You can also leave your current clan when you want to join another clan, losing any progress you made with your previous friends in the process.

Progress is weak overall, as the grind takes too long and the rewards feel minimal. New cars and upgrade parts are locked behind experience, but your options are limited until at least level 30. So instead of enjoying a steady stream of satisfying unlocks, every time you hit a multiple of 10, you'll get a whole bunch of them all at once.

This can lead to a sense of stagnation, and since new cars are so expensiveyou'll often repeat matches you've already completed to earn the game's only currency, Sun Coins. Then there's Clan Reputation, which is how you advance through the ranks of the Streets or Sharpe. As you climb, you can challenge other tribe members to duels, which are essentially just head-to-head competition. You can also unlock loot, which mainly consists of stickers for your car. In fact, stickers make up an overwhelming proportion of game unlocks. It can't be overstated how disappointing it is to unlock yet another basic cosmetic when you only have a few cars in your garage to wear them.

Speaking of new cars, the real struggle begins when you finally have enough cash to buy a better car. There are many car dealers on Hong Kong Island, each specializing in a different type of vehicle, such as classics, British cars, Italian cars or off-road vehicles. So you have to visit each car to see what's available, and then instead of selecting a car from a menu, you have to walk around this huge open space and see each car individually. Not being able to compare all available Solar Crown cars in a menu and choose which one to buy is a confusing design choice.

The driving experience is also very lacking. It's not a simulation game, which is fair, but it lacks the delightfully over-the-top nature of the best arcade racers. Aside from cosmetic effects, there are virtually no damage models, most cars feel similar to driving in terms of handling, and there's little variation in activity types. Time Trial, Standard and Domination (earning points by being the first to pass the ga) are all pretty much the same.

There's also the issue of driving on Hong Kong Island being surprisingly dull. You have highways, city streets, and some hills, but it's all asphalt or gravel. Compared to the gold standard of open world racing games, Forza Horizon has stunningly gorgeous environments, a wide variety of missions, and countless unique locations around the world, and I’d love to know why you’re playing the beta First up is Drive Unlimited: Crown of the Sun.

Not to mention the streets are sparsely populated; the only NPCs you'll find are in clan hideouts and car dealerships, or every now and then you'll see a bunch of them standing in an alleyway repeating basic animations. The world feels completely dead as there are very few cars on the road to ensure you can drive around as fast as possible.

Test Drive Unlimited: Sun Crown neglects the basics, lacking a memorable world, engaging progression, and most problematic of all - consistently enjoyable gameplay. Nacon and KT Racing have tried to emulate Forza's success, but have generally underperformed. It's like pitting the PT Cruiser against a Ferrari F50 - the gap in class is just too severe.