Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, we tried the driving game demo on Steam

Test Drive Unlimited: three words that bring to mind quite a few memories, although eighteen years have now passed since the debut of the open world-based driving game by Eden Games, capable at the time of revolutionizing the classic Test Drive brand by introducing precisely a freer approach and various life sim style elements.

Having acquired the important license from Atari in 2016, Nacon officially announced Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown four years later, revealing that it had entrusted its development to the French team KT Racing, already responsible for the WRC series.

The work has therefore been progressing for some time and the September release is now rapidly approaching, so the publisher has decided to make available a Steam demo of Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown to test the waters a bit and gather the latest feedback before the launch: how did it go?

The heart of Test Drive Unlimited: map and features

Let’s start with a couple of aspects that TDU fans certainly expect to find within Solar Crown, and which actually have little to do with actual racing. In fact, we are referring to the life sim implications that we mentioned at the beginning, which we find in this new episode on the front of the avatar customizations and the clothes and accessories shop, while there is no possibility of buying houses.

Although it was implemented as a mere diversion in the past, it is a feature that many took for granted to see again in Solar Crown, perhaps embellished with some mechanics aimed at enhancing it, and it is truly unfortunate that this is not the case, at least not at launch: the developers have stated that they will remedy this deficiency “later”.

We will therefore have to “make do” to live in the luxurious Solar Hotel, a one hundred and twenty-storey building located in the heart of Hong Kong Island which serves as the map for the driving game produced by Nacon, reproduced in its entirety and freely explorable with its 550 km of roads. All particularly large? Actually no, in fact we were surprised by the variety of the scenario and its ability to involve us even in races that take place within less comfortable sections, so to speak.

Which brings us to talk about the setting, which in fact it is new and decidedly largebut in the demo it is not very rich in points of interest: you can see the dealers, the bases of some “gangs” with which we will find ourselves interacting during the campaign, the speed cameras (strictly to be driven at high speed), the petrol pumps , the workshops, the aforementioned Solar Hotel and of course the events we can participate in.

Road test

In terms of gameplay, Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown presents a simcade driving model which doesn’t allow too much when approaching the hairpin bends, requiring us to use the brake and find the right trajectory to cut the curve rather than taking it at full speed, perhaps resorting to a skid to be able to close it correctly.

This is a possibility that the game does not exclude, and indeed makes available through the use of the handbrake, but in general the setting is less arcade than we imagined and showcases the skills that the KT Racing guys have acquired over the years, in an attempt to give us a system with a certain depth.

Certain, the demo doesn’t offer much variety in terms of races and the difficulty of the same seems calibrated downwards, at least in the first hours. However, what is shown appears reasonably rich and includes a series of missions that will certainly lead us to become familiar with the mechanics and structure of Solar Crown, asking us for example to reach a certain level of experience in order to unlock tuning and further content.

About that, we appreciated the system for obtaining the carswhich works exclusively through the purchase of the same once the necessary sum has been raised: lately we have been invaded by racers who give away vehicles in industrial quantities and this often translates into the impossibility of using them all properly, while Solar Crown promises to enhance the its fleet of over one hundred models.

The list of available cars

Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown divides the cars into four different categories: Daily Drivers, Off-Road, Supercars and Hypercars. Here is the complete list of cars that will be available in the game:

Abarth

Alfa Romeo

• 2013 Alfa Romeo 4C Spider
• Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
• Alfa Romeo 8C Spider
• Alfa Romeo Mito

Alpine

Apollo

• 2018 Apollo Intense Emotion

Aston Martin

• 2017 Aston Martin DB11
• 2018 Aston Martin Vantage

Audi

• 2017 Audi Q7
• Audi R8
• Audi R8 Spyder
• Audi TT S

BMW

• 2018 BMW i8 Roadster
• BMW M4 Competition

Bugatti

Chevrolet

• Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
• 1957 Chevrolet Corvette C1
• 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 C7

Dodge

• 2020 Dodge Challenger
• 2014 Dodge SRT Viper

Ferrari

• 1982 Ferrari 308 GTS
• 2009 Ferrari California
• 2002 Ferrari Enzo
• 1987 Ferrari F40
• Ferrari FXX K Evo

Ford

• 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor
• Ford GT40
• 1968 Ford Mustang
• 2018 Ford Mustang GT
• 2010 Ford Shelby GT500

Jaguar

Koenigsegg

Lamborghinis

• 2016 Lamborghini Centenario
• 2017 Lamborghini Huracan Performante
• Lamborghini Diablo
• Lamborghini Urus

Lance

• 1992 Lancia Delta
• 1975 Lancia Stratos

Land Rover

• 2018 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR

Lotus

• Lotus Evora
• 2017 Lotus Exige

Maserati

McLaren

Mercedes

• 2013 Mercedes-Benz G 65 AMG
• 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG
• Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Nissan

• 2009 Nissan 370Z
• Nissan GT-R

Porsche

• 2016 Porsche 911 R
• 2013 Porsche 918 Spyder
• 2018 Porsche Cayenne Turbo
• Porsche Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo

Shelby

Volkswsagen

• 1975 Volkswagen 1303
• Volkswagen Beetle Baja Bug

Technically we’re not there

If in terms of gameplay and structure Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown proves to be pleasant overall, even without acute details, From a technical point of view, KT Racing’s title is in really bad shape and frankly we don’t understand the idea of ​​showing it in this state on PC when there are only a few weeks left until the official launch.

The car models are well made and the scenarios appear reasonably detailed, but the lighting system, the effects, the characters and the general rendering of Hong Kong island they give the feeling of an extremely dated product. The scenario is in fact empty and the traffic behaves strangely, with cars appearing on the screen or having reckless reactions (see taxis).

In short, the comparison with jewels like Forza Horizon is merciless, not only for the general visual performance but also and above all for the performances, which at this moment are absolutely unjustifiable: achieving 60 fps seems impossible even on high-end video cards, and so with an RTX 4070 we had to resort to Frame Generation at 1440p (with all the artifacts that this solution brings with it) to be able to reach that target.

The KT Engine therefore does not seem to be able to support such an ambitious open world experience and, although some glimpses of Solar Crown are not bad at all, the glance generally leaves something to be desired and the numerous graphic adjustments available are not able to scale the experience as one might expect.

The demo of Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown available on Steam shows a decent product in terms of gameplay and structure, but technically disappointing: beyond a generally dated visual rendering, the KT Racing title makes an incredible effort to reach that which should be an essential requirement for any modern racing game, i.e. 60 fps. We don’t know when this build dates back or if the developers will have time to fix everything between now and September, but for the moment the sensations are not exactly positive.