Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown We tried out the driving game demo on Steam

Test Drive Unlimited: Three words that bring to mind quite a few memories, despite the fact that eighteen years have passed since the debut of the open world driving game from Eden Games, which at the time was able to revolutionize the classic brand To test drive by precisely introducing a freer approach and different lifestyle elements.

After acquiring 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 French team KT Racing, already responsible for the WRC series.

So the work has been progressing for some time and the September release is now fast approaching, so the publisher has decided to make a copy available Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown demo To test the waters a bit and collect the latest feedback before launch: How did it go?

Heart of Test Drive Unlimited: Map and Features

Let’s start with some of the aspects that TDU fans are sure to expect to find in Solar Crown, which actually have little to do with the actual race. In fact, we are referring to the life implications that we mentioned at the beginning, which we find in this new episode on the front of the avatar customizations and the clothing and accessories store, while There is no possibility to buy houses.

Although it was implemented as a mere conversion in the past, it’s a feature that many took for granted back in Solar Crown, perhaps embellished with some mechanics meant to enhance it, and it’s really a shame that’s not the case, at least not at launch: Male Developers it They will address this deficiency “later”.

So we’ll have to “make do” with living in the luxurious Solar Hotel, a one-hundred-and-twenty-story building located in the heart of Hong Kong Island that serves as a map for Nacon’s driving game, Reproduced in its entirety It can be explored freely thanks to its 550 km of roads. Are they all particularly large? Actually no, in fact we were surprised by the diversity of the scenario and its ability to engage us even in races that take place within less comfortable sections, so to speak.

Which brings us to talking about the setting, which it actually is It’s definitely new and bigbut in the demo, it is not very rich in points of interest: you can see dealers, the bases of some “gangs” that we will find ourselves interacting with during the campaign, speed cameras (which will only be driven at high speed), petrol pumps, workshops, and a hotel. The aforementioned solar energy and of course the events we can participate in.

Road test

In terms of gameplay, it offers Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown Simcade driving model Which doesn’t allow much when approaching hairpin turns, requiring us to use the brakes and find the right lane to cut the curve instead of going full speed, and perhaps resort to skidding so we can close it properly.

This is a possibility that the game does not exclude, and even allows for through the use of the handbrake, but in general The setting is less arcade than we imagined It showcases the skills that the KT Racing team has acquired over the years, trying to give us a system with some depth.

to be sure, The demo doesn’t offer much variety In terms of races and difficulty itself it seems to be scaled down, at least in the early hours. However, what appears seems reasonably rich and includes a series of quests that will certainly lead us to familiarize ourselves with the mechanics and structure of the Solar Crown, asking us for example to reach a certain level of experience in order to unlock tuning and further content. .

about that, We appreciate the auto access systemwhich works exclusively by purchasing the same thing once the necessary amount has been collected: we have recently been invaded by racers who donate vehicles in industrial quantities and this often translates into the impossibility of using them all correctly, while Solar Crown promises to strengthen its fleet of more than a hundred models. .

Technically we’re not there

If in terms of gameplay and structure, Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown proves to be generally enjoyable, even without fine details, Technically, the KT Racing title is in really bad shape Frankly, we don’t understand the idea of ​​displaying 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, effects, characters, and overall presentation of Hong Kong Island… They give the feel of a very old product. The scenario is actually blank and the traffic behaves strangely, with cars appearing on screen or having jerky reactions (see Taxis).

In short, the comparison with gems like Forza Horizon is unforgiving, not only in terms of overall visual performance but also and above all in terms of performance. Offers that at this moment are completely unjustified: Achieving 60 frames per second seems impossible even on high-end video cards, so with the RTX 4070 we had to resort to frame generation at 1440p (with all the elements that this solution brings with it) to be able to reach this goal.

So it doesn’t seem like the KT Engine is capable of supporting such an ambitious open world experience, and while some glimpses of Solar Crown aren’t bad at all, The look generally leaves something to be desired And the many graphical tweaks available are unable to expand the experience as much as one might expect.