Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Is A Charming Disaster

The largest revival in recent racing history has finally released. 13 years since the last entry in the series, Test Drive Unlimited is back with Solar Crown... and the end product is certainly not as I had dreamed for this series's comeback. In this long-winded critique, we dive deep into Solar Crown, comparing it to it's predecessors, see if it lives up to it's iconic nameplate, and arguably most importantly, give our two cents in the hopes of improving this game.

Full transparency: I was gifted a review code for Solar Crown by Nacon, which I normally would not accept, however the team gave me full permission to be unfiltered, I greatly respect that.

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
2:24 Solar Crown's Automotive Debacle
16:12 Instant Gaming
17:00 A Disasterous Campaign
26:35 The Always Online Curse
32:04 Hong Kong Island
42:34 Is This A Real TDU?
48:46 Conclusion

[AxeGaijin]

So tired of the roadmap approach, it just means your game is NOT bloody finished.
I'll not be surprised if they'll pull the plug before the first anniversary.

[bpw]

test drive unlimited 1 & 2 felt so personal...the cars you bought and earned and houses you bought...they felt like they were actually yours.... TDU SC feels like nothing belongs to me...

[davemk]

So sick of this online-focused bullshit

[SuSTR]

I'm so tired of "ubisoftification" of racing game campaigns. they just lack objectivity, you don't have any long term goals other than buying the fastest cars possible. there's really not enough reason to play them other than casually driving around the map or racing with the same repetitive AI in the same boring locations all the time. At least solar crown has an interesting map but again, it's so lifeless. It's not even about NPC characters or other racers, i'm talking about the traffic. NPC cars always drive the same way whether it's a highway or a random street, and their numbers never change. One of the reasons i prefer driving around in GTA is that it's way more immersive and there are a lot more cars driving around you. The only game that gave me that immersion feeling of really driving on a road was NFS The Run, which was linear unfortunately.

[rotarydude]

There is no potential in always online, Period. Ubisoft has made that crystal clear

[gabrielsobrosa]

The truth is that they created good handling for a game that doesn't resemble TDU's DNA at all. A small map that isn't a paradise island (that map would work much more like an NFS), no houses, no shops for clothing and hair stores scattered around the world to discover, futuristic design for some reason, dealerships that don't look real.... So many reasons that game has failed besides the internet connection

[dyaanahmad]

My interest in TDU:SC left after i found out it was online-only
Edit: it indicates the problem with modern racing games
Nothing unique
Follow same bs trend
Online only updates
Bugs and fails

[JeremyBX]

I will genuinely never understand how Driver San Francisco was able to populate their roads so heavily with both huge vehicle variety & dynamic pedestrian crowds when hardly any game engine after it could do it anywhere as well.

[johnbacon]

It seems like it's not a TDU Game. TDU isnt a racing game it's a driving game No garage limits, no houses, stores and the dealerships don't look anything like a dealership lol. Not to mention no quests or convoy missiona or uber ish missions.

[stickdeath]

i don't believe this was in development for 6 years....

[horvathr]

I don’t even care about the server issues (it’s either getting fixed or everyone leaves), the optimization (the next gen of graphics cards and consoles may help to fix that issue), or the lack of new cars (~100 cars is more than enough for me).
The biggest problem with this game is the lack of innovation. It’s like they took one step forward and three or four back. Sure physics is better (though it isn’t hard when we compare it to the botched physics of TDU 2), and the sounds improved, but really that’s about it. For example where are the customization?! Before anyone would throw virtual rocks at me for saying this, I didn’t meant like neon glows and spinners. There are so many exotic tuner companies out there like mansory, brabus or gemballa. Or what about just the manufacturers options when buying a car? It’s literally the same we already had back in 2007 in TDU 1. Pick a color, an interior color, and a wheel. Wow, what an upgrade compared to the old games.
Or how about the cockpit cam? This game is supposed to be like a driving simulator, right? And yet, it has 45 degree wheel rotation, and your character’s legs are fixed on the pedals, and the gear lever is stuck in one position. Even NFS Shift had animated gearshifts 15 years ago!

[wydua]

After playing tdu sc i went back to tdu 2 and I had so much more fun. Kinda sad how game industry changed.

[LowEndPCGamer]

its so crazy how universally, across literally every series of racing games and simcade games, titles have progressively gotten worse and worse. im more excited for the mods and fan projects set to come out this coming year than any actual games whatsoever. old games were built as platforms rather than fads anyways, so these old engines and mods like TDU platinum for example will quite literally never become obsolete.

[wydua]

Also the funniest thing is how the devs are hyping up patches like it's some great thing. "guys you are going to have more fps soon woo"

[DaWolfetrax]

I knew this game would be a disaster when I've played the very first playtest in late July last year and then gave the demo a try during Steam Next Fest before summer this year, there was a small improvement, but not justifiable for nearly a year of difference. The core of the game is pretty good, but everything around is just atrociously neglected or simply missing. Graphics are subpar and along with the optimization, the technical aspects of the game really don't justify it running this poorly even on PCs with way better GPUs and CPUs than the consoles.

If we are comparing this to the closed and insider program of The Crew 2 and Motorfest respectively, in case of 2 I ran it on a GTX 1070 at 1080p and a quite a weak i5 4440 even at that time and managed to get good performance without dips below 60, Motorfest on a Zen 2 R7 3700X ran ok-ish with a 3080 yet the full game runs quite well.


This game barely gave me 60fps at 1440p with medium settings and DLSS set to quality and most of the post process either turned off or set to low. Truly don't know how they thought that this graphics and performance combo will be well received on the PC, but it needs another year of polishing before I'll give this game a try. I was hyped for it when they've shown the pre-rendered trailer, but after that my hype was turning into a worry. And rightly so...

To add my final point, I knew that the always online nature would be hurting the game a lot and I expressed my worry on the playtest discord, though mine and many other's worries fell on deaf ears with some defending it if we don't want anti-cheat and DRM on the PC. I understood their POV, but limiting the game fully to always online without giving the players a bit more freedom or design the game more carefully with always online in mind was a terrible move from KT/Nacon.

[Xharding]

4:49 something so minor but impactful they missed with the dealerships is the ability to spec a vehicle the way you want it to be, and back out of the configuration to see the spec you want in walk around mode. Just really can’t appreciate the car when you’re outside the dealership testing or after buying in the same way.

Also, hopefully they will fix the avatar seating position in convertibles specifically, my back hurts seeing how they sit lol

[NotYouRichard]

This isn't a TDU title at all, plain and simple... It's a Forza Horizon/The Crew mishmash (that fails horribly at both by the way) with some TDU elements to it. While in a conversion with friends I mentioned how it's okay to venture into newer territory with your game, but you shouldn't do so at the expense of disappointing your core audience which is exactly what KT has done here. Who knows, the devs have apologized and made a bunch of promises, so maybe they'll pull a No Man's Sky?

[patrickbateman]

I waited for this game for so long, but still didn't buy it because it is unfinished. I will keep it on my radar though, if the developers listen to the fans and fix it, I WILL buy it.

[dr.sivavignesh]

ULTRAVIOLET, they have all the feedback they needed. I played the beta and filled up their feed back questionnaire. I mentioned that the performance was unplayable[even on a mid to high end system with a 4070] and an offline mode was essential. Yet they launched it anyway. They arent going to sell significant numbers if these two big issues dont get addressed. Yes people want the life style system of tdu more than racing. [Im not a previous tdu player and personally I dont mind] But they should'nt be thinking about that without optimisation and featuring an offline mode. Those are enough to make the customer refund the game within an hour.

[svvwoo]

my issue is the lack of content the new TDU has. there's no hitchking, there's no licenese tests, no motorcycles, it's literally just races. the lifestyle elemnt is lost