It’s certainly an exciting time for racing fans on PS5, but there are a couple of caveats with Forza Horizon 5’s PS5 launch. First, there’s the kicker. Players have to link a Microsoft account upon starting up the game, a process that other Xbox-to-PlayStation games like Sea of Thieves has required. Unfortunately, there won’t be the added benefit of cross-progression from a PC or Xbox save to PS5. There is cross-play between PC, Xbox, and PS5 versions of the game, though, so that’s nice. On the PlayStation side of things, a PS Plus subscription is required to take part in any of the online features of FH5. When enabled, Forza Horizon 5 allows up to 16 online players at a time in the game world. The multiplayer offerings are rather extensive, ranging from a battle royale mode called The Eliminator to a large suite of mini game challenges from smashing pinatas to zipping around obstacle courses. Forza Horizon 5 has a single player offline mode too, of course, but you won’t be able to engage with the robust auction house or try out other players’ custom tracks, in addition to the aforementioned modes.

I don’t think there’s been a more ideal time to jump into Forza Horizon 5 than now. The game originally released back in 2021 and has benefited from a wealth of updates and fixes. I’m disappointed that the $59.99 base edition of the game on PS5 doesn’t go the distance with the inclusion of the Hot Wheels and Rally Adventure DLCs – those have to be bought separately in addition to the numerous Car Packs. Still, the base package here is staggering. The game includes well over 700 cars and that number goes up past the 800 range when we include DLC, so you’ll not be wanting for variety.

And there’s even more new content to look forward to. The PS5 release of Forza Horizon 5 coincides with a new free content update across the game’s various platforms. Horizon Realms has been positioned as the big central addition with the update. Realms features 11 of the most beloved environments from Forza’s Evolving Worlds seasonal rotation. A new permanent Horizon Stadium Circuit is also coming to the game in addition to the 11 seasonal returning Realms locations.

And for gearheads, there’s a total of eight new vehicles added to the game via update, though four of them (including the exhilarating Lamborghini Revuolto) are rewards for clearing Horizon Realms achievements. The other four cars are from the new Nissan Retro Rides car pack. As with all car packs, there’s a dlc sticker price of $4.99 attached to it.

For PS5 players, the most exciting ‘update’ comes in the form of DualSense support. Turn 10 has confirmed full DualSense and DualSense Edge functionality, with adaptive trigger feel for threshold braking and surface conditions. If it performs like Gran Turismo 7 or The Crew Motorfest, heavy dirt roads will amp up the vibration intensity tenfold and the accelerator and brake pedals will have a realistic tension translating to the triggers.

Luckily for PS5 players, Forza Horizon 5 isn’t the only racing game getting new updates. Gran Turismo 7 is a PlayStation exclusive well and truly anchored to the PS5 and it’s still receiving new updates three years after release. GT7 is currently on its 28th free update. Since its launch back in 2022, hundreds of additional cars and a handful of circuits have been added. The game currently features 532 vehicles and 39 tracks (not counting different configurations).

All of GT7’s content (including all updates) is available free of charge once you’ve bought the game. PlayStation racing fans suddenly find themselves with a nice advantage: access to Sony’s premier exclusive with Gran Turismo 7, as well as the recent Forza Horizon 5 port. It’s wild that in 2025 Sony players have access to one of Xbox’s flagship exclusive racers in addition to Sony’s Gran Turismo juggernaut, but here we are.

Sim racing fans have GT7 and Assetto Corsa to play on PS5, but what about the open world crowd? Well, there’s actually been quite a handful of quality open world racers within the PlayStation ecosystem even before Forza Horizon 5 joined. The Crew Motorfest, while featuring a far smaller map than the The Crew 2‘s vast United States, features the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Maui. What’s impressive is the recently released free Maui update, which adds the new island as well as a range of new Playlist challenges and new vehicles.

Another fun open world racer is Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, a game struggling with its online offerings despite a rich and varied Hong Kong Island map. Despite being hot off the heels of its initial release last year, TDU: SC already has a significant update which includes the Ibiza island map, smaller in scale though it may be from TDU 2‘s Ibiza. Now with Forza Horizon 5, PlayStation racing fans have three marquee open world experiences to test out the world’s fastest and most desirable cars around in.

Kart racing fans have their share of quality games to choose from too, even if Mario Kart isn’t one of them. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is a frenetic and fun Mario Kart alternative that uses its PlayStation branded IP to great effect. Team Sonic Racing and the upcoming Sonic Racing Crossworlds provide that same flavor of kart racing fun that the very best in the genre are known for. And then there’s the plethora of third-party arcade racers on PS5. Need for Speed has been oddly silent about a new entry, but NFS Unbound comes highly recommended if you’re into cop chases and real-life car brands with some of the most impressive exhaust sounds in gaming. Hot Wheels Unleashed 1 and 2 are also a ton of fun with the custom track creation and satisfying physics (which even let you fly off the track).

PlayStation’s racing ecosystem is perhaps the strongest in gaming at the moment. The prospect of other Microsoft exclusive racers like Forza Motorsport coming to PlayStation is now highly likely. Sony racing fans now have their pick of Xbox and PS games racing titles to choose from. And what’s more, there’s not a single racing genre underrepresented on PS5. I just wish there would be less of an emphasis on microtransactions and season passes with today’s racing games, but that is an industry-wide issue that exists regardless of console ecosystem. Between their pick of GT7, Assetto Corsa, Forza Horizon 5, The Crew Motorfest, TDU Solar Crown and a wide array of arcade racers, PlayStation players have a veritable buffet of fun driving games to enjoy.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The trailer kicks things off by revealing that the Clan Wars game mode that was originally planned to be released alongside season 3 is instead being postponed. Rather than Clan Wars, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is getting a host of features based on the feedback the studio got from its players.

One of the biggest new additions to the game is the ability to have solo races against AI opponents. This mode includes the ability to instantly restart the race, and even offers adaptive rewards based on the difficulty of AI the player chooses. There are AI difficulty options, ranging from Novice, offering no bonus rewards, all the way up to Expert, which offers 40 percent additional rewards.

Customisation is also getting an upgrade with the release of new license plate options for players to choose and edit.

Along with this, season 3 of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will also bring with it three new cars: the Aston Martin Valour, the DeLorean DMC-12, and the Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta. The main reward from season 1’s ranked mode, the Pininfarina Battista, will also be available to more players through the luxury car dealership.

Among the new game modes coming to Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is the new Navigation Mode. Through this mode, players can set a point on the map as their target location, and carve out their own race course to get to it. Players can compete with each other on the same route, with the winner being the player with the best time.

There will also be new weekly live events, including one celebrating a decade of McLaren 570s, as well as events revolving around legendary classic cars, and even one for players that enjoy 6 cylinder engines.

Capping things off is a new Solar Pass that players can progress through for up to 50 levels. This Solar Pass will be available for free to all Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown players. Convoy Missions will also be returning with season 3, with the trailer showing off a car delivery for a Koenigsegg Agera RS (2015).

Season 3 of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will be going live on March 19, and will arrive in the form of a free update for all players across PC and consoles.

The last major update for Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown was season 2 back in December. The update brought with it a new open world map that was a 1:1 recreation of Ibiza, as well as new cars.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details. You can also check out 14 of the biggest differences between Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown and its predecessor, Test Drive Unlimited 2.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown

Developer KT Racing’s most ambitious title to date has landed Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown a place on this rundown despite an onslaught of issues resulting predominantly from it’s always-online requirement. First, the good: Solar Crown’s Hong Kong open world is consistently complex and interesting, and the car feel – whilst not perfect – is a step up from Test Drive Unlimited 2. The bad however outweighs the good: time wasting bugs, server issues even when racing solely against AI, and inconsistent, non-adjustable difficulty settings makes Solar Crown a racer steeped in promise but with much to fix.

Taking to Twitter, Nacon announced that Season 2 of Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will be kicking off on December 11. As we’ve known since before the game came out, chief among Season 2’s additions will be an entirely new open world map in the form of a 1:1 recreation of the island of Ibiza, which was also featured in Test Drive Unlimited 2. 

Beyond that, the new season will also bring new cars, a Solar Pass (which, yes, is a battle pass) with new rewards to unlock, and additional clan progression levels for players to work through. That means the first season’s Solar Pass will be expiring on December 10.

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

🚨 Ibiza & Season 2 are coming to Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown on December 11th!

☀️ Solar Pass #1 progression ends on December 10th—get ready for an all-new set of rewards with Season 2!

🏖️ Discover Ibiza, a free map, new cars, clan progression levels, a new Solar Pass, and… pic.twitter.com/UQVIcPPS2L

— Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (@testdrive) November 22, 2024

A new patch is available now, and while it offers bug fixes and other improvements, it also adds support for a free vehicle – the 1986 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe “Adventurer” Edition – and a pack of five premium stickers. Hilariously enough, both are only free for Gold Edition owners who played before October 12th and will be available in the “first weeks” of Season 2. You also have to hit level 15 to access it.

On the bright side, at least the current patch improves the frame rate in Performance Mode, bumps the resolution from 1080p to 1440p in Quality Mode, and fixes over 40 bugs. Check out the full patch notes below for more details.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. You can read our review here.

Patch #2 Changelog:

Servers/Network

• Fixed various login issues
• Performance/Stability
• Reduced shadow cost in performance
• Added various optimizations to improve memory consumption and overall stability
• Fixed a crash that could happen when entering a spot
• Fixed a crash that could happen when traffic spawned
• Fixed a crash that could happen while buying car parts
• PC: Fixed a crash that could occur when playing with certain AMD GPUs
• PS5: Reduced frame drops in performance mode

Graphics

• Improved global illumination performance
• Improved octree tracing performance
• Improved shadow quality created by headlights
• Improved SSR upscaling
• PC: Use DLAA instead of FSR TAA by default when available
• PS5: Improved quality mode resolution from 1080p to 1440p

Compatibility

• PC: Fixed binding and default preset on Thrustmaster TMX wheel
• PC: Fixed Logitech G923 default binding
• PC: Fixed Moza devices default preset
• PC: Fixed issue where FFB was lost when the mouse was moved
• PC: Fixed issue where FFB could still be present when navigating menus
• PS5 & XS|X: Added presets for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox 360 and PS5 controllers
• PS5 & XS|X: Added clutch binding to default steering wheel presets
• PS5 & XS|X: Added gear binding to default steering wheel presets
• XS|X: Fixed default binding on Logitech devices
• XS|X: Added Fanatec CSL Elite as a recognized device

Bugfixes

• Fixed a softlock that could occur when opening the map at the same time as various menus
• Fixed a softlock when pausing and accelerating at the same time during cutscenes with Vivian
• Fixed garage’s slot not updating when uninstalling and reinstalling DLCs
• Fixed various localization issues
• Fixed an issue where pause menu would be unresponsive if Alyss menu was opened before
• Fixed Aliasing of certain fonts
• Fixed fences sometimes not having collisions
• Fixed pre-order Ford DLC text
• Fixed start button POI on Lotus Evija
• Fixed license plate light turning on with reverse & brake input on Alpine A110
• Fixed dirt wrongly applied on Corvette C7 ZR1
• Fixed brake light animation while spoiler is open on Porsche 911R
• Fixed cases where NPCs could be run through
• Fixed various wall collision issues
• Fixed an issue where French audio was not playing correctly
• Fixed pink pixel in dark areas
• Fixed RPM LEDs not resetting on the pause menu
• Fixed car color widget order
• Fixed the race “Fateful Confrontation” always being identified as a ranked race
• Fixed wrong highlighted races while having the secondary task “Ad Campaign” pinned
• Fixed DLCs vehicles appearing in the pause menu before unlocking them
• Fixed a case where the avatar could fall underground during onboarding in the first car dealer
• Fixed rewards depreciation enabling itself when abandoning or being disconnected from races
• Fixed a case where the wrong garment were applied to the avatar preview when switching rapidly from one category to another
• Fixed issue where car livery were not applied on other player’s cards
• Fixed High Stake event’s rush hour sometimes not triggering
• Fixed an issue where beard were not displayed properly after adding a mustache
• Fixed wrong car thumbnail ratio when using an ultra-wide monitor
• Improvement in AI behaviour while close to the player
• Fixed yellow floating lines
• Fixed GPS voice still talking when set to off
• Fixed issue where parts of the avatar would turn grey
• Fixed “Roof” selection on radial menu when driving a car with no roof
• Fixed issue where cars could change color depending on the distance
• Fixed ghost sometimes not being visible in Time Attack
• Fixed rain in the pause menu
• XS|X: Fixed black blinking during races
• XS|X: Fixed crash when reconnecting Logitech wheel
• XS|X: Fixed issue where wheel angle was being wrongly reset on Logitech devices

Misc

• Updated matchmaking value for toxicity
• Updated camera settings in shops
• Added F13 shortcut for ping display on Nvidia Reflex

In a new launch developer diary that outlines KT Racing’s next steps, creative director Alain Jarniou and game director Guillaume Guinet discuss offline mode and the solo experience. It doesn’t mean that the former is coming any time soon. Instead, it’s to make the game playable after Solar Crown’s “end-of-life phase.”

“Well, I think there are really things we want to maintain and others we want to evolve. I believe there are three main aspects,” said Guinet. “First, there’s the end-of-life phase, moving the game toward this offline dimension where it can be delivered.

“Then there’s the solo mode, as you mentioned, where we mainly want to focus on races because we know that the core gaming experience of Test Drive Unlimited is, after all, racing. People join even though they enjoy free roam, etc. But to progress, they need to participate in races. So we want to make that experience as straightforward as possible.”

While a solo experience makes sense for the team, it wants to maintain the third aspect of Solar Crown – its MMO nature. “We want to maintain that MMO dimension in free roam and hubs. This means fostering player interactions and continuing to encourage that. And if we want to do it in the races, of course, we’ll have the option to wait for other players.

“It really depends on each player’s preferred style of play; we need to allow that flexibility in Test Drive Unlimited. If someone prefers to progress in races in a more solo manner, they should be able to do that, and we’ll be able to facilitate that soon.”

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out our review – we awarded it a seven out of ten. You can also learn more about future updates, including the addition of Ibiza in December with Season 2, here.

SETTING

An open world racer’s setting can make or break the experience, and Solar Crown is looking quite promising in this particular area. The game is set in Hong Kong, with developer KT Racing touting a 1:1 recreation of the city, its urban jungle locales, and the actual jungles that surround it. Of course, being set in Hong Kong will also mean we’ll be driving on roads with left-hand traffic, which will be a first for the Test Drive Unlimited line of games.

MAP

Massive open world maps were something that the first two Test Drive Unlimited games prided themselves on, and it looks like Solar Crown is keen to uphold that tradition. As per the devs, the game will feature over 600 kilometers of drivable roads, with the entirety of its map being split into 14 districts, each bringing their own events and activities for players to take on, their own unique atmosphere to enjoy, and different sights and environments to explore.

OVER 30 CAR MANUFACTURERS

KT Racing and Nacon haven’t revealed how large exactly Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’s roster of vehicles will be at launch, but from the details that have been revealed, it’s easy to glean that there’ll be no shortage of options. Over 30 car manufacturers will be included, with different vehicle types also being confirmed, including hypercars, offroading vehicles, classics, and more.

SOLAR HOTEL

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is being billed as a social racing experience, and the skyscraper known as the Solar Hotel will serve as its social hub. Here, players will be able to walk around as their created avatar, and will even have their own suite, where you can change your clothes, recharge between races, and more. In the lobby, meanwhile, you can check out clothing stores and show off your cars to other players, among other things.

SOCIAL HUBS

The Solar Hotel is going to be the central social hub in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown, but the open world racer will have a few other, additional hotspots for players to gather and meet at as well. Clan HQs, car dealerships, workshops, and other such locations will serve as smaller hubs out in the open world where players will be able to rendezvous with each other. Oh, and speaking of clans…

CLANS

In Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’s Hong Kong, two major clans are vying for supremacy- the Streets and the Sharps, both touting different brands of style and luxury that they’re looking to extend across the entire city. As you race through Hong Kong, you’ll be representing one of those two clans, contributing to their success and challenging your rival clan every step of the way throughout the eponymous Solar Crown competition.

THE SHARPS

Of the two clans, the Sharps are much swankier than their rivals, which is reflected in pretty much everything related to them- including their HQ. You’ll find the Sharps at the very apex of a skyscraper. For the Sharps, sophistication and subtle luxury are the name of the game. If, however, you’re looking for something less hoity-toity…

THE STREETS

On the other end of the Solar Crown clans spectrum are the Streets, who – as their name suggests – are much more down to earth than their counterparts. Their underground vibe means they love parties and nightclubs, which, of course, means they’re a much louder and more bombastic bunch. Their HQ is in an old building that they have taken over in its entirety for the Solar Crown competition.

WEATHER AND TIME OF DAY

As a modern day open world racer, it comes as no surprise that Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is going to tout a fully dynamic weather system, while KT Racing has also confirmed that there will also be a day/night cycle. Both the weather and the time of day will affect your driving in different (and often subtle) ways as well.

MISSION TYPES

Solar Crown’s open world Hong Kong is promising to be a massive map that’s been densely packed with content, but how varied can we expect that content to be? As per KT Racing, pretty darn varied. On top of multiple different types of races and events, you can expect Wrecks to find and unlock classic cars with, multiplayer events and challenges to take on, and more, with additional content also coming post-launch (more on that in a bit).

CUSTOMIZATION

Customization mechanics are, of course, a key part of any racing game, so what exactly can we expect from Solar Crown in this area? At workshops scattered throughout the map, players will be able to tinker with 13 customizable performance parts for regular cars, and a dozen for electric ones. On top of that, you can choose different liveries, or customize individual elements such as your car’s paintjob, decals, stickers, and much more, with more options being unlocked as your Reputation improves within your clan.

ALWAYS ONLINE

KT Racing and Nacon have stressed on no few occasions that Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is being designed first and foremost as a multiplayer experience, to the point of effectively being an MMO. It comes as no surprise, then, that the game cannot be played without a persistent internet connection.

RESOLUTION AND FRAME RATE

Hitting stable performance and resolution numbers can be doubly crucial in a racing game, and thankfully, Solar Crown will feature two different options for players to choose between. A Quality Mode will let you play the game at 1440p and 30 FPS, while a Performance Mode will instead run it at 1080p and 60 FPS. No 4K option will be available on consoles, though KT Racing has said it’s looking to continue optimizing the game further, so hopefully we can expect improvements down the line.

POST-LAUNCH ROADMAP

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is going to evolve and expand following its imminent release, with KT Racing and Nacon having confirmed that across its first year, it will be receiving four seasons of post-launch content, with the first season set to kick off at launch. The second season, which will arrive in December, will bring a new map in the form of a 1:1 recreation of Ibiza, something Test Drive Unlimited 2 fans will be thrilled with, while Season 3, arriving in March, will add Clan War, a new, constantly evolving game mode. Across its four year 1 seasons, the game will also add new player levels and clan levels to progress through, while the first two seasons will also come with free battle passes (called Solar Passes here).

NOT CROSS-GEN

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown was originally supposed to be a cross-gen release, but over the course of multiple delays, plans have obviously changed. The open world racer is now set to launch on September 12 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, with KT Racing and Nacon having cancelled plans for PS4 and Xbox One versions a while back. Funnily enough, officially, the game’s Switch version still hasn’t been cancelled- but it has no release date or window, and hasn’t been officially mentioned in forever. At this point, it seems safe to assume that it’s probably going to be replaced with a Switch 2 release (once the console has been announced, that is).

The title is always online with several features – like anti-cheat, live events, leaderboards, and more – tied to the same. As such, several complaints revolve around the inability to log in due to server issues. Those who can log in after repeated attempts may suddenly be kicked out or unable to access races.

KT Racing has acknowledged the issues and noted its teams are “doing everything possible” to fix them quickly. Stay tuned for more updates in the meantime.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown launches worldwide on September 12th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, with a Nintendo Switch version in the works. Check out our review or the post-launch roadmap for more details on future content, from Test Drive Unlimited 2’s Ibiza in December to the Clan War mode in March 2025.

Of course, those who buy the Silver Streets and Silver Sharps Editions for $79.99 can access it on September 10th, a whopping two days early. As the first title in the series since 2011’s Test Drive Unlimited 2, Solar Crown is set on a 1:1 recreation of Hong Kong Island. Players can join the Streets or Sharps and participate in different events and races, collecting and customizing cars.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is out on September 12th for Standard Edition owners. More content is coming post-launch, with Season 2 kicking off in December and adding Ibiza alongside additional rewards, clan levels, etc. Check out the post-launch roadmap here for more details.

The answer, as ever, is somewhere in between those two extremes, though if you were to press me for a more concrete response, I’d say the game is much more of a success than it isn’t. It certainly can be a bit rough around the edges, both technically and in terms of its mechanics and balancing, which means it doesn’t ever quite hit the heights that some of its aforementioned competitors have scaled over the course of the last few years, but it’s still a largely enjoyable racing experience with a well designed open world map that’s also always a great joy to simply cruise through, even if you’re not participating in an actual race or event.

"Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is a largely enjoyable racing experience with a well designed open world map that’s also always a great joy to simply cruise through."

It shouldn’t surprise you to learn that Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’s biggest strength is its setting, which is touted by developer KT Racing as a 1:1 (or near 1:1, at the very least) recreation of Hong Kong island. The virtual tourism aspect is often a crucial part of similar open world racers that transport players to real-world locations (or, alternatively, those inspired by them), and just like the previous two Test Drive Unlimited games did back in their time, Solar Crown succeeds in that particular area with flying colours. From the dense urban jungle of the city itself to the actual jungles surrounding it, from rolling hills and massive highways to beaches and more, Solar Crown’s open world Hong Kong is full of gorgeous vistas to witness, and exploring it and simply taking in the sights always remains fun.

It doesn’t quite capture the festival vibe of similar open world racers – the Solar Crown competition doesn’t quite feel as much of an all-consuming festive thing for the game’s recreation of Hong Kong as, say, simply existing in Mexico did in Forza Horizon 5 – but it does a really good job of transporting players to the gorgeous, dense, neon-lit city. On top of that, the addition of the two different clans – the Streets and the Sharps – also contributes to the game’s aesthetic quite a bit, with each clan bringing their own brand of style and luxury, something that the game focuses on heavily. If nothing else, that helps the game craft an identity for itself that feels entirely its own, not something that it’s borrowed from a competitor.

But though the game’s map is clearly a sight to behold, in terms of the actual driving gameplay, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown can be occasionally frustrating. For the most part, cars feel good to drive, though some rough spots make it a somewhat uneven experience at times- like collisions with even the smallest destructible objects causing what seem like disproportionate decrease in speed, or the handling being a bit too stiff with a sizeable portion of the cars in the game, which can also take some getting used to. The latter in particular can be a nuisance, especially in races that require a lot of sharp turning.

"In terms of the actual driving gameplay, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown can be occasionally frustrating."

Meanwhile, Solar Crown’s online-only nature also means that some of the convenient features you’d otherwise expect to see in a racing game are not present here, from something as simple as being able to pause mid-race to even something like having a rewind option for someone who needs it- which means restarting the race from scratch is often your only recourse if things go poorly, which is made yet more inconvenient by the fact that races require you to abandon them and then start them again rather than simply having a restart option (other than in the tutorial, which is completely single-player), with the only alternative being to select the restart option provided at the very end of every race. I understand that, as effectively a racing MMO, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown requires a persistent internet connection, but it’s not like other similar shared world racers haven’t had solo options for those who want them, so it’s disappointing that the same isn’t the case here.

Coming to the actual races and events that it has on offer, however, there’s a lot to like about Solar Crown. There’s a lot of familiar stuff on offer here, from regular races and time attack events to speed traps and what have you, as well as other activities that the game throws in to add its own flavour, including meetup spots where you can meet up with other players, wrecks to seek out to unlock classic cars, workshops and dealerships to upgrade and purchase new cars, and more. Domination races in particular are a lot of fun, with the goal being to pass through checkpoint gates ahead of as many competitors as you can, with each gate providing you points based on your position, and the racer with the highest points total at the finish line winning the event. There’s also the Solar Hotel, a towering skyscraper that serves as the central hub for the Solar Crown competition, where players can walk around in first person outside of their cars (which is true of dealerships and workshops as well). There’s a lot to do in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown’s Hong Kong, and a lot of it tends to be quite enjoyable.

Progression is another area where the game mostly gets things right. XP takes the form of rep in Solar Crown, with reputation level increases bringing with them not only new events and races to take on, but also new parts to purchase and equip for your cars, both performance-related and cosmetic. It’s a simple system executed in straightforward fashion, and the end result is the game doing a solid job of keeping players motivated to keep increasing their reputation. It also helps that as you upgrade your cars (or buy better ones), you can often very tangibly feel the improvements in the way they drive or handle, which means the rewards for increasing your reputation almost always feel meaningful.

At the same time, it has to be said that progression is a bit slow in Solar Crown. The open world virtual tourism racer genre is one that encourages players to play at their own pace, enjoy the vibe of the setting, and not worry too much about having to progress in a very specific way. In Solar Crown, thanks to the slow progression, there are times where it feels like there aren’t enough events available to have all the points you need to the next required level for the unlocks you’ve got your eye on, which means you can be stuck replaying races (which, thankfully, does increase your rep). This is an even bigger problem in the early hours of the game, where there are even fewer activities on offer.

"In the state that it exists right now, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is still a good game, if not necessarily a great one."

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown also stumbles somewhat with its technical aspects. Though it is obviously a good looking game – as I mentioned while discussing the many gorgeous sights and sounds of Hong Kong – from a purely technical standpoint, it’s a bit rough around the edges. I’ve experienced prominent issues with murky draw distances, texture pop in, and the occasional minor visual or animation glitch, especially when it’s human characters being shown on screen rather than cars (which does happen from time to time, both in cutscenes and during gameplay). The game also suffers from performance issues, even on the 60 FPS Performance Mode, which is what I’ve stuck with for the most part. I’ve encountered significant and noticeable frame rate drops during a number of races, which is the last thing you want in a game such as this one- not only a racer, but an always-online racer. Hopefully KT Racing will be applying several layers of polish to the game in the coming months.

As it stands right now, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is still a solid game. It’s clearly not in the upper echelons of the genre – which, to be fair, may be an unreasonable expectation to begin with – but for fans of similar games who are looking for another open world virtual city that’s a pleasure to simply exist and cruise around in, there’s plenty to like here. There will likely be plenty of disagreements on whether or not it is worth the 13-year wait, but there can be no doubting that on its own merits, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is a genuinely enjoyable, if noticeably rough, open world racer.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.