Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown Review (PS5) | Push Square

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Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown isn’t just a racing game, it’s a lifestyle game. Developer Kylotonn has endeavoured to recreate Hong Kong Island along with its opulent luxury and underground street scene, and while the driving is where Solar Crown truly shines, it's the lifestyle and technical aspects of the game hold it back.

You step into the shoes of an upcoming racer, plucked off the streets and dropped into a spacious suite at the Solar Crown hotel. Your goal is clear: make a name for yourself on the streets of Hong Kong Island by racing and showing off in the Solar Crown competition.

The road to the top isn’t short. Unlike other racing games such as Forza Horizon 5 where you collect a new car every hour, Solar Crown is all about the bond you form with your rides. They cost a lot of money, so each purchase matters and you’ll spend loads of time in your first whip before you can buy another. Fortunately, you can test drive any car in the game as many times as you like before you buy it. You can ignore the stats because they don’t tell the full story — every vehicle in the game feels unique to drive, so you’d better spend the time finding and then saving up for your favourite.

This is more of a sim driving game than an arcade one. There isn’t any realistic damage, but if you take a track car off-road it’ll spin out wildly. Even clipping a muddy bank or driving over a grass lane divider will cause you to wobble. The feedback of each type of terrain is brilliantly delivered by the DualSense’s haptics, with full rumble occurring along all of the controller, and the L2 paddle jittering rapidly if you brake too intensely before a tight corner. It makes it seem like you’re truly behind the wheel of each car, feeling the road beneath you.

There are many types of road to cruise along on Hong Kong Island. Narrow alleyways, wide highways, winding mountain roads, dusty off-road paths, and sandy beaches. The island is the perfect setting for a racing-cum-lifestyle game