Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown marks the return of the open-world car series after more than ten years away, offering on Xbox Series X/S a sprawling open world inspired by the island of Hong Kong, published under the Nacon label. The game blends racing with social-simulation elements in an MMO style, where players encounter other drivers on the roads, trade cars on a virtual marketplace, and build their reputation within two rival factions, Sharp and Street, each representing a different strain of the island's car culture. The car roster spans a wide range of licensed vehicles from sports cars to luxury sedans and off-roaders, all of which can be customized, tuned, and upgraded in the garage as you like, including visual paint and bodywork changes as well as mechanical parts affecting performance.

The open world, split between day and night versions of the island, offers both city circuits full of traffic and winding mountain roads and coastal highways, and on the new generation of consoles the game aims to draw on a detailed environment and dynamic weather that affects grip on both wet and dry roads. Social features like club activities, shared challenges, and group convoys are meant to keep players coming back long after finishing the main racing series and the initial excitement over new content has worn off.

The return of the Test Drive Unlimited brand was awaited with high hopes, since the original entries from the last decade helped define the genre of open-world racing games even before the arrival of Forza Horizon. Solar Crown therefore faces comparisons with both its own legacy and today's competition, its ambition being to return to the series' original philosophy of free-roaming road trips alongside other players, building your own car collection, and gradually climbing the virtual hierarchy of the island's car subculture.

Why play it: Anyone who remembers the original Test Drive Unlimited games will appreciate Solar Crown's attempt to return to free-roaming road trips and collecting cars, even as it faces tough comparisons with today's competition.