Test Drive Unlimited is a racing game franchise that holds a very special place in the hearts of many gamers. Before games like Forza Horizon came around, Test Drive Unlimited was one of the first major “open world” racing games. As you might imagine, it was pretty groundbreaking at the time.
Though after Test Drive Unlimited 2 was released in 2011, the series did not return to the open world format. We are taking an educated guess that the success of the aforementioned Forza Horizon series has changed things a bit.
Game publisher Nacon acquired the Test Drive IP from Atari and announced Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown in July of last year. Nacon tapped KT Racing as the development team. KT Racing are mostly known for developing the official WRC game series.
Not much was revealed during that first cinematic teaser beyond the fact that the Test Drive Unlimited series was back and that it had something to do with rich people and gambling.
Today, during a streamed event called Nacon Connect, a bit more information was provided but there are still plenty of questions that remain. A new cinematic trailer revealed that Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown will take place on Hong Kong island and feature different urban and natural environments.
Apparently at the center of the game is a story about rival “clans” of rich people: the “Streets” and the “Sharps”. No, seriously that’s what they’re called. Both clans seem to have lots of money and unlimited (no pun intended) access to high end luxury cars, supercars, and hypercars.
For the player, their goals will be two fold: first to work their way up the ranks in their respective clan and secondly to “overthrow” the other clan. It was not specifically stated but it would be safe to assume that these clans are essentially organized crime syndicates. Though, that is speculation on our part.
When it comes to actual gameplay, all we know is that the open world will feature marshes, forests, mountains, beaches, and dense urban areas with skyscrapers. We also know that the environments will be reproduced at 1:1 scale so there will not be an “abridged” version of Hong Kong Island but the whole thing.
Finally, we know that Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is being developed on KT Racing’s own in-house game engine. We speculate that it may be the same engine that the team currently uses to build their WRC games but there is a very good chance that they created a new engine for this game.
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is set to release In September 22, 2022 and will be available on all the current platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. With that being said, expect the game to scale its performance based on the hardware that’s running it.
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Trailer
Are you interested in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown? Is this too far away from what you remember with previous Test Drive games? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or tweet to us at @MotorworldHype.