Just the fact that they no longer have the gauges on the HUD modelled after the car’s actual gauges (like they did in the old games) shows how little care was put in this game compared to the old ones.
One of my biggest complaints is how hamfisted this cyber-futurism aesthetic is in game. Part of the draw of TDU was it felt like a grounded experience for the most part. The locations felt like places i could go to, like the events in game could hypothetically take place along side our own reality. Now its holograms on every building, drone taxis, sterile uniformity of every interior. This representation of HK barely feels like a place I can go and visit, incredibly detached from our own reality.
don't get me started on the dealership buildings, the solar hotel and the shops located inside of the hotel, or the holograms on various buildings around the map. the futuristic theme feels forced, and definitely doesn't give the tdu feeling we had in the previous titles more than 13 years ago.
Idk, TDU2 was a bit over the top with the interiors design too which I always disliked. But yes, everything else in this game is unnecessary. My guess is that they look at Forza and Motorfest that can decorate the map with the festival stuff (which I hate), and they thought they had to fill their map with something as well.
@@abdulcedeleche16 yes but the map here is huge, so it just feels more empty (also so few traffic cars :/). But I think the main reason is that the city just looks too sterile
Jimmy summed up perfectly how I feel about this game. The driving actually feels really good, but the world is off, feels empty and all the futuristic bs just DOESN'T work and to me looks cheesy. And then there is the performance issue, TDUSC has half of the quality of Forza 4 and 5 but runs at half the fps that FH does
I agree with what you said about optimization. But don't forget that, tdu's map full of buildings and detailed environment. On the other hand fh series maps are empty and full of fields, especially last two game... Playground Games couldn't have this good optimized game if they gave us a very worked map.
it honestly feels like a forza wannabe slapped with TDU title, My friends and I unironically enjoyed The Crew 2 (a $1 game) more than this game which we decided to refund lmao, its too bad since they made the city really well, just with shit futuristic theme
@@ZaylaaZiaa The Crew 2 isn't a $1 game tbf, they made it $1 when TDU3 launched to try and screw over this game just incase it was good. Now that TDU has launched and mostly been panned by both critics and players, TC2 is back up $49.99 on Steam and £39.99 on the PS Store.
This game highlights the emptiness in a lot of recent open-world driving games. They should be experiences, with memorable themes, locations, characters, cars, etc. and also make us want to keep progressing
The problem is that most open world racing games are mainly designed as multiplayer games. The developers therefore think they can save themselves a lot of work when it comes to the liveliness of the game world, because this is supposed to come from the many players who are supposed to play the game. My theory anyway...
The graphics in the city during the day reminded me of when you fly too close to a city/building on microsoft flight simulator and it suddenly doesnt look right
Tdu1 and 2 were basically sandboxes, you drive a massive variety of cars in actual 1 to 1 scale locations with no restrictions. The driving physics weren't great, but that wasn't the point. If feels like they've taken all the worst bits and mashed them together, then done all the development using 10 year old tech. Just the idea of driving in a city doesn't really feel like TDU, I have great memories of buying an interesting car (read not a generic lambo) and just driving 30 miles round the island exploring and finding new dealerships
The main thing to me is it doesn't look like a real place, it just looks like they made some weird neon futury city thing and said "trust us, it's hong kong"
It is Hong Kong, and I can confirm it as I’m born and raised here myself. The layouts of the roads are correct sure, but as you’ve said the technology level is very weird in this game. There are these cyberpunk neon advertisement boards everywhere but then you still have such old style buildings that westerners stereotype Hong Kong to be. Hong Kong Island is already a more developed part of the city and shouldn’t have this many old buildings, and if the universe of TDU has such advanced technology, it’s weird that not everything is just as advanced
When you're saying it's not as good as its predecessor (TDU 1), which is EIGHTEEN years old, something has gone horribly wrong. This is a low budget asset flip that they've slapped a known name on. The driving may feel fun and good. But that's likely the result of a couple of devs that take pride in their work and worked harder than they needed to for what they were paid!!
That's the first impression I got too. The character models, the world and lighting gives that unity asset flip feel. Whether it is actually an asset flip or it isn't doesn't really matter. Impressive that they modeled Hong Kong, but feels like they missed the mark of what made TDU, TDU.
Hell, it isn't even as good as the original Test Drive game from 1987. Not in it's current form at least. I played TDU1 on a PSP and had more fun in the first 30 minutes that I have in about 5 hours with this version. TDU2 was better as well. And I have to wait until 2026 for the casino? Damn it. The NPC animations are Mass Effect: Andromeda bad. Well, at least no one is missing their skin so far.
They will be covering the "Offline Mode" request before the next patch apparently. They've been backed into a corner since The Crew announced offline mode.
I think part of the problem is that this game feels like it's the kind of deal where I should be able to pull up outside like a bar or a nightclub, get out the car and walk in, and pick up a sidequest for a hill climb or something from some dudes in the corner of the bar.
The driving itself is ok, but the presentation, structuring, pacing, etc., is so "we have forza horizon at home" it hurts, and FH's formula has been tired af for a few years now
Exactly this, the intro is already like "welcome to the Horizon Festival" but you arrive in a drone. I hate the new FH games since 4 as they are all this "events" when TDU was just drive around this vast island and look for dealerships if you want that brand. It created anticipation to see what cool cars you could have found and what discounts too, basically like the excitement of buying a real car. FH is just "go to the garage and buy a car, end of story".
@@fartloudYT Disagree. The original TDUs, Forza and NFS games all had something to strive for. At least you felt included in a group of some sorts. Most had some arrogant pricks you had to beat as a rookie talent. Now you start of both FH and TDU as someone that's basically already done that. It feels like the main story was already finished for you and you're left with the side quests. Also, where's the licence tests? Those felt better than the GT ones...
@@johannes7059I mean you can’t really drift in TDU and that says a lot about the physics, imo CarX has better or more fun physics and by far! The only thing that TDU has nailed is the weight of cars (and engine sounds) but the tyre model is weird, also the map just does not help with having fun driving imo.
@@nfsboss88 I think he was being sarcastic, but even I can't really tell. It definitely has old NFS Payback graphics, but TD games were never about the graphics.
@@riccardopetrina4212 That would be fine if the PC hardware requirements weren't insane. Recommended 2080, 12GB of RAM and a 11th Gen i7 for "stable" 1080 60 on medium settings and all of that still requires DLSS. It's not a stable 60. It looks like shit. I don't understand how the requirements are so high.
A big issue with this game is that it''s always going to be compared to an almost 20 yo sibling in TDU1. Yeah, TDU1 had one of the worst UI and menus ever but the gameplay was solid. The island was very detailed and was large but not so big that driving around it was a slog. There were cool little easter eggs around like accessing the airstrip or finding the teleport onto the little island to the east. Hell, the DLC in TDU1 felt good. Getting to finally drive a countach after playing the game for 2 years for $5 felt worth it because that was the only TDU for 2-3 years. The multiplayer actually worked and you would see lambos, bugattis, saleens just rocketing down the street. A goddamned auction house with player owned cars, showing their driven mileages. Solar Crown has a godawful drag and drop "future-tech" sleek menu that is clunky and has no identity or flavor. The map just seems lifeless or 1 construction company builds the same building across the city. The details are put in the wrong places, often creating unnecessary roadblocks and obstacles on races. The AI drivers are just not it.
Exactly. Weird ass roads that change steepness like miniature mountains, cops that are hard to shake off, inability to drive offroad and deserted areas. But driving around the vast island to discover what was around, and going on the other side just for a dealership to see what cool stuff does it offer. Or you can just spend endless hours driving. Reminds me of the Ferrari Enzo mission where it slipped like crazy and I couldn't damage the car but I wanted to push it so hard because it sounded awesome and was very fast. It had the thrills of driving a car and the excitement of going out of your way to buy a new car.
Despite the name of the game this is not a Test Drive Unlimited game, and it should have been called Solar Crown Racing or something like that just without the Test Drive Unlimited game. It is missing everything that the previous TDU games game, and it just doesn't even feel like TDU game either. I also don't think or have any confidence in these devs to provide the needed amount of patches/updates to actually make it into a real TDU game. The sad part I had really freaking high hopes for the this TDU game, but all of my hopes disappeared as soon as I starting playing the game. Such is life this is depressing, and I didn't need more of that in my life... oh well.
Jimmy's right about potential. The Test Drive Unlimited series has been so close to greatness in the past. The original TDU with realism turned up was a really challenging game with great feeling physics on a wheel. The only big problem I had with it was the polygonal roads. Maybe it was just a technical limitation at the time, but the cars could get unsettled just by bouncing over a gentle rise, which really killed the immersion. I felt like I was constantly slowing down for obstacles that shouldn't exist. Then TDU2 had much better roads, but they removed the no assists option, and every car felt slightly sanitised, like they all had stability assistance on, and you couldn't throw them about any more. Also the economy was destroyed by microtransactions so the moment you stopped getting the big story payouts it became a huge grind and impossible to progress or see all the high end cars. I would love to see a mod that removes the assists and fixes the economy for solo save files, but it's been years since I cared to look for one. I don't think it existed then. Now this... yeah this is a real shame. I would love to see the Oahu and Ibiza maps ported to a game with good physics, or something. I have hope that something really great could be made from the bleached bones of this franchise.
I tried the beta, same as many others loved TDU2, think you pretty much hit the nail on the head, the steering wheel input as driver view reminds me of far cry / gta. Large open world driving games have been redefined by the Horizon series and this has completely missed that bar.
Bro I think Far Cry actually beats this game (and a lot of racing games, in fact) in terms of driving animations. Far Cry actually has wheel shake and full rotation.
@@JedJPN Full rotation is coming in patch 1 I believe. Should've been at release but they are aware of how much it's annoyed people and are fixing it, they've shown a demo for it and is supposed to be released in the next week or two before the competition period starts
@@jamographer Oh, I didn't know that. That's actually a pleasant surprise. The game has potential and that's a small but meaningful step in the right direction for sure.
The handling model is based on a WRC game, isn't it? I agree that the vibe is off - I haven't played it, but from this video the city feels like a liminal space almost. Like it should be vibrant and lively and full of action, yet it isn't. But the original TDU was kind of similar IMO - It was a lonely island where the only people you saw were car dealers, random supermodels and weird package recipients.
True, but I feel that in the original you didn't have a lot of details and mostly it was on road out of cities on normal sized roads. Here instead they added a lot of details, big roads, shops etc. but barely any cars or people. The extra details and choosing a city as the main area instead of "rural" roads on an island makes these issues evident, because a "rural" area is expected to have a few cars and no one around, but a city is the exact opposite.
The game is lacking a lot of features still but overall, I am still enjoying the game. One thing I want to point out is that they really got the sense of speed down with the cars in this game which most racing games seem to never get right and also the car sounds are pretty well done. I also think leveling to get car upgrades is a cool touch since most racing games you get it right off the bat and that makes you wanna keep progressing to get those upgrades. Once they add more features coming up here in season 1 I think it’ll turn out to be a good game, if they stick to their word.
Getting a Midnight Club vibe-those classic arcade racing feels! Also, in China, they drive on the right side of the road… and let's not forget, half the skyscrapers seem to be empty irl ! 😄
The biggest problem with TDU Solar Crown is that it isn't a TDU game. Small car list compared to their competition, always online recuirment, weird inconsistent AI and and lacklustre driving physics. It's a live-service racing game with a battle pass, that doesn't feel like a finished product. It would not surprise me if they'd pull the plug within a year or so.
TDU has slowly steered towards Forza games, and the fact that now it even has all this "you are the driver we need to do these races and events" is exactly like "welcome to the horizon festival we need you to drive in these events", which is not at all TDU with the "here's a car, a house and the island. Explore, find dealerships and do races...or drive on the road at max speed all over the island".
@@riccardopetrina4212 Exactly. In TDU, the races were always just one of many activities. You always had a wide choice of things to do. Unfortunately not in this game.
As much as I enjoy playing crew Motorfest on controller, slamming up the wheel and blasting around with that is always a blast too. Love the option + that the wheel is actually animated to turn the full 1080 degrees
Its a very mediocre game, just like need for speed for last decade, but unlike need for speed and cod, they do not have diehard fanbase that will buy the game no matter how crap the game is
@@KingJohnMichael cod? There were 2 maybe 3, need for speed? Nothing pass 8, as soon as they start to invent their own alternate universe physics, everything is gone, you know the category we usually use? Sim, sim-arcade and arcade? Imo, nfs is one tier lower than that, I call it ultra casual arcade, with no regard to physics, kinda like Mario cart
To me it's the lack of people anywhere. I get it that you can't model thousands of people strolling the sidewalks and potentially getting mown down by the terrible driving of yours truly, so I don't know how to get around it, but that is what makes the city feel empty.
I've been having fun with this game, and yeah it needs work. Glad to see a review that takes a more open approach and isn't just a bash because it's online only (which I agree is a big problem). I think that, after missing the original planned 2023 release date, the publisher cracked the whip on the devs to get this game out. A lot of the aspects of the game feel almost like placeholders, the devs have highlighted the steering wheel movement as something that wasn't quite ready for launch. There's enough to call it a game, and looking at the road map you can really see what was held back. Hopefully the game gets enough success to see the features that the devs want get added. Also, if you find the steering twitchy at low speeds, try adjusting the axis for the steering. There's a button in each of the left and right axis, separate binds, that changes the range from -1-1 to 0-1 and the latter is what you want on an XBox controller. Not sure why that isn't the default but it helps greatly. I'm also a big fan of TDU and TDU2, the "influencer" aspect is almost a continuation of TDU2 which was very "lifestyles of the rich and famous" and that culture has kind of been superseded by influencers and techbros in the modern day, so it makes sense to me even if it's a bit grating. The thing that TDU2 did with that story, though, which I think would appeal to people more nowadays, is in TDU2 you started as a nobody, you were a valet who came into the group of rich & famous and kicked their teeth in through dubiously legal motor racing. TDUSC has you start as one of them, so you're no longer the outsider who's come in to upend things.
I'd see a trailer for this game without any prior knowledge of the series and I'd fully expect touch screen controls because this looks like Asphalt 9 except with a story.
I`ve put 1d 3h 42m into this game as of right now, and I honestly can`t disagree with Jimmy`s impressions of the game. The game`s main saving graces are the handling and the map itself (even if visually it is vary rough around the edges), which means that the game is currently at it`s most enjoyable when you`re just driving around at varying speeds and exploring) The solar crown itself is just an excuse to get you racing, and the whole clan thing is just stupid Imo. The TDU DNA is also only half there, and the TDU elements that did make the cut feel like they were largely added to tick boxes of what TDU is known for. The overly futuristic aesthetic makes no sense, and the dealerships also feel visually out of place to what a TDU should be, because they seem to be more focused on visually matching the aesthetic of the Solar hotel, than to mach the brand identity or theme of the cars they sell. The dealerships themselves also feel pretty empty (alot of empty space between cars), which is crazy considering the amount of repeated cars per dealer (the Asian specialist only has 3 models). My assumption is that they will replace repeats and move the layouts around as new cars are added, but it still makes of an underwhelming experience as of right now. Also the car list is oddly small, and strangely lacking in veriety, even compared to the OG TDU (the OG TDU had a better and more varied selection of low end cars, as well as classics, and with less of a focus on just high end supercars and hypercars) To be fair though, none of these shortcomings have been hurting my enjoyment of the game too much, and I have been enjoying the game for what it is, with the race layouts being pretty fun (thanks to the map itself being good), and the economy being fine as far as I`m concerned (I made well over a million and got to basicly level 15 just by exploring, and I`ve only discovered 30% of the roads)). Also, I can say pretty confidantly that I`ve been enjoying TDU more than I did Motorfest, as I`ve already put more time into TDU in the last week and a half, than I did in Motorfest since it came out (I have 22h in Motorfest,)
"Games like this shouldn't be played with a wheel" 0:42 - I bought my first Logitech wheel *because* of playing TDU1 on a friend's wheel. TDU2 was a bit worse on the wheel. Now all the open world games that should be optimal fun on a wheel make me reach with a really sad face for my controller. RIP.
Thank Nacon for sponsoring, and Thanks Jimmies for doing a video. I'd still get the game on PS5 if I could. The physics, Engine sounds, and car detailing all looks very nice. I just wish they'd add more stuff to the game like random pedestirans that just jump out of the way. Some airplanes that occasionally fly over the city loudly, blimps, realistic heavy weather like heavy rain storms with puddles or heavy winds. Some Streamer friendly music so it's not so.. lifeless. It would be extra nice to see some stuff from the older games appear like music and clothing store brands etc. and.. i feel like the game actually may need just a little of that weird grease filter that most indie games are doing now.. just something to make daytime not so.. static looking. and lower the exposure during the day. and honestly.. I may be the only one here.. but I kind of wish they'd just get rid of the futuristic stuff.. It really makes no sense when theres passanger drones and all this odd stuff when we're just only driving cars from 2020s and below.. when the tech looks like it's possible 2030-2050+. And I wish Nacon would revisit the older games to just remake and try to capture what the older games had.
I havent even watched a few secs of this video but yeah, TD:U was AWESOME! I had it on PC and it was just so fun to cruise around the island with 10 others! ...and yeah, I played with controller, too!
Expectation: TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED IS BACK. Reality: Back to disappoint everyone with routine microtransactions, lack of JDM cars and Online only habit like the original THE CREW.
Ive played TDU once since it came put and put 20 hours into Car X Street in basically the same amount of time. Thats a problem when Car X is a 1/3 of the price
The fact that a stock Mustang GT has turbo flutter and a blow off valve really shows that the developer didn’t know much about cars or care about details. You can hear it on downshifts especially
I loved the Hong Kong atmosphere of Sleeping Dogs, and when looking at how this game portrays Hong Kong, the places look familiar, the colors and architecture look the same, but the lighting doesn't really hit like it did in Sleeping Dogs for some reason.
hey jimmer, dont be more present here on youtube, just be present, be a dad, racing driver or whatever you want and take us with you along the way like you are already doing and im sure you ll hit multiple million subscribers you have a very unique style in your videos and you can see that with the irl content you are bringing us atm. Dont force yourself pls, enjoy it! You earned it :)
TDU was a cool game. I don't mind too much the futuristic aesthetetic they went for, but the character interactions look iffy at best. That dead eyed woman barely looking in your general direction with zero facial expressions gives me 2000s vibes. Extra props for the editing, 7:15 got me, thanks editor-chan
TDU1 was art, TDU2 followed the formula, TDUSC checks the boxes. To be honest that’s media landscape now for games, movies, and music. Not saying there’s nothing good that comes out now but there’s a noticeable change.
It's sad, because i got so excited for this game (played the 2 back in the day and it was the best open world racing experience ever. Despite the physics, as far as my memory can go, cruising felt so enjoyable. - don't think we would have Forza or Crew without TDU/2). But once I started seeing the more recent trailers, I knew it wouldn't be a good game. And now that it launched, i decided to buy Motorfest instead, granted I have a lot to dislike in that game, but man if it's fun. I'm not a fan of the idea of GT making an open world game as many people been asking.. But maybe if they ever do, we'll finally have a nice TDU experience again.
That game has a vibe. A vibe of a freemium mobile game. Just without the hook to keep you wanting for more
Just the fact that they no longer have the gauges on the HUD modelled after the car’s actual gauges (like they did in the old games) shows how little care was put in this game compared to the old ones.
yeah because a hud is totally representative of care, god you're pathetic
Perfect example, it lacks soul
I literally thought this exact sentence. 😂
and the GPS map showing on the car's screen in interior view. that was such a cool feature
@@AdminAbuse how is this a "perfect example" when forza and GT have been doing it for years
One of my biggest complaints is how hamfisted this cyber-futurism aesthetic is in game. Part of the draw of TDU was it felt like a grounded experience for the most part. The locations felt like places i could go to, like the events in game could hypothetically take place along side our own reality. Now its holograms on every building, drone taxis, sterile uniformity of every interior. This representation of HK barely feels like a place I can go and visit, incredibly detached from our own reality.
don't get me started on the dealership buildings, the solar hotel and the shops located inside of the hotel, or the holograms on various buildings around the map.
the futuristic theme feels forced, and definitely doesn't give the tdu feeling we had in the previous titles more than 13 years ago.
guys this is literally just how HKI is
@@Deadsphere there is no holograms or flying drones swarming hong kong as far as i'm concerned
@@tawfeeqsh Pretty sure they aren't "swarming" here either. Just go back to TDU2 you nostalgia ridden fool.
Idk, TDU2 was a bit over the top with the interiors design too which I always disliked. But yes, everything else in this game is unnecessary. My guess is that they look at Forza and Motorfest that can decorate the map with the festival stuff (which I hate), and they thought they had to fill their map with something as well.
Cool looking physics. Didnt see a single pedestrian - no wonder a city feels a bit dead
Ps2 nfs games had no pedestrians either, cities didnt feel dead
Yeah I will say the peds in the NFS unbound do add to sense of speed and lived-in-ness
Idk what racing game even has them apart from the crew and yet they don't have this issue, so it's not that for sure
@@abdulcedeleche16 That was also on the PS2, and also almost 20 years ago. Back then that was the pinnacle of racing games
@@abdulcedeleche16 yes but the map here is huge, so it just feels more empty (also so few traffic cars :/). But I think the main reason is that the city just looks too sterile
Jimmy summed up perfectly how I feel about this game.
The driving actually feels really good, but the world is off, feels empty and all the futuristic bs just DOESN'T work and to me looks cheesy.
And then there is the performance issue, TDUSC has half of the quality of Forza 4 and 5 but runs at half the fps that FH does
I agree with what you said about optimization. But don't forget that, tdu's map full of buildings and detailed environment. On the other hand fh series maps are empty and full of fields, especially last two game... Playground Games couldn't have this good optimized game if they gave us a very worked map.
You have just described TDU1-2, except driving was awful there.
@clairvoyant2956 Garbage, the tech behind forza horizon is leagues better than this game. It's not even a comparison.
It seems like it's not a TDU Game. No garage limits, no houses, stores and the dealerships don't look anything like a dealership lol
Plus the random people you got to pick up and driver them to where they wanted to go, that was always fun.
it honestly feels like a forza wannabe slapped with TDU title, My friends and I unironically enjoyed The Crew 2 (a $1 game) more than this game which we decided to refund lmao, its too bad since they made the city really well, just with shit futuristic theme
Its a Forza Horizon wannabe that fails miserably, i re installed Forza because of this game. its so bad
@@ZaylaaZiaa Exactly, this game is trying to be like Forza Horizon but like a very poor man's Forza horizon
@@ZaylaaZiaa The Crew 2 isn't a $1 game tbf, they made it $1 when TDU3 launched to try and screw over this game just incase it was good. Now that TDU has launched and mostly been panned by both critics and players, TC2 is back up $49.99 on Steam and £39.99 on the PS Store.
This game highlights the emptiness in a lot of recent open-world driving games. They should be experiences, with memorable themes, locations, characters, cars, etc. and also make us want to keep progressing
The problem is that most open world racing games are mainly designed as multiplayer games. The developers therefore think they can save themselves a lot of work when it comes to the liveliness of the game world, because this is supposed to come from the many players who are supposed to play the game. My theory anyway...
I would like to speak to you about our Lord and Saviour, Driver: San Francisco.
The Airbag on 7:16 reeeeally got me 🤣
i was looking for that comment LMAO
@@mrchicken240 I was wondering why he was driving on the wrong side and thinking "oh he must not know this is like England" then BAM! lmao
This game is the equivalent of a runway fashion show. Disconnected from reality just enough to make us ask why.
The graphics in the city during the day reminded me of when you fly too close to a city/building on microsoft flight simulator and it suddenly doesnt look right
Just bad LODs/normal maps.
Tbf it's a CPU killer as well, so maybe he just has low settings.
Tdu1 and 2 were basically sandboxes, you drive a massive variety of cars in actual 1 to 1 scale locations with no restrictions. The driving physics weren't great, but that wasn't the point. If feels like they've taken all the worst bits and mashed them together, then done all the development using 10 year old tech. Just the idea of driving in a city doesn't really feel like TDU, I have great memories of buying an interesting car (read not a generic lambo) and just driving 30 miles round the island exploring and finding new dealerships
The main thing to me is it doesn't look like a real place, it just looks like they made some weird neon futury city thing and said "trust us, it's hong kong"
I agree with you.
It is Hong Kong, and I can confirm it as I’m born and raised here myself. The layouts of the roads are correct sure, but as you’ve said the technology level is very weird in this game. There are these cyberpunk neon advertisement boards everywhere but then you still have such old style buildings that westerners stereotype Hong Kong to be. Hong Kong Island is already a more developed part of the city and shouldn’t have this many old buildings, and if the universe of TDU has such advanced technology, it’s weird that not everything is just as advanced
Test drive unlimited was amazing back in the day
"I'll. Leave. You. To. Compete. Against. The. Other. Participant." Why does the lady at the beginning talk with a period between each word lmao
It. Feels. Off.
'Needs work' is a gross understatement.
😂😂😂
he wasn't looking to push his luck with collecting a cheque.
When you're saying it's not as good as its predecessor (TDU 1), which is EIGHTEEN years old, something has gone horribly wrong. This is a low budget asset flip that they've slapped a known name on. The driving may feel fun and good. But that's likely the result of a couple of devs that take pride in their work and worked harder than they needed to for what they were paid!!
That's the first impression I got too. The character models, the world and lighting gives that unity asset flip feel. Whether it is actually an asset flip or it isn't doesn't really matter. Impressive that they modeled Hong Kong, but feels like they missed the mark of what made TDU, TDU.
People often say TDU 1 was a decent game, but it just wasn't.
Hell, it isn't even as good as the original Test Drive game from 1987. Not in it's current form at least. I played TDU1 on a PSP and had more fun in the first 30 minutes that I have in about 5 hours with this version. TDU2 was better as well.
And I have to wait until 2026 for the casino? Damn it.
The NPC animations are Mass Effect: Andromeda bad. Well, at least no one is missing their skin so far.
@@fartloudYT Yeah it was awesome. The physics were fun, the cars were amazing and the map was so fun to drive on
This game looks like a shell of a game.
So... exactly like TDU1-2.
@@fartloudYTyeah but this game is 2024 TDU 1 is like 20 years old
@@fartloudYTexcept those games are actually fun to play, this isn't.
It really really needs offline mode and some car sound tweaks!
It needs a career mode
It needs to be deleted and redone
They will be covering the "Offline Mode" request before the next patch apparently. They've been backed into a corner since The Crew announced offline mode.
I think part of the problem is that this game feels like it's the kind of deal where I should be able to pull up outside like a bar or a nightclub, get out the car and walk in, and pick up a sidequest for a hill climb or something from some dudes in the corner of the bar.
THE AIRBAG EDIT 😂😂😂😂😂😂
The driving itself is ok, but the presentation, structuring, pacing, etc., is so "we have forza horizon at home" it hurts, and FH's formula has been tired af for a few years now
Yeah, but horizon doesn't take itself seriously. It's all about the let's have fun while racing.
Exactly this, the intro is already like "welcome to the Horizon Festival" but you arrive in a drone. I hate the new FH games since 4 as they are all this "events" when TDU was just drive around this vast island and look for dealerships if you want that brand. It created anticipation to see what cool cars you could have found and what discounts too, basically like the excitement of buying a real car. FH is just "go to the garage and buy a car, end of story".
It feels about as bland as TDU 1-2.
@@fartloudYT Disagree. The original TDUs, Forza and NFS games all had something to strive for. At least you felt included in a group of some sorts. Most had some arrogant pricks you had to beat as a rookie talent.
Now you start of both FH and TDU as someone that's basically already done that. It feels like the main story was already finished for you and you're left with the side quests.
Also, where's the licence tests? Those felt better than the GT ones...
The gameplay feels exactly like those Mobile driving "sim" game you usually find at the app store, but with better graphic and car sound design...
After seeing a game like CarX Street, which was ported from Mobile to PC, its hard not to think TDU Solar Crown was developed as a mobile game first.
you can't say that, the physics are the best part of the game. the driving is very good, way better than the crew and even forza horizon
@@Cakebatteredafter watching gameplay of car X street, I would say solar crown looks way better physics wise. But I probably won't buy either tbh.
@@johannes7059I mean you can’t really drift in TDU and that says a lot about the physics, imo CarX has better or more fun physics and by far!
The only thing that TDU has nailed is the weight of cars (and engine sounds) but the tyre model is weird, also the map just does not help with having fun driving imo.
@@Ted_Kenzoku lol no 😑
Also the older games had much bigger map, was good for going for a long relaxing drive
Loving her white & gold solar crown outfit
Wow this game looks incredible! It was released in 2007 right?
No dude this Test Drive recently launched, are you thinking of the OG test drive games. This is set in Asia the orignal one was in Hawai.
@@nfsboss88 I think he was being sarcastic, but even I can't really tell. It definitely has old NFS Payback
graphics, but TD games were never about the graphics.
Yes this is the original TDU that's why it looks rough
@@riccardopetrina4212obviously he is being sarcastic... are you dense?
@@riccardopetrina4212 That would be fine if the PC hardware requirements weren't insane. Recommended 2080, 12GB of RAM and a 11th Gen i7 for "stable" 1080 60 on medium settings and all of that still requires DLSS.
It's not a stable 60. It looks like shit. I don't understand how the requirements are so high.
A big issue with this game is that it''s always going to be compared to an almost 20 yo sibling in TDU1. Yeah, TDU1 had one of the worst UI and menus ever but the gameplay was solid. The island was very detailed and was large but not so big that driving around it was a slog. There were cool little easter eggs around like accessing the airstrip or finding the teleport onto the little island to the east. Hell, the DLC in TDU1 felt good. Getting to finally drive a countach after playing the game for 2 years for $5 felt worth it because that was the only TDU for 2-3 years. The multiplayer actually worked and you would see lambos, bugattis, saleens just rocketing down the street. A goddamned auction house with player owned cars, showing their driven mileages.
Solar Crown has a godawful drag and drop "future-tech" sleek menu that is clunky and has no identity or flavor. The map just seems lifeless or 1 construction company builds the same building across the city. The details are put in the wrong places, often creating unnecessary roadblocks and obstacles on races. The AI drivers are just not it.
Exactly. Weird ass roads that change steepness like miniature mountains, cops that are hard to shake off, inability to drive offroad and deserted areas. But driving around the vast island to discover what was around, and going on the other side just for a dealership to see what cool stuff does it offer. Or you can just spend endless hours driving. Reminds me of the Ferrari Enzo mission where it slipped like crazy and I couldn't damage the car but I wanted to push it so hard because it sounded awesome and was very fast. It had the thrills of driving a car and the excitement of going out of your way to buy a new car.
5:28 That outfit looks like something Lewis Hamilton would wear
3:46 a mirrored rewind of the Ginetta GT4 flop. Well done!
Watching this just really makes me miss the old Test Drive and Need For Speed Underground games. Those games were so much fun.
12:56 when you invite the friend with "that mic" to play
Despite the name of the game this is not a Test Drive Unlimited game, and it should have been called Solar Crown Racing or something like that just without the Test Drive Unlimited game. It is missing everything that the previous TDU games game, and it just doesn't even feel like TDU game either. I also don't think or have any confidence in these devs to provide the needed amount of patches/updates to actually make it into a real TDU game.
The sad part I had really freaking high hopes for the this TDU game, but all of my hopes disappeared as soon as I starting playing the game. Such is life this is depressing, and I didn't need more of that in my life... oh well.
Testical Drive Unlimited Swollen Crown
*Limited
@@JeremyBX what
Jimmy's right about potential. The Test Drive Unlimited series has been so close to greatness in the past. The original TDU with realism turned up was a really challenging game with great feeling physics on a wheel. The only big problem I had with it was the polygonal roads. Maybe it was just a technical limitation at the time, but the cars could get unsettled just by bouncing over a gentle rise, which really killed the immersion. I felt like I was constantly slowing down for obstacles that shouldn't exist.
Then TDU2 had much better roads, but they removed the no assists option, and every car felt slightly sanitised, like they all had stability assistance on, and you couldn't throw them about any more. Also the economy was destroyed by microtransactions so the moment you stopped getting the big story payouts it became a huge grind and impossible to progress or see all the high end cars. I would love to see a mod that removes the assists and fixes the economy for solo save files, but it's been years since I cared to look for one. I don't think it existed then.
Now this... yeah this is a real shame. I would love to see the Oahu and Ibiza maps ported to a game with good physics, or something. I have hope that something really great could be made from the bleached bones of this franchise.
I tried the beta, same as many others loved TDU2, think you pretty much hit the nail on the head, the steering wheel input as driver view reminds me of far cry / gta. Large open world driving games have been redefined by the Horizon series and this has completely missed that bar.
Bro I think Far Cry actually beats this game (and a lot of racing games, in fact) in terms of driving animations. Far Cry actually has wheel shake and full rotation.
@@JedJPN Full rotation is coming in patch 1 I believe. Should've been at release but they are aware of how much it's annoyed people and are fixing it, they've shown a demo for it and is supposed to be released in the next week or two before the competition period starts
@@jamographer Oh, I didn't know that. That's actually a pleasant surprise. The game has potential and that's a small but meaningful step in the right direction for sure.
I loved TDU2, exploring the map looking for car parts with a friend was some of the most fun I've had in a game.
Unforgivable to have a game so focused on the world, its people in it, cutscenes and all that stuff, and then have Mass Effect 1 era face models.
The handling model is based on a WRC game, isn't it? I agree that the vibe is off - I haven't played it, but from this video the city feels like a liminal space almost. Like it should be vibrant and lively and full of action, yet it isn't. But the original TDU was kind of similar IMO - It was a lonely island where the only people you saw were car dealers, random supermodels and weird package recipients.
True, but I feel that in the original you didn't have a lot of details and mostly it was on road out of cities on normal sized roads. Here instead they added a lot of details, big roads, shops etc. but barely any cars or people. The extra details and choosing a city as the main area instead of "rural" roads on an island makes these issues evident, because a "rural" area is expected to have a few cars and no one around, but a city is the exact opposite.
The game is lacking a lot of features still but overall, I am still enjoying the game. One thing I want to point out is that they really got the sense of speed down with the cars in this game which most racing games seem to never get right and also the car sounds are pretty well done. I also think leveling to get car upgrades is a cool touch since most racing games you get it right off the bat and that makes you wanna keep progressing to get those upgrades. Once they add more features coming up here in season 1 I think it’ll turn out to be a good game, if they stick to their word.
The vibe of this game is mid-COVID Hong Kong.
Jimmy out there doing his best Max Vercrashin impression. It kind of giving NFS Underground vibes with NPCs from 2006.
The irony of a game called Test Drive Unlimted having a countdown timer whenever you test drive a car.
Getting a Midnight Club vibe-those classic arcade racing feels! Also, in China, they drive on the right side of the road… and let's not forget, half the skyscrapers seem to be empty irl ! 😄
If they dropped the price to like 20 bucks I’d buy it on console. But for 60 no freakn way with all these problems!
Nacon : Give it a fair shot
Jimbo on the intro : WTF 🤣🤣🤣
Editor cooked with the funnies this video
The biggest problem with TDU Solar Crown is that it isn't a TDU game.
Small car list compared to their competition, always online recuirment, weird inconsistent AI and and lacklustre driving physics.
It's a live-service racing game with a battle pass, that doesn't feel like a finished product. It would not surprise me if they'd pull the plug within a year or so.
TDU has slowly steered towards Forza games, and the fact that now it even has all this "you are the driver we need to do these races and events" is exactly like "welcome to the horizon festival we need you to drive in these events", which is not at all TDU with the "here's a car, a house and the island. Explore, find dealerships and do races...or drive on the road at max speed all over the island".
@@riccardopetrina4212 Exactly. In TDU, the races were always just one of many activities. You always had a wide choice of things to do. Unfortunately not in this game.
As much as I enjoy playing crew Motorfest on controller, slamming up the wheel and blasting around with that is always a blast too. Love the option + that the wheel is actually animated to turn the full 1080 degrees
Its a very mediocre game, just like need for speed for last decade, but unlike need for speed and cod, they do not have diehard fanbase that will buy the game no matter how crap the game is
There where better Cods and NFS games than this shirt show of a game this past decade my doode
@@KingJohnMichael cod? There were 2 maybe 3, need for speed? Nothing pass 8, as soon as they start to invent their own alternate universe physics, everything is gone, you know the category we usually use? Sim, sim-arcade and arcade? Imo, nfs is one tier lower than that, I call it ultra casual arcade, with no regard to physics, kinda like Mario cart
Because it's basically a live service game, people need to stop giving developers the option to do this, you get like 40-50% of the game at launch..
Are you on drugs?? COD doesn't have a diehard fanbase that will buy the game no matter how crap the game is? Not too clued in are we? 😐
I do want to play this next year when work slows down a bit. hopefully it gets ironed out a little by then too
Midtown Madness visual vibes
i was just about to comment this lol
To me it's the lack of people anywhere. I get it that you can't model thousands of people strolling the sidewalks and potentially getting mown down by the terrible driving of yours truly, so I don't know how to get around it, but that is what makes the city feel empty.
Needs work? This game needs an exorcism! There are some fundamental issues that need to be addressed, chief among which the Always-Online requirement.
I've been having fun with this game, and yeah it needs work. Glad to see a review that takes a more open approach and isn't just a bash because it's online only (which I agree is a big problem).
I think that, after missing the original planned 2023 release date, the publisher cracked the whip on the devs to get this game out. A lot of the aspects of the game feel almost like placeholders, the devs have highlighted the steering wheel movement as something that wasn't quite ready for launch. There's enough to call it a game, and looking at the road map you can really see what was held back. Hopefully the game gets enough success to see the features that the devs want get added.
Also, if you find the steering twitchy at low speeds, try adjusting the axis for the steering. There's a button in each of the left and right axis, separate binds, that changes the range from -1-1 to 0-1 and the latter is what you want on an XBox controller. Not sure why that isn't the default but it helps greatly.
I'm also a big fan of TDU and TDU2, the "influencer" aspect is almost a continuation of TDU2 which was very "lifestyles of the rich and famous" and that culture has kind of been superseded by influencers and techbros in the modern day, so it makes sense to me even if it's a bit grating. The thing that TDU2 did with that story, though, which I think would appeal to people more nowadays, is in TDU2 you started as a nobody, you were a valet who came into the group of rich & famous and kicked their teeth in through dubiously legal motor racing. TDUSC has you start as one of them, so you're no longer the outsider who's come in to upend things.
I played the beta and was positively surprised by wheel support. It was not realistic like Assetto Cirsa etc. but still fun to drive.
I'd see a trailer for this game without any prior knowledge of the series and I'd fully expect touch screen controls because this looks like Asphalt 9 except with a story.
I`ve put 1d 3h 42m into this game as of right now, and I honestly can`t disagree with Jimmy`s impressions of the game. The game`s main saving graces are the handling and the map itself (even if visually it is vary rough around the edges), which means that the game is currently at it`s most enjoyable when you`re just driving around at varying speeds and exploring)
The solar crown itself is just an excuse to get you racing, and the whole clan thing is just stupid Imo. The TDU DNA is also only half there, and the TDU elements that did make the cut feel like they were largely added to tick boxes of what TDU is known for. The overly futuristic aesthetic makes no sense, and the dealerships also feel visually out of place to what a TDU should be, because they seem to be more focused on visually matching the aesthetic of the Solar hotel, than to mach the brand identity or theme of the cars they sell. The dealerships themselves also feel pretty empty (alot of empty space between cars), which is crazy considering the amount of repeated cars per dealer (the Asian specialist only has 3 models). My assumption is that they will replace repeats and move the layouts around as new cars are added, but it still makes of an underwhelming experience as of right now. Also the car list is oddly small, and strangely lacking in veriety, even compared to the OG TDU (the OG TDU had a better and more varied selection of low end cars, as well as classics, and with less of a focus on just high end supercars and hypercars)
To be fair though, none of these shortcomings have been hurting my enjoyment of the game too much, and I have been enjoying the game for what it is, with the race layouts being pretty fun (thanks to the map itself being good), and the economy being fine as far as I`m concerned (I made well over a million and got to basicly level 15 just by exploring, and I`ve only discovered 30% of the roads)). Also, I can say pretty confidantly that I`ve been enjoying TDU more than I did Motorfest, as I`ve already put more time into TDU in the last week and a half, than I did in Motorfest since it came out (I have 22h in Motorfest,)
The game feels like how racing would be in a dream
"Hi, I'm a lisp"
Alright test drive, no need to get personal
"Games like this shouldn't be played with a wheel" 0:42 - I bought my first Logitech wheel *because* of playing TDU1 on a friend's wheel. TDU2 was a bit worse on the wheel. Now all the open world games that should be optimal fun on a wheel make me reach with a really sad face for my controller. RIP.
Exactly, i bought the Logitech G25 just for TDU1
This should be played with a wheel! TDU was and is good on wheel. Too bad it lacks proper physics, the feel is great.
I tried it with my wheel and it kinda feels super spongey, super weird floaty feeling. It just doesn't feel great.
The original TDU set in Hawaii was awesome. The only downside was that eventually your savegame would get corrupted.
Thank Nacon for sponsoring, and Thanks Jimmies for doing a video. I'd still get the game on PS5 if I could. The physics, Engine sounds, and car detailing all looks very nice. I just wish they'd add more stuff to the game like random pedestirans that just jump out of the way. Some airplanes that occasionally fly over the city loudly, blimps, realistic heavy weather like heavy rain storms with puddles or heavy winds. Some Streamer friendly music so it's not so.. lifeless. It would be extra nice to see some stuff from the older games appear like music and clothing store brands etc. and.. i feel like the game actually may need just a little of that weird grease filter that most indie games are doing now.. just something to make daytime not so.. static looking. and lower the exposure during the day.
and honestly.. I may be the only one here.. but I kind of wish they'd just get rid of the futuristic stuff.. It really makes no sense when theres passanger drones and all this odd stuff when we're just only driving cars from 2020s and below.. when the tech looks like it's possible 2030-2050+. And I wish Nacon would revisit the older games to just remake and try to capture what the older games had.
I remember the first TDU had so much bloom. This game seems to have none.
The only sharp and crispy looking thing in this game is the Solar Crown Logo loading screen.
Test Drive Off Road was the first racing game I owned. Can't say I've seen or played anything in the series, since.
I havent even watched a few secs of this video but yeah, TD:U was AWESOME! I had it on PC and it was just so fun to cruise around the island with 10 others! ...and yeah, I played with controller, too!
Expectation: TEST DRIVE UNLIMITED IS BACK.
Reality: Back to disappoint everyone with routine microtransactions, lack of JDM cars and Online only habit like the original THE CREW.
10:00 my guess to why it feels empty is because in a city there's normally pedestrians walking around
This makes me want to play the original TDU
They already said that will have 900° animation as The Crew has. Now what they need to say is that are working on offline mode, then I'll buy 👍🏻
I love this game. It needs work but I'm having a blast with the experience how it is. I'm eager to see how it improves over time
Reminds me a bit of SRP on asseto corsa , with wheel you can map your blinkers and crap,lol
8:42 Feels like PS1 era again
That drone looks like a minivan turned upside down lol
I havnt baught it yet but sense of speed and sound design is good
Test Drive was groundbreaking back in the C64 days!
Ive played TDU once since it came put and put 20 hours into Car X Street in basically the same amount of time. Thats a problem when Car X is a 1/3 of the price
I was so looking forward to this when it was announced, shant be buying it now purly because of the always online and no single player.
Ironically, this made me re-install The Crew 2
Thus game kinda looks like a mix out of NFS/Forza Horizon and one of the Asphalt games
I thought it would be larger, looks like fun just not big enough to get proper lost
They only have 1 developer from the Test Drives of 20 years ago, it's not gonna be the same, but, give it time it may surprise us in the end.
The fact that a stock Mustang GT has turbo flutter and a blow off valve really shows that the developer didn’t know much about cars or care about details. You can hear it on downshifts especially
"I have faith in you. You'll be fine."🗿
I would personally say, a complete overhaul.
I loved the Hong Kong atmosphere of Sleeping Dogs, and when looking at how this game portrays Hong Kong, the places look familiar, the colors and architecture look the same, but the lighting doesn't really hit like it did in Sleeping Dogs for some reason.
hey jimmer, dont be more present here on youtube, just be present, be a dad, racing driver or whatever you want and take us with you along the way like you are already doing and im sure you ll hit multiple million subscribers
you have a very unique style in your videos and you can see that with the irl content you are bringing us atm. Dont force yourself pls, enjoy it! You earned it :)
TDU was a cool game. I don't mind too much the futuristic aesthetetic they went for, but the character interactions look iffy at best. That dead eyed woman barely looking in your general direction with zero facial expressions gives me 2000s vibes.
Extra props for the editing, 7:15 got me, thanks editor-chan
Mum: You're not getting Forza Horizon, we have it at home.
The Forza Horizon at home:
I like how your character kinda looks like Charles Leclerc from Wish.
If you come back to it later, there will be no one playing it.
No lie, this is probably the funniest thing out there today.
last time I played test drive was over 3 decades ago on the good old C64
TDU1 was art, TDU2 followed the formula, TDUSC checks the boxes. To be honest that’s media landscape now for games, movies, and music. Not saying there’s nothing good that comes out now but there’s a noticeable change.
unless they are updating the game there are only 408 on Steam right now this is the next Concord
Guess we are going back to Hawaii boys
Jimmer effortlessly making his guy look like Leclerc😂😂
I can't get over the fact they've reusued TDU2 car models, which weren't good back then, let alone now.
TDU was legenday. I remember hanging out in parking lots and a lot of messing around. Honestly forza could have taken notes
It's sad, because i got so excited for this game (played the 2 back in the day and it was the best open world racing experience ever. Despite the physics, as far as my memory can go, cruising felt so enjoyable. - don't think we would have Forza or Crew without TDU/2). But once I started seeing the more recent trailers, I knew it wouldn't be a good game. And now that it launched, i decided to buy Motorfest instead, granted I have a lot to dislike in that game, but man if it's fun.
I'm not a fan of the idea of GT making an open world game as many people been asking.. But maybe if they ever do, we'll finally have a nice TDU experience again.