With extra delays than a Christopher Walken monologue, it was all the time going to be fascinating to see what sort of form Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown could be in when it was ultimately launched.
Originally scheduled for launch in September 2022, writer Nacon kicked the can down the highway quite a few instances, first to 2023, then to early 2024, then to a obscure common “2024” – however now, right here we’re, two entire years after its unique launch date, and it’s lastly prepared.
Was it definitely worth the wait? Effectively, sure and no. Photo voltaic Crown is a wonderfully fulfilling racing recreation nevertheless it suffers from quite a few polish and efficiency points that make us marvel if even delaying it by two years would possibly nonetheless have been dashing issues a bit.
Named after the competitors within the final Check Drive Limitless recreation (which was launched an entire 13 years in the past), Photo voltaic Crown’s plot revolves across the return of the titular championship. Set this time in Hong Kong Island, the participant – by way of their very own created avatar – has to participate in numerous races and different occasions in an try and construct recognition and ultimately win the Photo voltaic Crown itself.
The plot is a bit of on the sunshine aspect, however what’s there’s ridiculous. After touchdown on the Photo voltaic Crown’s large skyscraper resort in an enormous drone, you meet the competitors’s organiser Vivian Hughes, who’s carrying a comically futuristic shiny silver outfit.
This futuristic vibe continues to the automobiles themselves, as you’re quickly informed that each automobile you drive within the recreation has been fitted with the newest expertise, together with an AI assistant (you’re going to need to flip her voice off pronto, which you fortunately can).
One notably quirky design alternative is the way in which the sport justifies the HUD – reasonably than simply displaying your place, timer, map and the opposite ordinary racing recreation components with none clarification (like each different racing recreation), you’re as a substitute proven your racer placing in a particular contact lens with augmented actuality options inbuilt. It’s all very foolish however certain, why not.
For essentially the most half, Photo voltaic Crown includes driving across the recreation’s open world – which is a recreation of Hong Kong Island – and taking over races and numerous different challenges. Anybody conversant in the Forza Horizon video games ought to know roughly what to anticipate right here.
That could be thought of a barely unfair comparability provided that Check Drive Limitless was doing the entire open-world exploration factor earlier than Forza Horizon appeared on the scene, however the actuality is that within the 13 years since Check Drive Limitless 2 there have been 5 Forza Horizon titles, that means the Xbox collection might not have invented the style nevertheless it’s definitely the standard-bearer immediately.
As such, regardless of Photo voltaic Crown’s ancestry it’s onerous to play by the sport and never regularly draw comparisons to Forza Horizon, and in these comparisons Nacon’s recreation normally comes off second greatest.
The sport’s efficiency is likely one of the extra disappointing components. Gamers can select between High quality and Efficiency graphics modes, with the latter operating at 30 frames per second and the latter aiming for 60. The important thing phrase there’s ‘aiming’, as a result of we performed on PS5 and whereas it’s completely easy for essentially the most half, there are quite a few moments – and never rare ones – the place the body fee tanks for a superb 5-10 seconds and it’s actually distracting.
This normally doesn’t occur while you’re simply exploring, and in our expertise it’s most frequent throughout races when there are opponents in entrance of you, and appears to be worse when utilizing one of many in-car views. On condition that it’s not essentially the most strikingly detailed racing recreation ever made, nevertheless, it’s nonetheless disappointing when it happens, as a result of it’s not simply an odd stutter right here or there.
It also needs to be identified that the sport has an always-online requirement, one thing Nacon seems unwilling to alter. On condition that open-world racing video games are more likely to attraction to solo gamers, that is going to show to be an annoyance for some. Nacon says it’s as a result of the Photo voltaic Resort hub and the HQ of the clan you be part of had been “created as residing areas and assembly locations”, nevertheless it does really feel unfair to pull gamers into this in the event that they haven’t any want to mingle whereas they motor.
The dealing with is much extra of successful story. Photo voltaic Crown is developed by Kylotonn, which beneath its KT Racing label was accountable for seven WRC video games and a bunch of different off-road racers, so whereas it has a racing heritage it’s not normally used to tarmac. You wouldn’t realize it by taking part in this – automobile dealing with is tight, taking corners is satisfying and the general really feel is stable.
As for the place this driving takes place, Hong Kong Island is a big map and gamers are actively inspired to discover it – not solely to participate within the races which can be often added to it, but additionally to seek out the varied different landmarks together with gasoline stations, assembly factors, automobile dealerships, wrecks (which will be salvaged) and the like.
Completionists may even need to color the complete map white by driving alongside each highway, whereas round 300 hidden collectibles – consisting principally, however not completely of additional money – will also be discovered off the crushed observe. These are fortunately marked on the map, as a result of looking for the previous few in a location that dimension could be true needle-and-haystack stuff.
Regardless of all this, nevertheless, it’s onerous to develop into completely enamoured with the sport’s setting. Recreating such a big space should have been no imply feat and on a technical degree it’s spectacular, however a lot of it’s missing in character. The place different open-world racing video games have landmarks and areas that the participant can develop conversant in and possibly even connected to, a lot of this recreated Hong Kong Island feels prefer it serves its objective and never rather more.
A part of that is right down to a common lack of consideration to element – whereas the town itself could also be modelled effectively, the little extras which might make the distinction are lacking, and there are many areas which really feel reasonably generic – maybe comprehensible given the sheer dimension of the map, however the resolution was made to make it that dimension, in any case.
For a location with loads of buying districts, the variety of store designs is extraordinarily low. On a single strip of highway we drove previous the identical Maxi Drinks store 5 instances, and the identical Jamais Vu garments store 3 times. It could be a minor factor, nevertheless it’s the type of corner-cutting – and never within the helpful racing sense – that may kill immersion when you discover it, and gives the look you’re taking part in a product that has had a “that’ll do” mindset utilized to it at instances.
Certainly, “that’ll do” is the phrase that sums up Photo voltaic Crown typically. It’s in no way a foul recreation, nevertheless it doesn’t stand tall as one of many pinnacles of the style both.
Lengthy-time followers of the collection – and given it’s been 13 years because the final one there most likely aren’t many short-time followers – will simply be completely satisfied to see Check Drive Limitless again, and it’s not like Photo voltaic Crown is an affront to the collection’ legacy or something like that, removed from it.
Shopping for Photo voltaic Crown received’t actually be a mistake, then. It’s a wonderfully acceptable racing recreation that suffers from an uninspiring world map and a few efficiency points, neither of which drag the sport right down to a ‘should keep away from’ standing however do play their half in guaranteeing you’ll have a fairly good time with it, however nothing extra rousing than that.
