I was a big fan of the original Test Drive Unlimited, which was set on the island of Oahu. Since I had recently visited there, it was cool to drive on the same roads (and many more) on a map that more or less matched reality. The fact that it was optionally multiplayer was incidental; I mostly played single player and enjoyed exploration, particularly accessing the off-limits airport runways and a secret island off the coast. The second TDU game, set in Ibiza and reprising Oahu, didn't hold my interest but as usual I enjoyed the exploration.
Which brings us to the new Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown game, for which I have many notes. I bought the Gold Edition for early access and the in-game bonuses, though so far I've only found some clothing items. The first several minutes show me unsuccessfully trying to access a server (apparently there's no offline play, at least at the start, and they weren't quite ready at 1 a.m. Pacific when the game unlocked). When I did get online, I had to cut the feed to set up a mandatory account which should have been optional and available to set up later. The car control is decent though not as a precise as my go-to open world racing series, Forza Horizon.
I tore through the prologue races and landed in Hong Kong to find... no way to invert look while in first-person avatar mode. This made for some awkward navigation. Finally I bought my first car and started the part of the game I love - just driving around and seeing the sights.
As usual with these sorts of games, your mileage may vary:
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