The Check Drive Limitless duology’s mixture of digital tourism, arcade racing, and open world exploration endeared it to a sizeable crowd over a decade in the past, however regardless of its apparent recognition, it has spent what looks like an eternity in a deep slumber. Now, 13 years on from the collection’ final instalment’s launch, it’s coming again into the limelight with Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown. However with the likes of Forza Horizon and The Crew having delivered comparable experiences to what the Check Drive Limitless video games had been identified for, and doing so a lot better than they ever did (no less than in Forza Horizon’s case), simply how profitable of a revival of the franchise is Photo voltaic Crown? Does it capitulate beneath the strain of bringing the collection again from the useless whereas additionally competing in opposition to heavyweight friends, or does it flourish beneath it and race by means of the end line with velocity and elegance?
The reply, as ever, is someplace in between these two extremes, although in case you had been to press me for a extra concrete response, I’d say the sport is far more of a hit than it isn’t. It actually is usually a bit tough across the edges, each technically and when it comes to its mechanics and balancing, which suggests it doesn’t ever fairly hit the heights that a few of its aforementioned opponents have scaled over the course of the previous couple of years, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a largely pleasant racing expertise with a properly designed open world map that’s additionally at all times an ideal pleasure to easily cruise by means of, even in case you’re not taking part in an precise race or occasion.
“Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown is a largely pleasant racing expertise with a properly designed open world map that’s additionally at all times an ideal pleasure to easily cruise by means of.”
It shouldn’t shock you to be taught that Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown’s largest power is its setting, which is touted by developer KT Racing as a 1:1 (or close to 1:1, on the very least) recreation of Hong Kong island. The digital tourism side is usually an important a part of comparable open world racers that transport gamers to real-world places (or, alternatively, these impressed by them), and similar to the earlier two Check Drive Limitless video games did again of their time, Photo voltaic Crown succeeds in that specific space with flying colors. From the dense city jungle of town itself to the precise jungles surrounding it, from rolling hills and big highways to seashores and extra, Photo voltaic Crown’s open world Hong Kong is filled with attractive vistas to witness, and exploring it and easily taking within the sights at all times stays enjoyable.
It doesn’t fairly seize the competition vibe of comparable open world racers – the Photo voltaic Crown competitors doesn’t fairly really feel as a lot of an all-consuming festive factor for the sport’s recreation of Hong Kong as, say, merely current in Mexico did in Forza Horizon 5 – nevertheless it does a very good job of transporting gamers to the attractive, dense, neon-lit metropolis. On high of that, the addition of the 2 totally different clans – the Streets and the Sharps – additionally contributes to the sport’s aesthetic fairly a bit, with every clan bringing their very own model of favor and luxurious, one thing that the sport focuses on closely. If nothing else, that helps the sport craft an id for itself that feels fully its personal, not one thing that it’s borrowed from a competitor.
However although the sport’s map is clearly a sight to behold, when it comes to the precise driving gameplay, Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown may be sometimes irritating. For essentially the most half, vehicles really feel good to drive, although some tough spots make it a considerably uneven expertise at times- like collisions with even the smallest destructible objects inflicting what appear to be disproportionate lower in velocity, or the dealing with being a bit too stiff with a sizeable portion of the vehicles within the recreation, which might additionally take some getting used to. The latter specifically is usually a nuisance, particularly in races that require quite a lot of sharp turning.
“By way of the precise driving gameplay, Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown may be sometimes irritating.”
In the meantime, Photo voltaic Crown’s online-only nature additionally implies that a few of the handy options you’d in any other case anticipate to see in a racing recreation usually are not current right here, from one thing so simple as with the ability to pause mid-race to even one thing like having a rewind possibility for somebody who wants it- which suggests restarting the race from scratch is usually your solely recourse if issues go poorly, which is made but extra inconvenient by the truth that races require you to desert them after which begin them once more fairly than merely having a restart possibility (aside from within the tutorial, which is totally single-player), with the one various being to pick out the restart possibility supplied on the very finish of each race. I perceive that, as successfully a racing MMO, Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown requires a persistent web connection, nevertheless it’s not like different comparable shared world racers haven’t had solo choices for individuals who need them, so it’s disappointing that the identical isn’t the case right here.
Coming to the precise races and occasions that it has on supply, nevertheless, there’s so much to love about Photo voltaic Crown. There’s quite a lot of acquainted stuff on supply right here, from common races and time assault occasions to hurry traps and what have you ever, in addition to different actions that the sport throws in so as to add its personal flavour, together with meetup spots the place you possibly can meet up with different gamers, wrecks to hunt out to unlock basic vehicles, workshops and dealerships to improve and buy new vehicles, and extra. Domination races specifically are quite a lot of enjoyable, with the aim being to go by means of checkpoint gates forward of as many opponents as you possibly can, with every gate offering you factors primarily based in your place, and the racer with the best factors whole on the end line successful the occasion. There’s additionally the Photo voltaic Resort, a towering skyscraper that serves because the central hub for the Photo voltaic Crown competitors, the place gamers can stroll round in first individual exterior of their vehicles (which is true of dealerships and workshops as properly). There’s so much to do in Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown’s Hong Kong, and quite a lot of it tends to be fairly pleasant.
Development is one other space the place the sport largely will get issues proper. XP takes the type of rep in Photo voltaic Crown, with repute stage will increase bringing with them not solely new occasions and races to tackle, but additionally new elements to buy and equip in your vehicles, each performance-related and beauty. It’s a easy system executed in easy trend, and the tip result’s the sport doing a strong job of holding gamers motivated to maintain growing their repute. It additionally helps that as you improve your vehicles (or purchase higher ones), you possibly can usually very tangibly really feel the enhancements in the way in which they drive or deal with, which suggests the rewards for growing your repute virtually at all times really feel significant.
On the similar time, it must be mentioned that development is a bit sluggish in Photo voltaic Crown. The open world digital tourism racer style is one which encourages gamers to play at their very own tempo, benefit from the vibe of the setting, and never fear an excessive amount of about having to progress in a really particular approach. In Photo voltaic Crown, due to the sluggish development, there are occasions the place it looks like there aren’t sufficient occasions accessible to have all of the factors you want to the subsequent required stage for the unlocks you’ve obtained your eye on, which suggests you may be caught replaying races (which, fortunately, does improve your rep). That is an excellent greater drawback within the early hours of the sport, the place there are even fewer actions on supply.
“Within the state that it exists proper now, Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown remains to be a great recreation, if not essentially an ideal one.”
Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown additionally stumbles considerably with its technical elements. Although it’s clearly a great wanting recreation – as I discussed whereas discussing the numerous attractive sights and sounds of Hong Kong – from a purely technical standpoint, it’s a bit tough across the edges. I’ve skilled distinguished points with murky draw distances, texture pop in, and the occasional minor visible or animation glitch, particularly when it’s human characters being proven on display screen fairly than vehicles (which does occur every now and then, each in cutscenes and through gameplay). The sport additionally suffers from efficiency points, even on the 60 FPS Efficiency Mode, which is what I’ve caught with for essentially the most half. I’ve encountered vital and noticeable body charge drops throughout quite a lot of races, which is the very last thing you need in a recreation corresponding to this one- not solely a racer, however an always-online racer. Hopefully KT Racing shall be making use of a number of layers of polish to the sport within the coming months.
Within the state that it exists proper now, nevertheless, Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown remains to be a great recreation, if not essentially an ideal one. It has its justifiable share of noticeable flaws, from its efficiency and technical points to the occasional frustrations with the driving mechanics, however from its dense and big open world map to the way it permits you to merely exist on the earth that it has crafted, there’s so much to love right here as properly. Folks will come to totally different conclusions on whether or not or not it’s well worth the lengthy, lengthy wait after the final recreation within the collection, however on the finish of the day, there may be no denying that Check Drive Limitless Photo voltaic Crown is, on the minimal, a enjoyable, participating open world racer.
This recreation was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
