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“The Crew” sets out to be a massive, multiplayer racing game unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. You can form “crews” with anyone and take on other factions for money. Or you can drive from New York to Los Angeles in a single sitting. You can buy a Chevrolet Camaro and fit it with a lift kit and big tires to go offroad. “The Crew” promises so much.
Yet, in actuality, it delivers so little good content.
The Good
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What “The Crew” does have going for it is an idea:
exploring the U.S. The virtual world is scaled down from the real thing,
of course, but the sheer size of the map Ubisoft has created is
absolutely astonishing. It took about a half hour to drive from Chicago
to New York: That doesn’t sound impressive, but consider that you could
get across the entire map of other games in that time.
The biggest draw for “The Crew” is its multiplayer mode,
but there’s also a huge number of story missions to complete throughout
the country. It’s definitely enough to keep you busy for a while, if
you’re a solo player. Joining multiplayer matches was easy and fluid,
when I could find people playing. But this is a brand-new game, so the
population will grow soon.
Aside from these things, there’s also -- well, not much to say. Nothing nice, at least.
The Bad
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It’s hard to know where to begin. “The Crew” is
super-ambitious, but it falls completely flat in execution. Sure, the
world is big, but there’s nothing impressive in it. Yes, there are
missions, and you can drive to representations of U.S. locales to eat
time -- but the scenery is just so boring. All the towns look depressing
and generic, aside from obvious geographical monuments (Gateway Arch,
Cape Cod, etc.).
Ubisoft could have made the locales at least feel distinct
with local radio stations/music. Imagine Eminem and The Temptations in
Detroit, Chuck Berry and Nelly in St. Louis. Maybe the Beastie Boys in
New York. Perhaps Fall Out Boy in Chicago. Instead, there’s 30 or so
random tracks built in (with Lorde’s “Royals” making an appearance for
some reason). Thankfully, there’s always the “import your own music”
function, because you can listen to “Royals” only so many times on a
cross-country drive.
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Can we talk about how the game looks? I know I was sent a
PlayStation 4 copy, but I have a hard time believing this isn’t a
project from four or five years ago -- it’s completely outclassed by “Forza Horizon 2,”
as described by Eurogamer. Pavement looks OK, but the cars are jagged
and lack a surprising amount of detail on next-generation consoles.
Cutscenes look nice (prerendered stuff almost always does), but the bulk
of the game isn’t attractive.
So the world is boring and ugly. That would be a bit more
excusable if the rides were entertaining. But they’re not good, either.
Now, granted this is an arcade racer and not a racing sim -- I’m not expecting “Gran Turismo”
-- but the physics make absolutely no sense. It’s like the cars are
made from elastic gummis; the rear ends swing around with minimal
steering inputs, bobbing and weaving like the chassis are jello. They
never properly settle in corners, and they won’t hold a drift.
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They’re hard to rein in, so you’re going to hit things.
Often. Again, that’s to be expected in a game like this. However, it’s
never clear what’s going to damage your car or slow you down. Grass
slows you down like a sand trap, but hit a telephone pole and your car
bounces off like a kid on a trampoline. Pedestrians flail away from your
car like they’ve just discovered spiders in their bathrooms. Wildlife
glitches away. Stop signs can literally stop you.
The physics problems don’t end there. Even high-powered
rear-wheel drive cars can barely powerslide. They can’t even do burnouts
or donuts! But it doesn’t matter what configuration your car of choice
is, they all handle like low-powered, high-grip, all-wheel-drive cars.
What’s the point of having a Nissan R34 GTR if it has to handle like a
Nissan 370Z?. Everything is supposed to be just as good as everything
else in “The Crew” -- and that’s made for a collection of boring,
questionably detailed cars.
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Then there’s the uneven, ludicrous difficulty. It’s just not fun -- cops
are overtly aggressive, ganging up on you and slamming you into
oncoming traffic, even at low wanted levels. The fact they can keep up
with a 200-MPH supercar in their standard-issue Crown Victorias is
preposterous in itself. I’m willing to suspend some disbelief for an
arcade game, but when 130-MPH cars are pulling hard past a Ford GT --
it’s nonsense. The same goes for the knockoff Volkswagen Passats keeping
up with a race spec GT at 240 MPH: These moments are just scripted
nonsense to create tension, until you pass some kind of imaginary line.
Never mind that the cops have such an idiotic sense of justice they may
as well not exist. Speed past them at 150 MPH? That’s OK! Nudge a fence?
“Dispatch, we have reports of a reckless driver, pursuing suspect.”
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Police officers and story hitmen aren’t the only
dim-witted, cheating adversaries: Race opponents get random bursts of
speed to catch you in a straight line, even if you’re much faster than
they are, just to make the finish closer. Everything you win comes from a
battle of attrition, not skill.
You’ll get a reward for every race you clear, but it takes
so long to grind for meaningful amounts of parts/upgrades/money. Even
with your own crew, it’s gonna take a long time to buy other cars (of
which there aren’t enough, about 40 in total). A basic, “fullstock” (the
term the game uses for a completely unmodified vehicle, well, except
for the nitrous oxide installed for some reason) 1967 Chevrolet Camaro
costs more than $250,000.
Or you could spend a few “Crew Credits,” which you can obtain most easily through microtransactions. Nobody wants to buy a $60 game and be greeted with microtransactions. , as indicated by commenters at NeoGAF. But that’s the only way to grow your car collection without slaving away for weeks.
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Now, there is a story in “The Crew,” although it’s one on
par with the corniness of any recent “Need For Speed” game: generic
white dude (in this instance outfitted with beard and oversize glasses
to be trendy) gets into trouble. Attractive female law officer shows up
to spring him in exchange for help with revenge. Most of the side
characters are pretty terrible, but Eric Tsu is an entertaining
sociopath at least.
And you always have to be online to play. Even for solo missions. Plus, you have to also sign into Ubisoft’s annoying uPlay service that nobody likes, as suggested by commenters at Kotaku.
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Conclusion
“The Crew” is like “Need For Speed” with an open world,
fewer cars, ugly graphics, uneven difficulty and bad physics. If you
want an open-world racing game, “Forza Horizon 2” is still the one to
get right now.
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