8 minute read
the crew
Playing solo? You’ll still need to be permanently connected to the internet.
Publisher UbiSoft / DeveloPer iVoRY toweR FormAt xbox 360, xbox one (ReVieweD) / releAse DAte oUt now
Test Grind Unlimited
Alittle insight for you, readers: there’s no greater euphemism for ‘interesting but impotent’ than the word ‘ambitious’. See it in a review and you run/drive for the hills. The Crew is a textbook example of a really ambitious game. that word has a double edge to it, though, because it can also inspire hope. ambition can pay off. Unfortunately, thanks to an arcade driving model that’s never less than frustrating, hope has little place in The Crew.
The Crew is handicapped by its own scope and definitions. it’s a racing game that’s really an mmo RPg, but it’s an mmo RPg that’s crippled by the racing structure. it’s a racer with a vast, open world that deserves applause for its variety and sheer clout, but you’ll probably never see all of it due to a driving model that will make you scream in frustration.
Racing games need their cars to feel amazing from the start, or at the very least hint at how magnificent they’re going to become. while The Crew’s motion blurring and rechargeable nitrous place it firmly in arcade territory, there’s no nuance or
predictability to how cars will handle. You can’t operate by feel but instead by guesswork, estimates of what will happen as your motor lurches across the road and awkwardly spirals off bumps and crests. Jump into the options and reduce the deadzone by a good few notches and switch the model to ‘sport’ rather than the default with all the assists on, and life improves – but never to the point where you’d load it up to go racing for racing’s sake. reviewer and that’s a big problem, since the way you interact with the PAul tAylor Paulus McT @mynameispt world is by driving your car. it’s a real shame, as The Crew’s representation of the knowleDge north america is one of the whAt is it? most astonishing racing an open-world environments we’ve yet seen; racer RPg mmo set in a sprawling landmass that north america. could eat the rest of this year’s whAt is it like? open-world racing landscapes a cross-continent for breakfast. if The Crew is to trip in a decrepit be lauded for anything, it should Panda lashed with be this. ivory tower has skilfully go-faster stripes. carved and moulded the US who’s it For? into a flowing mass that takes People who refuse to you from the grimy concrete play Forza Horizon 2. of Detroit to swampy bayous in louisiana, before ripping through redwood forests and the gaudy sights of las Vegas, then powering back up north to snow-clad mountain peaks.
Joke time. what’s Ubisoft’s favourite flavour of crisps? Barbecrew.
all the key landmarks are here, a little bit closer together than you’d expect but still proudly on display. as is the Ubisoft way, there’s a daunting sense of magnitude when the map loads; as the atlas sprawls across the screen, icons representing all the players connected to the server at that particular time populate the continent. it really is masterful, and takes some inspiration from 2011’s Driver: San Francisco in the overhead view that pulls right out and lets you breathe it all in before zooming back in again. Publisher stablemate Watch Dogs tried to compensate for its compact nature with smaller, concentrated moments painted with a fine brush – groups of people beatboxing on a street corner, snaking alleys to get lost in – but The Crew goes for maximum exposure with broad strokes and it leaves an impact. it’s an illusion that works best when you’re zipping by at speed. take a moment to stop and smell the daisies and you’ll find there are none: fidelity is heavily sacrificed for stability. and don’t stare at the textures too long, mind, as you could easily be fooled into thinking you’re looking at a pretty last-gen title. world warrior
the world encourages discovery with its collectables and mini events, and – of course – by you stumbling on data stations that open up even more stuff to do in the area. the world is yours to explore, east coast to west, north to south, from the moment you’re past the first god-awful cutscene in a story that’s drawn from the same septic tank that Need for Speed swims in. frankly, it’s a cringe-fest the whole way through as alex taylor, looking like gordon freeman’s slicker brother, sits forlornly in a jail cell, having been framed for the murder of his brother in an outright laughable scenario ripped straight from daytime tV. he’s working undercover for the fbi, you see, and a supporting cast of painfully stereotypical suits and psychos flit in and out of his cross-continent slog, double-crossing one another. at least cutscenes can be skipped and voices muted. okay, the sub-pulpy narrative is a decent framework for the unfolding perks system, but did it have to be so invasive and bland with it?
Progression is tied to key points in the plot that unlock new lists of perks – some with enticing and crucial upgrades, such as discounting the cost of new cars or improving the braking power of everything in your fleet. the perks system is just one element of a rather convoluted progression system, though. cars have their own level that caps out around 1,300, while you also have a capped driver level of 50. feeding into this are further tiers for engine parts – gearbox, brakes, engine, differential and so on, all earned from story missions and micro events dotted around the map. these small events are kicked off seamlessly by you driving through them while in free roam, and while there are only three or four different kinds, the landscape offers enough variety to
Money for nothing
Four hours in, you’re given 100,000 Crew Credits, which you’d normally have to spend real money to buy. Don’t splash these on a car – re-invest them into perks that generate more XP and Bucks, because cash is tight. And it’s especially egregious when the microtransactions aren’t micro at all.
make them consistently entertaining. helpfully, they’ve been sprinkled so that you’ll inevitably knock over a few on the way to a mission, adding some bonus numbers to your stats. while the events smoothly segue from cruising to competing, the screen fades to black as the upgrade is bolted on. from there, you’re back to a standing start, which wrecks the flow. as for the mmo aspect, your mileage may vary. Strangers can be invited to events on the fly – although for the bulk of our review period we played it solo, after our friendly invites went steadfastly ignored. any game where co-op’s an option tends to be better with someone else, and for a few events such as takedown or escape missions, it’s crucial to have a partner or three by your side. the point, really, is to roll with a cluster of mates – a ‘crew’, y’see – which helps to boost your xP and cash, and to also join one of five factions that can then earn more cash and xP. You’re going to need as much money as you can muster, as the economy is stupendously tight-fisted, though you can fill your wallet via PvP events. there are also some audaciously expensive microtransactions. want to pick up a beastly RUf and can’t be bothered grinding your way there? feel free to shell out around £30 of actual money.
The Crew gets many things right. the framerate is solid, the integration of people into your play session is sound and the soundtrack is so very now. Points for that, then, but who cares when almost everything else around it saps your will? let’s be blunt. You’ll be bored of The Crew’s awful plot, the anaesthetised driving model, the world that – by description alone – deserves to inspire awe but instead leaves you feeling ambivalent. You’ll be tested by the poor economy, the lacklustre graphics and the underwhelming sound design. there’s beauty woven into The Crew, but the individual threads have formed a shabby fabric. it’s a patchwork quilt that, if you were going to give it a title, would be called ‘failed ambition’. oXm
There are a few patiencetesting hourlong races, and even one that runs for four hours.
The OXM verdict
KeY inFlUenCes
50 30 20
50% Need for Speed: The Run 30% Test Drive Unlimited 2 20% A greasy workshop manual
wOrse ThAn…
ForzA horizon 2
While southern Europe may not have the diversity of North America, it’s a glittering gem rather than a roughly buffed stone, and it has a far bigger dealership of beautiful motors. MeTACriTiC COMPArisOn
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