Title: The Crew 2
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Cost: $59.99
Rating: Teen, but only because of music lyrics
Score: 6/10
The Crew 2 is an ambitious arcade-style racing game that ultimately promises a little more than it can deliver -- at least so far.
Players will race through land, air and sea in an effort to become "The King of All Motorsports" in challenges set across the breadth of the United States.
The game has a pretty immense scale -- it's set in an open world, and it is possible to drive from New York to Los Angeles, touring through plains, forests, canyons and historic landmarks, like Mount Rushmore -- but it's a condensed trip that can be completed in less than an hour.
Inside this open-air map, all kinds of racing options are presented. There's street racing, cross-country tours, off-road motorbiking, power boat racing, aerial acrobatics and more.
The vehicles are all real brands and models, so if it has been your dream to drive through the Great Plains in a Shelby GT500, well, that can be done.
To jump-start your career as the ultimate driver, you're given a free vehicle in each of the major disciplines. Dozens of other vehicles are unlockable once you've earned enough money and fame with your driving skills, but I'll warn you now it's a long and grindy road to get them all.
The plot of the game is vastly different from its predecessor. While The Crew's main character was a criminal who turned FBI informant -- on the run from gangs and cops -- in this sequel (more like a reboot, really), you are an unnamed rising star, and your goal is to earn money and "followers" on social media.
Winning races, doing stunts, blowing through speed cameras, backflipping a motorcycle off the top of Mount Rushmore, etc., will boost your numbers and pave the way to becoming America's racing king.
There's not really much story, and the dialogue and voice-overs can get pretty cheesy with their unrivaled adulation of you. There are also no cops chasing you for blasting through a speed-trap camera at 400 mph, which in the game is probably a good thing.
The races themselves I found fairly difficult, but it's also very possible I'm not that good at racing games. The cars handle themselves in a pretty loose, arcadey fashion -- it won't have the grounded realism of racing games like Forza and Gran Turismo. In most races it's not just a simple matter of following the track to get from Point A to Point B faster. There often are hidden shortcuts, ramps and other tricks that can be used to bypass opponents and get to the finish line faster.
Unfortunately I also had some criticisms for the game. It was hard to know just which obstacles a car could plow through. I was somehow able to mow down small trees, power-line poles and street barricades without so much as a dent, but sometimes a 2-foot-tall wooden fence would prove to be an immortal object, immune to destruction.
Speaking of crashes, though, the cars are pretty much indestructible. Driving 200 mph into a brick wall won't even scratch the paint.
And as for the social media aspect, it would have been more interesting had there been a way to lose followers or money for bad performances. Win or lose, every effort will be rewarded in The Crew 2.
There is a multiplayer option, but it's limited to four people only. You can invite your online friends to become part of your crew, and then they can participate in races or just cruise around the map with you.
However, despite the fact that an active Internet connection is required at all times (there is no offline play option), there's currently no competitive online racing option. Developer Ubisoft has said it will introduce that option in December, but that's a long time away.
Ubisoft has said there will be free updates every few months, adding vehicles, racing disciplines, modes and other features. For example, in September a new mode called "Gator Rush" will introduce hovercrafts into the game.
It would also be nice if they added in more landmarks across the United States to view on cross-country road trips.
The Crew 2 is pretty close to being an excellent racing game, but sadly it might take about a year's worth of updates and new content to reach its peak performance -- and by that time, other games may well have left it in the dust.
ActiveStyle on 07/23/2018