THE CREW (PS4)
With the advancement and growing popularity of online gaming, one of the newest trends chased by AAA publishers is Games as a Service. Although plenty of games before mixed solo and social play, GaaS games attempted to turn it into a business model of sorts with experiences dependent on a server and always online, constantly evolving and often supported for years to come, though the latter is certainly not guaranteed. The perils of this approach is that, once a game ceases to make money, they’re often shuttered, with players losing access to said title forever. The Crew is an unfortunate victim of this, though it was at least supported by Ubisoft for almost a decade. With its impending shutdown at the end of March 2024, it’s time to see how this critically divisive racer fares before it is forever lost.
Developed by Ubisoft’s Ivory Tower subsidiary, The Crew attempts to build a living recreation of the United States for players to race across, either in a series of story missions or against other players. The variety of car types is welcome as a handful of classes suit different racing disciplines and types of terrain. While there’s ample street racing, dirt and raid vehicles offer some offroad spice which proves plentiful in the Mountain States. Circuit vehicles are high-speed but harder to control, while Performance offers a middle ground between Circuit and Street. There are 40 vehicles in the game, which sounds small, but many can be multi-spec and allow you to experiment with varying stats without sacrificing your favourite brand. For those worried about getting stuck in difficult terrain with the wrong vehicle, a mobile garage helpfully allows you to swap quickly.
The Crew covers a remarkable range of locations and terrains, making for an incredibly broad driving experience
Driving feels sturdy, but it takes a while to fully appreciate it. As a GaaS, The Crew puts emphasis on role-playing stats and upgrading your vehicles. Every mission comes with a recommended level, and not meeting that makes the mission harder. You upgrade vehicles with parts earned as rewards, categorised with rarity colours like a looter shooter. Unfortunately, this has two negative effects. Firstly, the initial hours with this game feel like a slog. Your vehicle feels nerfed, underpowered and lacking bite, and the sense of speed is severely lacking as a consequence. The second impact is confusion, as the rarity and level systems clash, rendering the former feel somewhat pointless. Eventually, as you start to level up and earn better gear, racing grows more enjoyable and high-speed racing enters the fray as you gain access to Circuit and Perf spec vehicles. Those initial hours of play are definitely a hill to overcome.
The story missions are often enjoyable, at least, with a few particularly exciting ones involving taking down other cars, escaping the police and commandeering a high-spec vehicle and racing around a fictional speedrome. The missions can all be played in four-player co-op too, which is enjoyable. Sadly, the storytelling itself is pretty bad, with atrocious and cliched writing which can’t be saved by the talents of the likes of Troy Baker and D.C. Douglas. Faction Warfare also plays a role here, as you could select a crew tied to each district and accomplishments would improve their ranking such as PVP wins and completion of special missions. The latter offers a few multiplayer options including free-for-all, vehicular takedown or cops ‘n’ robbers, though patchy matchmaking and lengthy wait times diminish this. A few technical issues also serve to dampen the fun, such as glitchy accomplishments that fail to unlock despite fulfilling their requirements, as well as the game being prone to crashes.
The story missions are often enjoyable, at least, with a few particularly exciting ones involving taking down other cars, escaping the police and commandeering a high-spec vehicle and racing around a fictional speedrome. The missions can all be played in four-player co-op too, which is enjoyable. Sadly, the storytelling itself is pretty bad, with atrocious and cliched writing which can’t be saved by the talents of the likes of Troy Baker and D.C. Douglas. Faction Warfare also plays a role here, as you could select a crew tied to each district and accomplishments would improve their ranking such as PVP wins and completion of special missions. The latter offers a few multiplayer options including free-for-all, vehicular takedown or cops ‘n’ robbers, though patchy matchmaking and lengthy wait times diminish this. A few technical issues also serve to dampen the fun, such as glitchy accomplishments that fail to unlock despite fulfilling their requirements, as well as the game being prone to crashes.
FOCAL POINT: RACING THROUGH THE USA
Perhaps The Crew’s greatest accomplishment is Ivory Tower’s sublime recreation of the USA. It’s certainly not 1:1, which to be fair, would likely not be very fun to travel across, but the bite-sized version present is genuinely fantastic. Real-life cities including New York, San Francisco and Detroit are represented and chock full of landmarks such as Central Park. Plenty of these can be driven around, with that particular location offering a challenge for lapping it in under 65 seconds. Dividing the map into five sections, ranging from the West Coast to Mountain States including Las Vegas, gives each a distinctive tone and atmosphere much like their real-life counterpart, such as the glitzy, casino-laden Vegas Strip. Hundreds of landmarks are available to collect, hidden car parts can rebuild old classics and free drive racing allows you to create your own checkpoint challenges. It’s a technical marvel too, avoiding any loading times as you drive between states. It’s a real shame that when the sever closes, this version of the USA will be lost.
The Crew’s presentation features ups and downs. The visual quality would improve with the arrival of the Wild Run expansion, improving aspects such as lighting, HUD elements and texture work. It’s definitely an improvement, but there are still quite a few noticeable problems such as slowdown during busier races, textures popping in and ugly NPCs. However, considering the scope of the open world, some of these issues are more forgivable, and the improved lighting definitely creates a more distinctive contrast between day and night. The audio fares better, including a varied and lengthy soundtrack which mixes original compositions and licensed tracks. The latter features a range of genres, including ambient music and electronic, and proves enjoyable. The original tracks, which often make their presence felt during story missions, are adrenaline-pumping and push The Crew closer towards its ambitions to match action blockbusters like Fast ‘n’ Furious.
The story leaves a bit to be desired, but The Crew isn't short of tricky challenges within its open world
Ultimately, The Crew would receive mixed reviews and argely passed under the radar after the controversy-laden launches of Watch_Dogs and Assassin’s Creed: Unity in the same year. The large recreation of the USA is a real delight, making for varied and exciting racing when Ivory Tower played to these strengths. Unfortunately, the decision to make it a Games as a Service title proves a mistake, as progression proves a grind and spotty matchmaking can get in the way of its more positive aspects. Additionally, the throwaway story won’t really entice solo gamers to stick around. While it becomes unplayable as of the end of March, it stands as one of the first examples of always-online gaming, representing both the pluses and the perils of this approach.
|
VERDICT
"The Crew’s recreation of the USA is a delight, but grinding and spotty matchmaking can get in the way of its varied and exciting racing." OVERALL: 6/10 |
OTHER GAMES FEATURING AN AMERICAN ROAD RACE REVIEWED