The predecessor, “The Crew”, had to deal with some criticism regarding handling and the lack of MMO components, Ubisoft aims to improve everything with The Crew 2. How does the beta of the new The Crew spin-off play? Our author Robert took a look around in the beta of “The Crew 2” for a test.
Admittedly, the reviews and ratings of the first part put me off. The Crew had little in common with the “auto-MMO” it was advertised as. The handling was vague and topped off by annoying rubberband AI.
For the second part, Ivory Tower launched a multi-day beta phase, which I played through more or less – and the impressions are quite positive. At times, I couldn’t help but reference Destiny – but one step at a time.
The Crew 2 Beta in Test – The Story
What I saw of the story in the beta mostly caused me to shake my head. Loaded with clichés and silly lines, I often felt more embarrassed than during Stromberg (and that says something).
The few dialogues were boring and poorly synchronized. The story aims to tackle a potentially exciting theme: the tension between illegal street racing and legally organized associations with all their pros and cons.
As already in the predecessor, the story will likely not win any awards; however, that is secondary in a fun racer. Primarily, it is about driving – and that is enjoyable!
The Crew 2 Beta in Test – The Game World
As in the first part, the developers recreated the USA. It takes almost a full hour for free driving from Los Angeles to Miami in Florida. The game world is not sparse or thinly populated; on the contrary, it is very lively and brimming with cities, people, animals, and side tasks.
Here a speed trap, there a hidden reward – even the beta offered plenty of variety. Visually, The Crew 2 is a feast for the eyes. The water effects in the powerboat races are some of the most realistic I’ve seen in any PlayStation 4 game.
Depending on how far you move away from the coast with the boat, the structure and characteristics of the water change. The waves become stronger, the water more turbulent. Individual droplets remain clearly visible on the ship.
The Crew 2 Beta in Test – The Vehicles
The game offers everything a racer’s heart desires: From normal cars for street races to sports cars to boats and airplanes, you have a large variety of available means of transportation. Each vehicle has its own events and races, which were not yet unlocked in the beta.
At least in the beta, each available vehicle could be purchased and tested, albeit not as part of official races. Even Formula 1 cars (Red Bull and Mercedes) were among the controllable vehicles.
Although the catalog covers many manufacturers like Lamborghini, Ferrari, BMW, Harley Davidson, etc. – due to the many different vehicle classes, it remains to be seen whether the available vehicles will remain exciting in the long term.
The Crew 2 Beta in Test – The Vehicle Handling
Already after the first curve in my Audi TT, I know I’m playing an arcade racing game. The handling of the first part was criticized for its vagueness, a criticism that I can confirm for the second part as well.
Especially the larger rally cars reacted vaguely and unnaturally. However, during my test drives with the RB13, the Formula 1 car from Red Bull, I was surprised that the vehicle lay on the track like a vacuum cleaner.
Despite the controls, the races are a lot of fun. Many sneaky routes and shortcuts invite experimentation. However, you must not be squeamish – the quickest route often leads over sidewalks, through traffic lights or dumpsters. Almost everything can be destroyed.
I also couldn’t notice any annoying rubberband AI. Races were sometimes won with more than 30 seconds lead. Want to see for yourself? I recorded the following race – fittingly, it snowed in Las Vegas:
The Crew 2 Beta in Test – The Improvement of Vehicles
With each story race won (-level), parts will be thrown at your feet with which you can improve your vehicle (Guardian). These parts have now taken on the quality levels known from MMOs: gray, green, blue, and purple.
Your total power level is indicated by a performance level that corresponds to the totality of your gear:
By the way, blue and purple quality gear offer various perks such as faster nitro charging or improved defensive stats. During the beta, I struggled to bring the last part to the maximum value of 280. Perhaps I should have gone into the glass chamber for that.
Of course, this type of progression is primarily known from MMOs – however, I have not seen anything like this in a racing game. If Ivory Tower brings even more various perks and parts into the game, it could certainly create the collecting spiral that also made Destiny stand out.
The Crew 2 Beta in Test – Online Modes
The predecessor was still advertised as a car-MMO (a reputation the game never lived up to); the second part is supposed to be better. Well, at least the beta, however, did not provide more reasons to call The Crew 2 a car-MMO.
We could play the story races in the crew, but it did not make a real difference. We couldn’t compete against each other yet, which hopefully will be possible in the main game. Overall, it will be exciting to see how the developer presents the online component in the main game – and what will ultimately be possible.
Examples could be long-distance races in which all crew members participate or team competitions in other disciplines. Regular events, such as those also held in Gran Turismo, could also increase long-term motivation.
The Crew 2 Beta in Test – Conclusion / Summary
A huge, open game world packed with missions, rewards, and side quests – The Crew 2 promises to be a hefty title in terms of volume. Moreover, the game world looks fantastic – especially the water effects leave mouths agape.
The day-night changes are also moodily staged. The transition is not abrupt, like in many games; rather, individual gradations of daylight are very clearly visible.
Whether the online component delivers what the manufacturer promises will be revealed upon release. There was relatively little to see of that in the beta.
The Crew 2 will be released on June 29, 2018, for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Did you play the beta? How did you like it?
