It’s strange the effect racing games can have. If done well, they have the ability to feel so high-tech and “next-gen” that games of other genres have a hard time competing. Heck, a game like F-ZERO GX still feels like I’m living in the future (especially when emulated in HD), and throw it on an Oculus Rift and all of a sudden it’s like 2025 showed up early. Ubisoft’s The Crew is no space-racer, instead opting for standard street cars and tracks, but its glamorous visuals and impressive open world more than compensate. I wasn’t able to fully free-roam at PAX, but I was able to explore a sectioned-off area and try my hand at a few missions.
I began by simply roaming the countryside and driving like a pseudo-maniac, and boy does this game look nice. Even the surface of my car was a marvel to look at, its exterior shining and reflecting dramatically as I drove through various lighting scenarios. I will say, my car wasn’t exactly equipped for off-road theatrics, and the result of such behavior is far more realistic (as it should be) than I’m used in GTA V or your typical arcade racer. Still, the damage effects for each car are absolutely phenomenal, and are far more realistic and accurate than I’ve seen in nearly any other racer. The extent to which my car was disheveled and not just beat up, but actually dirty as a result of where I’d driven was thoroughly impressive.
Before long I was told to quit screwing around and try a mission, and try a mission I did. Lucky for me, the mission was of the search and destroy variety, requiring that myself, an Ubisoft rep, and a few other players hunt down an enemy vehicle by slamming into it and reducing its health meter. The game gave me a car designed for off-roading this time, so the skills I’d build driving a coupe through the muddy wilderness finally began to pay off.
I’ll admit, I didn’t find this mission particularly easy. In fact, even with the Ubisoft rep on our side, we failed to take down the dirt-encrusted pickup truck before the allotted time elapsed. That said, off-roading in The Crew is incredibly fun, and feels quite authentic. I was most impressed by the game’s ability to maintain this sense of realism and of controlling an actual car, with weight and specific handling, while also maintaining an overall fun and reasonable feel to the driving. Unlike my E3 demo where I was put behind an actual, physical wheel, realism didn’t come close to eclipsing fun from what I played at PAX. The balance was quite superb.
I do wish the game’s touted open world had been available as a part of my hands-on, and the fact that the sample area was so tiny is rather disappointing. I realize there was an open beta on PC, but otherwise, nobody has even explored the supposed biggest feature of an upcoming holiday 2014 game! There’s also an upcoming closed console beta for September, which I’ll do my best to be a part of.
Otherwise, there’s not a whole lot else to report on The Crew’s PAX presence. The car lineup can be found here, and the two vehicles I drove looked and felt excellent. I’m interested to see what sort of tuning options–either via actual car customizations or control tweaks from in-game menus–are available for players who might prefer a looser, more arcade-y input style, but I couldn’t uncover anything like that when I looked for it. Obviously the former will be included, but for the final game we’ll have to see about the latter.
Related: This is How Big The Crew’s Map Is
To me, the most exciting aspect of The Crew is its planned RPG elements, and that’s something I haven’t had a taste of yet at all. It feels odd to walk away from a PAX demo with very little indication (aside from next-gen splendor) of how a final game will fare, but in the case of The Crew, we’re just going to have to wait.
