There’s a feeling you get when you start going fast, a sense of adrenaline that only pure speed can give you. Some choose to explore this in a controlled environment, riding roller coasters or going on other amusement park rides. But others like the rush of putting their hands behind the wheel and putting the pedal to the metal. And the best of those race to see who’s the best at feeling that rush.
The Crew 2 is a massive open world racing game that you explore by land, sea, and air. Set in the sunny San Francisco area, you’ll speed through event challenges across all varieties of terrain: from descending the green mountains on motorbikes, to soaring above them in a plane, to racing along the runway in the fastest autos on the market, and even making waves in a speedboat. There’s a large variety of choices between each vehicle type as well, with plenty of incredibly eye-catching and rubber-burning models from dozens of brands. (Well, only the Cars and Motorbikes burn rubber, but still!) And this selection is growing even more expansive in Ubisoft’s new Season 6 Episode 2 update, which is bringing the heat, or rather the chill, with a lineup of cars, decals, and accessories based on different winter and frozen inspirations. Whether you prefer the snowy outdoors or the warmth of the fire, you can beat the cold by burning rubber and enjoying the beautiful new unlockables.
The game has extreme polish in the visual department, with its realistic world and vehicles being contrasted by its flashy and sleek menu design. No matter where you are in the game, from the main menu to the most intense flight races or drag car showcases, the music perfectly accents and highlights your experience. You have the option to skip songs or to turn the music off if you get tired of what you’re listening to, but that’s unlikely to happen based on my experience. In every element besides the driving, the game shines with unique style and polish.
However, once you start to look under the hood of the game, you’ll find that not everything is in tip-top condition: for a start, although the map has a lot of space, most of it goes unused, making the world feel much smaller than it should. Similarly, the variety of events is smaller than it feels like it should be, making the races feel too similar to each other. And the main reason that you even go from race to race isn’t laid out at all: although you aren’t offered the ability to customize your character, their lack of dialogue and any motivation makes them feel like a non-entity in their own story. The only real purpose of doing anything is to garner more fame, which your generic character doesn’t quite feel like they deserve.
The Crew 2 was clearly designed with a console in mind, as any attempt to play on keyboard and mouse will result in immense frustration from a lack of precision. However, plugging in a controller won’t exactly help your handling, especially with the more intentionally slippery vehicles such as the speedboat and the plane. On the subject of the plane, don’t bother trying to fly it without actual flight simulator experience: with its unusually realistic control scheme, turning left and right in the air is nearly impossible without spinning the plane and performing extremely complex maneuvers. And its aquatic relative, the speedboat, isn’t safe either, feeling much too speedy and zippy for its own good. A mere moment of gas sends you flying forwards.
The main reason anyone plays a racing game comes down to two things: the vehicles, and the events. But these have their own problems as well. Every vehicle is locked behind some kind of paywall through either the game’s standard or premium currency. When succeeding is as hard as it is, getting these funds is an uphill battle made easier with real-world money. There’s also a seasonal pass to work on, which can also be completely skipped for cash. But if you want to put in the work to get these rewards, you’ll need to be prepared to put in a lot of time, and I’m not talking about the actual challenges: moving between menus and transitioning into and out of events takes an unusually long loading time for a modern game, although this is made more bearable by the menu visuals and music I praised above. What is impossible to enjoy, however, is the inability to restart a doomed run of an event. If you find yourself in dead last with no possible way to make a comeback, you’re forced to complete a lap of shame that can take twice as long as your opponents. These slogs to the end are made even more annoying by your coaches and co-pilots, who pop in at every checkpoint to remind you of your position. Thanks for letting me know I’m in last, guys, that’s very helpful. These narrators aren’t given enough character or personality for a newcomer to find them as anything more than unnecessary background noise.
Overall, The Crew 2 Season 6 Ep. 2 has a lot of potential: it has everything that a good driving game needs, but its controls, menu time, and quality of life features could do with a tune-up. With these small fixes and optimizations, the game would feel fresh and even more unique for its genre, playing like a Forza game built in a GTA world. As it stands, the game is relatively solid, but it yearns to reach its true potential. I look forward to potentially re-reviewing the game in the future, as well as keeping an eye on its season passes. If there’s ever a season that’s pure sci-fi or has a graffiti-themed car wrap, you can count me in!
For more information about The Crew 2, please visit thecrewgame.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter or #TheCrew2.
Related: The Crew 2: Season 6 Episode 1 Review for PC
Gaming is a passion that I, like many other people, hold near and dear to my heart. As an aspiring Game Writer and general Storyteller, I enjoy looking into the vast worlds and deep stories of every game I can. Then again, sometimes bad guys just need a good pummeling, and I am more than happy to provide!
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