The Crew 2 game Review - On The Road Again
The Crew 2: a recipe that finally worksThis time it’s good for The Crew 2, which after several previews and a beta phase, is coming onto the market today. After an interesting but not without flawed first try, the Lyonnais from Ivory Tower are back in the game with a more complete game, and above all much more fun. The ideal formula to spend the summer quietly, while waiting for the headlines of the new school year?
There is more in ideas at Ivory Tower. After the fairly forgettable release of The Crew in December 2014, the studio redoubled its efforts to give a new face to its game, which notably involved the creation of two extensions. It was undoubtedly the first, Wild Run, which redefined in depth what was then The Crew, paving the way for a continuation of good quality. We therefore forget the stories of American B-style revenge, to focus on the main strength of The Crew: its gigantic open world, the best of pretexts to create a XXXXXL sandbox conducive to motorized competitions of all kinds.
AMERICA, IF IT IS A DREAM, I WILL KNOW IT
We can never repeat it enough: the strength of this The Crew 2 is its gigantic open world and unparalleled richness. The United States, reproduced in its entirety, not on a 1: 1 scale of course, but which offers all the diversity of landscapes that can be expected from this continental country. Cities, deserts, mountains, forests, rockies, beaches ... There is everything, it is quickly seen. Until the reproduction of certain well-known sites in the country, such as Cape Canaveral, Meteor Crater, the Pier of Santa Monica… We have fun looking for the most iconic tourist spots and, good news, they are there, in all case for a good part of them. The introduction of new vehicles, namely planes and boats, asked designers to review their map, including the entire river system in the country, which was much less important in The Crew's first name. From now on, it is entirely possible to cross the country only by powerboat, for example by going up the Mississippi from New Orleans to Chicago, or to leave the great lakes of the north in the direction of the Pacific. The consequence of all of this is that the map looks slightly smaller than in the first episode, or at least, more compact. Everything is relative since it still took us a good half hour to make Las Vegas-New York in a Ford Mustang of 2015, when it had hardly been modified; by plane, allow a good twenty minutes to reach the east coast, starting from the Pacific. Which, you will agree, is quite impressive. Especially since these United States are not empty, on the contrary. Traffic, passers-by in the streets, varied fauna (foxes, rabbits, cats, dogs, crocodiles, birds of all kinds), something almost always happens on the screen, so that the world of The Crew 2 does not appear not overly artificial, which is often the “flaw” of many open world racing games. Starting with the Forza Horizon series, yet a standard meter of its kind.This geographical richness is obviously accompanied by a wealth of gameplay absolutely never seen in a title of this kind. The Crew 2 certainly introduces two new types of vehicles, but it is above all the number of disciplines represented that surprises. Grouped into four different categories (Street Racing, Freestyle, Offroad, and Pro Racing), the fourteen types of events are unlocked little by little, as we gain "followers"; drift, hypercar races, motocross, aerobatic, jetsprint, touring car, street race, rally raid, powerboat, monster trucks… The quantity of events offered by The Crew 2 commands respect and above all allows you to renew the experience very regularly It's simple, you never get bored, except maybe in the few disciplines that are not the most successful, and which we will talk about later. This very nice potpourri side should unfortunately not hide the main weakness of the game: what The Crew 2 does, taken independently (GT races, motocross, boat session, etc.), others do it, better. However, none of these titles combines all these possibilities on a single cake. The title of Ivory Tower does not seek to provide a hyper-complex motorsport experience, but above all, it is about variety and fun, and it does. This goes, as we will see later, through the sensations, but also through the richness of the tests: inevitably, with such a large playing field, no test resembles another.
In fact, in many ways, The Crew 2 reminds us of Steep, with its wheel allowing you to change vehicles on the fly, its different disciplines and its followers (XP, in Steep) as a progression. There is inevitably a little repetition, but here the system works better since everything is not available from the start and there is always the little carrot that pushes to play longer. Unlock new events, new disciplines, new vehicles ... Classic, for a racing game, in fact.
ON THE ROUTE OF MEMPHIS
Driving sensations, this is likely to debate with this The Crew 2 which here looks a lot like its big brother. The first episode needed several updates and fixes before offering an interesting ride; this will not be necessary with this suite which obviously benefits from the experience acquired since 2014 by Ivory Tower. Also keep in mind that the studio is made up, at least in the upper echelons, of alumni of Eden Games, to whom we owe the series of Test Drive Unlimited. Unsurprisingly, we thus discover a very, very arcade driving title, which perhaps lacks a bit of relief, at times: we are rarely heckled by the physical engine of the game which is very, very generous. We necessarily expected better from Ivory on this point, since this point had already been criticized a number of times. However, on the speed side, the sensations are indeed there, especially in hypercar, jetsprint, or rally cross, to name just a few. But some may protest against the lightness of mass transfers or the impression that at any time a loss of grip could cause disaster. We rarely feel "walking on a rope", this pleasant sensation sought by racing fans, where the slightest piloting error can lead to a road trip. Pity.It is therefore mainly thanks to the design of its circuits that The Crew 2 builds its intensity. You can find springboards and shortcuts everywhere; Missing a jump or a backstroke can sometimes be expensive, especially if you choose the "Difficult" level when starting your race. Each discipline, or almost, manages to find the little trick that makes racing more exciting: in jetsprint, it is possible to cut by small strips of dry land by sliding on the wet land; hypercar races are deceptively paced endurance races; in rally raid, you always have to bet on the route to follow ... and so on. Finally, there are really only two types of events that seem far below us: motocross racing, and powerboat racing. The first because very clearly, the physics of the game is not suitable for driving two wheels, even less in MX races. Powerboats because most of the routes are too wise and the sensations too flat, with rare exceptions.
There are also some legibility concerns, in almost all types of racing. Too often we have taken the wrong turn, the wrong direction. And there are plenty of reasons. Absence of clear indications on the screen, sudden change impossible to see coming due to the layout (after a big jump or at the top of a hill), lighting system of the game which is forgotten at times ... Without being omnipresent , far from it, this problem has too often pointed the tip of its nose and inevitably, that ends up annoying.
AMERIMECANO
The progression in The Crew 2 is quite simple: from the start of the game, you have access to the whole map, and to all the tests, all families combined. Or at least, the first disciplines that families welcome. However, as you stack victories and followers, you will have access to more and more events, unlock new disciplines and be able to get your hands on new vehicles. The revival is almost constant, frankly, and as there are always more things to do, it is appreciable that the system of progression like that of improvements of our racing cars are thus simplified. To upgrade your toys, The Crew 2 uses a system reminiscent of Need for Speed Payback, without the somewhat vicious economic system hidden in the shadows: at each race, you will be looting pieces of equipment that will improve your vehicle or any other racing car belonging to the same category. In more than thirty hours of play, we never had the impression of being slowed down or having to go back on certain races, to garner followers or loot; there are so many trials and varieties that everything goes very naturally, each time with the pleasant feeling of discovering something new. Or at least new in The Crew 2, since things, as fun as they are, remain fairly classic.Things can take another look with the online features of the title; At the time, The Crew sought to become the MMORPG's "racing game" counterpart, but things have changed in the meantime. The class and customization systems that accompanied it have given way to something much more open, but it's still possible to invite friends to challenge them across the US. This is done with a few button presses and grouping players is quite effective. We would no doubt have wanted some more advanced functionalities, such as the possibility of creating your own challenges, since this open world is a real invitation to creativity; hope that a dedicated tool will be quickly added to The Crew 2, which as it does not already offer things that we have known for several years, with the Forza Horizon, the latest Need For Speed and of course the first The Crew .
ONE DAY, I WILL GO TO NEW YORK WITH YOU
Now let's talk about one of the biggest concerns with The Crew 2, its visual appearance, which is quite disappointing. In racing, when the game is obviously not obliged to load the entire map, the rendering is quite satisfactory, with pretty light effects and colors that flatter the retina. But when you go back to free ride mode and you walk the map ... have it have it. We find almost everywhere the same somewhat coarse textures which already on The Crew had scratched our cornea; particle effects are reduced to their simplest expression, and if you are unfortunate enough to gain height on board an aircraft, you will gradually see the textures appear and disappear, sometimes quite violently. When you keep in mind that the game offers an absolutely gigantic open world and that the loading times are non-existent or extremely short (on Xbox One X, at least), we can understand and accept, to a certain extent. way. On the other hand, it should also be borne in mind that with this game, Ivory Tower wants to invite players to travel, to appreciate the United States for all that it has the most beautiful, in terms of landscapes and of geographic wealth. To get a foothold in such conditions is not easy; In this little game, the Forza Horizons are doing much better and unfortunately, the release in October of the fourth installment is likely to harm The Crew 2 since the players will necessarily make the comparison between the two, even though it doesn’t isn't really fair.PARTY IN THE USA
Despite his slightly light physical engine, his behavior that some will judge too arcade, or some frankly not exciting tests, it is clear that we had trouble letting go of our controller to start writing this article. And for good reason: The Crew 2 is a huge sandbox for anything and we spent hours discovering new events, riding for fun or creating challenges here and there. Especially by plane, so piloting is more technical than it seems; during our test, we spent hours aerobatic flying over New York or Chicago, zigzagging between buildings or flying under bridges, with the idea of achieving the craziest prowess, filming them and to make them discover to a few friends thanks to the very well done photo editor of The Crew 2. Especially since the developers had the good idea to include in their games two warbirds, the Spitfire and the P51 Mustang. After a few hours spent in the livery creator, we were delighted to be able to make somersaults on board these superb planes. If someone from Ivory Tower reads this test: don't hesitate to add others in the weeks and months to come: F4U Corsair, Messerschmitt Bf 109, MiG-3 ... Randomly, of course.The notes
+ Positive points
A gigantic open world ...
… And super well exploited
A sacred variety of trials and sensations
Lots of vehicles
Instant vehicle change system
Simple and effective progression
-Negative points
Despite some successful effects, the game is not very pretty: somewhat coarse textures, limited particle effects, clipping ...
Some legibility concerns during the race
We would have liked more online functionality, like creating and sharing challenges
The exciting powerboat races
Motorcycles completely missed
The interface is not always very practical
The Crew 2 does not invent anything and excels in nothing, and it is not really pretty. However, dare we say it, we like this little guy. By betting everything on the uninhibited arcade, and filling its title with new ways to play, Ivory Tower has finally found the best way to exploit this huge open world, and turned it into a gigantic sandbox. Not enough to revolutionize the genre, of course and all this is after all quite classic. But the formula works and if you get caught up in the game, you will have a hard time letting go of your controller.
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