The Crew 2 is one game that many people just look at and say “Meh another modern Ubisoft open-world game.” I was no different. But after giving the trial version of the game a try, buying it on sale, and playing it- my perspective has been changed. So in this review, we are gonna dissect Crew 2.

THE AMERICAN MOTORSPORT

The Crew 2 is an open-world arcade racing game set in the USA with an almost identical map structure and with a really WIDE range of non-military vehicles from all types of cars (drifting, street racing, sports) to an airplane you name it. There are monster trucks, bikes, boats, tons of offroad vehicles, and in some regions you can walk around as a human too! To switch between a vehicle while driving, just press the normal “1 2 3” number keys on your keyboard. There is a reason this game is called motorsport as it comes with a massive catalog to choose from. They are over 450+ vehicles in the game with more added each month. How is the car handling you ask? Well, it’s an arcade game, so don’t expect Dirt Rally but it still holds up. Vehicle damage is customizable it is also very diverse. The player can change anything about their vehicle with the only con being that some are not purchasable but are given randomly in an event or a race. The paint job variants are diverse and something you could waste hours in. And not only that, but you can also buy clothes for your driver. There is truly something for everyone

GAMEPLAY

The Crew 2 has 4 motorsports families, each with their own set of disciplines, which unlock as per the player’s popularity level. Yeah, this game has a follower system where doing some sick moves or completing events gives a certain amount of followers. Each motorsport family has its own set of events that the player needs to own a specific vehicle (some events let you loan a vehicle) and as you progress they reward with in-game currencies, tuning parts, and sometimes even new vehicles! The game has 2 types of in-game currency bitcoin and crew credits. While both are grindable in the game, Crew Credits are purchasable from UPlay and offer access to buy more exclusive vehicles. The game does not have a cop chase system like in Crew 1 or a single-player campaign. It is online only. There are also Live summits each weak which reward players handsomely and with new vehicles. The grinding in the game is long, but that is what makes the purchase of every new vehicle more rewarding. One question you might be wondering is what are the events. Well, there are tons of events and more unlock as you progress. They vary from airplane acrobatics, boat races, airplane races, car races, stunt races, timed events, timed stunt events, offroad races, monster truck events, motorbike events, and many many more to keep you hooked for an adequate amount of time and all set in a large lush map of United States of America making the crew 2 the largest open-world racing game ever.

THE DEVIL

Of course, it is a Ubisoft game so there will be something totally wrong with it.

-A large open world with a variety of motor vehicles comes with an array of graphics. The Crew 2 has a significant downgrade from Crew 1 and while I understand it is to make the vehicle switching seamless and make the game run of a lot of machines, I still think most of this should have been present in the settings so that the players can customize the graphics as per their system. For example, the LOD scale is the same for all devices, and it is low as fuck (f stands for fish). The lighting also accounts for the game’s horrible appearance. Some players have even mocked that it looks like a 2009 game. The buildings in the game look like cardboard cutouts. Crew 1 received a major graphical overhaul after its release and while there are no major hints at such things for Crew 2 yet, I hope Ubisoft considers it in the future. Now that we are talking about graphics, I wanted to add that there are some major graphics mods for the game which totally flip the switch but battle eye (the crew 2’s anti-cheat) temporarily bans users who do so.

A lack of police chases is still pretty confusing to me. There were cop chases in the prequel, they showed cop chases in the game trailers, there are literal police vehicles in the game plus police NPCs throughout the map (a fun fact you can chase the police NPCs) but still, there are no police chases in the game.

The way you upgrade a vehicle is very luck-based. You complete an event get some loot boxes, which open and provide random parts. There is no way to buy car upgrades (even with real money) so this thing actually sucks as you can’t customize the car as you want but how the randomness allows it.

Motorpass: this is basically a battle pass. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a paid battle pass in a 60$ game. Gaming is evolving every day. Though the rewards are nothing that you can’t live without, the exclusive vehicles it offers there are better than the ones which can be ground for free through the game.

BattlEye: Do you know about BattlEye? Oh, you will love this. Ubisoft and battle eye have been together since Jesus turned water into wine. Now, BattlEye SUCKS. It bans you for using a graphics mod. Meanwhile, this dude using speed hacks in public races and BattlEye doesn’t care. Seriously, BattlEye is not the ultimate “gold tier” anti-cheat!

CONCLUSION

If you are someone like me who is waiting for Microsoft to patch Forza Horizon 4 on steam, then Crew 2 is a good distraction. There is a ton to experience. The video editor in the game is super advanced. The photo editor is the best I have seen in any game. The radio features some killer tracks and the American map is perfect for large road trips. I can see the potential in it to be better than Forza if Ivory takes adequate steps and listens to the community. As for the conclusion, I recommend Crew 2 for large road trips with a large variety of transport options. It’s a game that can be so bad but at times really good and definitely really fun.