The Crew
Overview -
'The Crew' is Ubisoft’s foray into the road racer genre. It was developed primarily by Ivory Tower with assistance from Ubisoft Reflections. Ivory Tower has a large number of developers from Eden Games, best known for the 'Test Drive' and 'V-Rally' franchises. Ubisoft Reflections is formerly Reflections Interactive, which worked on the 'Driver' racing series.
Video Review
Some of the cars look nice, with smooth textures and detailed lighting. Others lack the slick appearance of those found in other racing titles. Outside of the car, the game suffers from odd pop-ups and visual artifacts, and a comparatively short draw distance (very important in a game where the camera frequently travels above 100mph). Objects in the distance are fuzzy, and an added motion blur at high speed just disoriented me instead of the desired effect of making me think I’m going really fast.
Audio Review
The cars sound suitably powerful, especially engines in the perf and circuit specs. The in-car radio soundtrack has several modern rock, hip-hop, and electronica stations with good selections. The techno-inspired score is catchy when it is not drowned out by an engine, police sirens, or the radio. The voice acting is average, even if the tepid script doesn’t help.
Final Thoughts
'The Crew' is a strained lovechild of 'The Fast & the Furious', a pay-to-win MMO, and the “always on and never alone” character of social media. Under the grimey physics, abusive AI, and lame story, there is almost a decent casual racer here. The distinction between city environments makes it somewhat fun to drive around the country, even if the tedious missioning and lack of a real reason to play in co-op undermine its charm. If you are a fan of racers, there are far better places to spend your money.