The Crew Becomes the World's First CAR.P.G.

 

               For the most part racing fans and petrol heads had two types of games to play at their disposal. On one side, games like Forza focused on tweaking a vehicles' functional attributes in highly detailed simulated environments  while titles like Need For Speed were more about showing off ones ride while avoiding the law in an more arcade fashion. Both genres have attempted to bring these two different groups together but have yet to fully accomplish that goal. At E3 last week a new challenger competing to become the new driving heavyweight appeared and will be brought to us by the same company that brought many other racing franchises like..... Assassins Creed and Splinter Cell? Ok Ubisoft is not known for bringing epic triple-A driving titles to consumers as of yet. "Driver San Francisco" (their highest rated driving game to date) was fun but certainly didn't set the gaming community on fire. But what started out looking like another commercial for Michelin tires quickly became an amazing trailer that likely had EA and Turn 10 Studios feeling bits of jealousy. That newcomer responsible is "The Crew" and it hopes to be one of the first great releases for the next gen systems along with PC and is due out in early 2014.

             

Vehicles can be stripped down to their frames and rebuilt from the ground up.

             At first glance it becomes clear that The Crew is gonna be another one of those titles people like to classify as, "car porn" when it comes to customizing their rides. I know that doesn't sound like anything new -heck Forza and Need for Speed have been doing that for years- but this series plans to take customizing to insane levels with an all new modification system that helps bring whatever fever dream that festers deep within ones' psyche to life. Ever wanted to take a new Camaro, equipped it with four wheel drive, huge mud tires, and a snorkel reaching over its' roof like a dime-a-dozen Wrangler? I sure as hell don't but you can certainly do that if you want. Julian Gerighty, who's the creative Director kept mentioning that customizing was part of a, "19 piece puzzle", but from what I can tell neglected to describe what those pieces were so I'll sum it up the best way I can here. In a nutshell, players will literally be able to strip their vehicles, -all licensed by the way- completely down to their frames and build them back up to meet whatever specifications they desire. The game even goes deep inside the engine blocks to allow the removal and installation of various parts such as pistons, heads, and cams just to name a few but it turns out that the game is much more than a glorified monster garage.

The good ol US of A has been recreated to become one hell of a large online playground.

                Ubisoft has multiple studios working together to help build the best racing game possible. Reflections (the people responsible for "Driver San Francisco") have teamed with Ivory Tower who in the past helped create NFS titles along with Test Drive Unlimited series. I personally found TDU yawn worthy but overall it still received a majority of positive appraisals. Upon watching the live demo it struck a chord to fond memories of my youth when playing Midtown Madness online on the original Xbox because just like that game The Crew does not restrict players to single races but instead lets them roam freely online across a playground that is massive. How massive you ask? The entire mainland of the United States has been recreated to allow players to unleash unbridled mayhem from coast to coast. Ubisoft mentioned that exploration is highly encouraged in the game and loading screens will not be present to interrupt one's journey, not even when traveling between states. While not a hundred percent to scale of the actual USA, If a player wishes to say travel from Jersey to California, the map is so extensive that it will take multiple hours to complete that trip but for those in a hurry a fast travel option is implicated as well. 

Players can create virtually any custom job they desire, no matter how poor taste they might be.

             The gameplay elements in the crew handle very much like that of a MMO. Yes you read that right, this game in some aspects has more in common with "World of Warcraft", then it does with any other big name racing franchise currently out there. Racers earn XP by going out into the always online and always changing world to complete tasks in order to level up and as a reward unlock new parts and upgrades. Need help taking out an armored truck, players can band together with strangers or recruit guild members, I mean friends to bring that unstoppable force to a halt. Pulling outlandish road heists is not all this game will be about as the standard tropes associated with this genre will also be found here. One minute you can be in an illegal street race in New York, a friend is in Florida participating in a circuit race, another is off roading in Arizona, and in one simple call  everyone can meet up in one place to tackle a challenge together. The Crew is quickly shaping up to the first MMORPG that I'll get heavily invested in and one of the main reasons is the fact that depending on how custom your ride look reflects your rank in the automotive world. Let's face it, in a auto enthusiast's mind, having a bad ass whip is the ultimate form of peacocking. If you see let's say a mustang riding around with side exhaust and a ram air hood, players will know that person is at least a level 25 or higher, (hey it makes about as much sense as  having to be at level 30 in Warcraft to own a mount). It was further mentioned that the world will be littered with thousands of quick twenty second challenges that will also help players level up. To keep things interesting, PVP missions where rival crews can battle things out will also be included. Lastly add a twenty hour single player story mode and the Crew is going to be one of those titles that will keep players addicted and coming back for years to come. The only question I can't help but wonder is since the online population will be so massive and constant, how will Ubisoft deal with keeping unwanted guests from wandering aimlessly into races and causing everyone to crash resulting in an introduction of real life road rage onto the cyber highways?

 

Ryan Pierce