Fans of the Test Drive Unlimited series, which has sunk into oblivion, did not have to wait very long. Ubisoft and Ivory Tower, over 5 years of development, have released a large-scale MMO race, the world of which is a reduced copy of the real USA. We will need one and a half, or even more hours of real time to get from one coast to another. And the possibilities of the MMO component here are clearly no worse than in some World of Warcraft. But the main thing is a lot of cars, excellent detailing and a network part, all this is The Crew. And we are pleased to present you a review of The Crew MMO racing from XGames Game TV. Did the developers manage to release a worthy replacement for Test Drive Unlimited with only arcade controls?

The world of The Crew compared to Test Drive Unlimited is like a coin next to a hundred dollars. The scope is really impressive. According to the principle of the genre, we get - a large open world, other players in the same session with you, the search for spare parts for unique cars, a large selection of cars, tasks lasting an hour or more. But of course, we are not talking about this now.

We start the game in Detroit, but after the start, the game does not tie us to completing tasks, and we can immediately start traveling around America, since there are no restrictions (although you won’t be able to participate in races there). We must pay tribute to Ivory Tower - the territory turned out to be huge and, most importantly, diverse. Highways, gravel tracks, forest trails with wild animals, tunnels, mountain roads, finally megacities - for every taste.

The Crew also has a storyline, yes, you heard it right. This is not just a plot for show, but a full story. Our main character Alex is a street racer whose brother is killed, after a short tie, we find ourselves under the heel (in the truest sense of the word) of the FBI and work undercover for the feds: we instill confidence in the gangs of street racers, find out valuable information, and help in the capture different villains (the storyline itself will take about 20 hours of passage). It is worth noting that the videos were filmed and staged very high quality and colorful, it feels like watching another blockbuster. As the story progresses, we will open up new types of races in other regions.

Of course, it is worth talking about the world of the game again, but now in more detail. We ride wherever we want, there are no restrictions at all. The scale is impressive: there are five megacities themselves, and they are recreated in detail (New York is really larger than Liberty City in GTA IV).

The Crew is full of events, attractions, tasks and other not unimportant aspects. It will take you one and a half to two hours to cross America from coast to coast. The territory of the USA, of course, had to be reduced, but it's still 2 times more than in Test Drive Unlimited 2.

The detail is impressive, of course. The mass of pedestrians on the streets, traffic, wild animals, leaves that fly through the streets, parks, squares, garbage, fruit stands, cafes, shops, flower beds, yachts, planes, parking lots and everything else (you can list for a long time) (except perhaps moto transport) - all this enlivens the world of the game.

Races are real arcade rides, but as soon as you change the physical model, the arcade will become a mixture of a simulator, the controls will change, and it will be harder to drive the car. The physical model as a whole is quite interesting. Hitting a fence can slow you down or knock you out of the way. Hitting a car can be fatal, or you can just drive past it without damage.

Another problem is imbovy AI. At lower levels, we easily overtake them. And in more difficult races, the ability to overtake the enemy is reduced to zero. Police chases are a completely different story, running away from them is not at all easy, and this is especially noticeable at a speed of under 300 km / h when they do not lag behind you.

This is where command mode comes in handy. You invite nearby players to the race. If at least one of the four human racers completes the requirements of the race, you will also receive the experience due to you, money and a mark on the delivery of the mission. (All this is done according to the principle of dungeons from World of Warcraft). However, it is far from always possible to call on a team for help, and it will not always be useful.

In addition to cooperative story missions, which, of course, are more pleasant to play in a team of friends than with random opponents, there are also pure PvP competitions in the social hub. Both races in the “every man for himself” mode, and team 4v4.

Exploring the world, completing side quests, finding parts for a hot rod, buying cars, finding satellite dishes will take you about 100 hours of commercials. Missions of groups at a distance and search for points of interest in The Crew. Sometimes there are endurance races for an hour or more, with no time limit.

The player also has a level that we raise higher as we complete different quests. To gain a level for the story race, you can use PvP or additional tasks. And they are scattered along the roads. There are several types: jump for a distance, slalom, gain maximum speed and others. Fulfilling them is, for example, an excuse to pass the trip.

Car upgrades gradually increase the level of vehicles: a sports gearbox will give +3 points, and an increase in turbine power will give another +5. For completing missions, we receive rewards in the form of parts, depending on how we passed the race, we may get: platinum, gold, silver, bronze spare parts. Pumping cars also opens up access to more difficult races.

There are quite a lot of cars in the game, each of the megacities has its own car dealership, in which a dozen cars of different classes and price categories: jeeps, muscle cars, street racing, racing, supercars. The developers also promise to add new cars as the DLC is released.

There is a great opportunity to customize your car. Bumpers, moldings, spoilers, wheels, trim, vinyls with a bunch of subspecies, a bunch of colors and even license plates. It is clear that each player wants his own unique car, and this is provided to them.

The game also has improvements, both for the body and for the motor. Not all improvements are available immediately, which is understandable. In order to get the racing and rally set, you must be level 30+.

It is also worth noting that for each car there are five options for different races, from street racing to rally and supercars. Depending on the type of task, we change machines. Races can be cross-country, asphalt, in general - one car is not enough.

The graphics are not the game's strong point, but not bad at all. And this is most likely done so that almost any player can play safely. Here you can see colorful sunsets, and great views, night lights of cities and flickering villages.

As a result, what do we have from The Crew. This is a great MMO racing game. A worthy replacement for Test Drive Unlimited. You just want to drive along these roads, look at the landscapes at sunsets, at the ocean coast, at megacities and deserts. Ride with friends or with random players. The passage of missions and the plot is already fading into the background. And if, nevertheless, it comes to passing races, you will have something to do here. Even turning a blind eye to the small problems of the network component after the start, to the arcade controls and the physical model. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend getting acquainted with this project to all fans of the genre, and in fact to those who are not familiar with the genre.

Introduction

Attempts to combine single player and multiplayer games have been made since 2007: it was then that Test Drive Unlimited was released on the PC - a good race for its time, which looked more like some kind of MMO than a typical representative of the genre. It looked like this: you could, roughly speaking, “score” on tasks and just drive around the island, accepting challenges from other players along the way.

Yes, the line between modes was erased: all elements of the single-player mode were available in multiplayer and vice versa. The developers even gave a name to the know-how they invented: M.O.O.R (Massively Open Online Racing - “large-scale open online races”). But after the release of TDU, the team broke up, and the former employees of Eden Games, as they themselves once admitted, decided to start everything from scratch.

In the same 2007, the Ivory Tower studio was founded, and the developers, full of strength and inspiration, began work on the concept of a new racing game. In 2008, Ubisoft Corporation supported their endeavors and funded the "team", that is, The Crew. We will talk about her.

advertising

An old idea in a new way

Let's start the review of The Crew with the fact that if there was no plot in Test Drive Unlimited, then in the game Ivory Tower it is present: we are told another heartbreaking story about the revenge of brother for brother, work undercover is shown, and so on according to the list of plot clichés and cliches. The only plus is that the beginning here is not delayed: after a short video, a certain Alex (the main character) runs away from the police on a mighty Ford Raptor.

Dirty and brutal Ford Raptor will be your first car in the game. The developers should say thank you for the fact that at the beginning they did not hand us some old junk, as they do in almost all other races.

Well, don't say anything. By the way, enjoy the moment: you will not be able to replay the intro, because the game Ivory Tower saves progress on Ubisoft servers.

And no matter how much the developers claim that all these bells and whistles with the network mode are made for the sake of getting an interesting gaming experience, it’s hard to believe - it’s just such anti-piracy protection, and not the best: the game has already been hacked and anyone can steal its copy from torrent trackers.

In some races, you will have to leave the selected car for a while and drive another car.

Well, to hell with her, with this protection (especially since she doesn’t really put sticks in the wheels), what about the gameplay itself? I will say briefly: The Crew is played as an updated NFS World; the graphics here are much better, the cars are more beautiful, and the roads of the United States of America are at your disposal.

A lot of attention in the game is given to nature.

There is no new gaming experience at all - unless your knowledge of physics can be enriched by cinematic accidents in which cars hover in the air and somersaults like professional gymnasts of the Cirque du Soleil.

True, you need to look for positive aspects in everything - after seeing such a scene once, you try to drive as carefully as possible. That's where the dog of the new gaming experience turns out to be buried!

Unfortunately, the epic roll of this Dodge Challenger SRT-8 cannot be conveyed in the screenshot.

Bad Company"

The graphics are amazing, especially the lighting. Sometimes you just want to press the PrtScr key and capture a particularly beautiful highlight on your iron horse, but this, as Mikhail Gorbachev said, is fraught, comrades ...

Iron horse in the light of the setting sun.

advertising

Separately, it is worth mentioning the beautiful CG videos, through which the player is fed the plot: if you want to ignore a banal story, then during the cut-scenes your hand will not rise to the ESC button (or “B” if you play on a gamepad).

The protagonist looks like Gordon Freeman, despite being talkative.

By the way, either I'm out of the habit of racing, or The Crew really has problems with control - but I managed to enter turns only from the thirtieth minute of the game. With the controller, things are a little better, but not much: get ready to beat, scratch and crush the car body, if you suddenly haven’t turned the steering wheel of a virtual sports car for a long time.

In addition, the speed here is simply not felt, which is unacceptable for a game of this genre. All hope for updates: since the project is multi-user, they will not keep you waiting long.

This is what happens if you put an inexperienced driver behind the wheel of a sports car.

advertising

The next obligatory item for any more or less decent race: tuning. Here The Crew shows itself in all its glory: you can stick vinyls, change the hood, and even if you have the means to pull the interior (just lower the car and stick the “my life, my rules” sticker, perhaps, is impossible).

There are rich opportunities for expressing one's own individuality, it is good to show off in front of someone: do not forget that next to you, in theory (but this is only in theory), other players will also have to hang out, but more on that below.

This is what a true American patriot's Dodge Challenger should look like.

Another nice detail that brings life to the local deserted streets: pedestrians walk along the sidewalks of American cities. Personally, it’s already difficult for me to remember in what other race one could see passers-by idly roaming the streets. True, if you want to repeat your gangster exploits from GTA in The Crew, then nothing will come of it: you can’t shoot down people here, you’ll only attract the attention of the police.

Now the car will collide with this frightened man, and he will miraculously teleport to the side.

advertising

By the way, running away from the police is easy, boring and uninteresting. The system of chases with law enforcement officers in The Crew is similar to the one in GTA 4 - there is a field of their visibility, if you go outside and wait a bit, you find yourself, as if by magic, clear before the law.

In boring and completely non-cinematic chases, fortunately, you will have to participate infrequently.

No matter how funny it may seem, but even here the ubiquitous RPG elements in the form of skills have made their way. Okay, this was more or less appropriate in Far Cry 4, but I have vague doubts about The Crew.

Skills are pumped in the headquarters.

The American Dream That Still Was a Dream

advertising

Minor quirks dealt with. Let's move on to the main one - the developers offer us to travel around the recreated (on a scale, of course) United States of America, the total length of which is 5,000 square kilometers.

Unfortunately, even here the game is not going smoothly: there is simply nothing to catch the eye. Yes, The Crew has no atmosphere of its own - it feels like a mediocre cardboard backdrop for something more. The problem is that this “something more” is not here.

The only thing to which there are no questions is the appearance of the cars.

Even the vaunted online mode doesn't work either - it's hard to find a team to complete a "team" (sorry for the tautology) in a rather big area: this is how I tried to find people to complete missions in Detroit, but over and over again I was given the same message: "Players not found".

Nitro in The Crew regenerates automatically. Conveniently.

advertising

And only about forty minutes later I was finally lucky - when, apparently, the poor fellow, who was also desperate to find a partner, sent me an offer to join a joint game. Although I haven't seen him online since yesterday: probably The Crew didn't stay long on his hard drive, and you can understand him in that.

Still, sometimes the game world pleasantly surprises: for example, Mount Rushmore is one of the attractions of the United States.

After that, it becomes unclear why all these extra gestures with connecting to Uplay are needed, if you still have to ride in splendid isolation? I almost forgot: sometimes there are breaks with the server and you are forcibly thrown out to the main menu.

Continuing the tradition of Test Drive, the developers at The Crew allowed players to switch to first-person view - the interiors of the cars, by the way, are beautifully detailed here.

I remember the days of Assassin's Creed II, where the game (I remind you that even multiplayer was not in the series back then!) required a stable Internet connection, and with a poor connection, you simply could not play normally.

advertising

Of course, all this was done to protect against pirates, and, as always, honest players suffered (while the second part of the Assassin saga was still successfully hacked). Someone clearly does not learn from mistakes. Yes Ubisoft?

The US map is impressive at first, but when after an hour or two of playing you realize that most of the time you will have to travel around a large territory alone, the enthusiasm somehow fades, as they say, to nothing.

And it would be nice if interesting game modes compensate for all these shortcomings, but The Crew is not able to offer anything new.

Fingers crossed: there are regular circuit races, delivery (you need to deliver a car to the employer, usually worth more than your kidney, and at the same time try not to turn an expensive car into a piece of scrap metal), elimination (you need to catch up with your rival and make him regret about your birth; in the course of completing these tasks, you can get anything - sprained fingers or, for example, a migraine, but definitely not the pleasure of the game), straight line races, checkpoint races ...

There is not a hint of fun in the elimination missions, so if you suddenly remember Flatout or Burnout, then forget: here you will lose over and over again until you memorize the route of your victim. Thank you, of course, Ivory Tower, but if I wanted to train my memory, I played some kind of logic puzzle.

advertising

What, not impressed? Therein lies the problem. The Crew can't keep the player at the screen - it just lacks style, a good storyline and the presence of a normal single-player and online game for this.

Experience in The Crew is given for completed races.

In addition, the gentlemen from Ivory Tower decided on a dirty trick: in order to stretch the passage time, they make you swing, swing and swing again, as the creators of some Korean MMORPG bequeathed.

For example, you have the fifteenth level, you have opened a new plot task, but you won’t be able to start its implementation - you are still small. What to do? Swing, of course, on the same type of missions. The developers seem to have their own vision of an exciting gameplay.

Conclusion

Perhaps the only thing that can impress in The Crew is the price. Just think: 1,299 rubles for the standard version and 1,999 wooden ones for the maximum. In a good way, the game should be distributed according to the shareware model, like, for example, the same NFS World, then there would be no complaints about it. And so ... Of course, I understand everything: money is never superfluous, but have a conscience already.

Verdict: the new game from Eden Games looks good on paper, but not on the monitor screen. However, if you like the American "classics", then The Crew may be of interest for a couple of hours, but you should not count on more.

Rating: 6.0 (“Not bad”).

Ruslan Gubaidullin

We are grateful to:

• Nvidia for providing the key for the game.

“For the first time in the genre of auto racing, The Crew game had the opportunity to “wheel” around a huge country - the United States of America. Moreover, the open world was created using seamless technology, that is, locations are imperceptibly loaded during the gameplay.

However, there is a price to pay for such magnificence. And Ubisoft sacrificed graphics. Instead of the awesome Disrupt game engine used in Watch Dogs, it was most likely a modernized version of the engine from Driver San Francisco. There is logic in this decision. Otherwise, the distribution kit of the game would take not 15, but 150 GB.

As a result, The Crew turned out to be very liberal both in terms of graphics subsystems and processor power. In addition, the FPS counter in the game is locked at 60, which did not help much in the tests.

As a result, most of the tested graphics cards showed a comfortable performance of 45-60 FPS at a resolution of 1920 x 1080. At 2560 x 1440, graphics accelerators of the middle and upper price ranges showed good results without any problems.

So it's time to review the MMO racing simulator The Crew. Quite a lot of information was disclosed even before the release, and some data on upcoming additions was also announced, but it's much easier to see, play and understand once, although reviews are sometimes enough to make a decision to buy a game if there was no confidence at the moment her release.

In 2007, the Ivory Tower studio first appeared to the world, consisting of developers from different companies. Their idea to create an online multiplayer racing game was supported by Ubisoft, which eventually resulted in such a large project as The Crew.

The plot of the game is replete with standard clichés and many hackneyed tricks, but does not concentrate on them, which does not cause discomfort. The intro video is pretty short. In it, we learn that the main character's name is Alex and see a general view of his car. Then the game starts.

The player receives a Ford Raptor as a starting car, which positively distinguishes The Crew from most races, where you have to start on the weakest and most difficult to drive cars. In principle, there are no bad cars in the game. It all depends on the purpose for which they are used.

From the very beginning, all progress is automatically saved on the game servers, so any error is not solved by reloading, but only by trying to replay the mission.

Map of the area - all of the United States, except for Alaska. Americans love their sights, so the landscapes and buildings in the game are depicted with considerable zeal and are often more beautiful than in real life. For beautiful rendering of trees, meadows, fields, lakes, mountains, etc. is worth to be commended. Of course, the main pressure is placed on the main characters of the game - cars, and the roads, of course, without cracks, asphalt patches and open manholes. True, there are off-road and country ruts, but it's normal there.

A lot of pressure has been put on the physics of accidents. Cars easily roll over and repeatedly somersault in the air and along the cougars, then accelerating centrifugal, then slowing it down for a better visual effect. Of course, after this, your iron horse is in the trash, and the mission will have to be replayed.

In addition, the eyes are happy to look at the plausible transmission of sunlight with all its glare and rays passing through the gaps in the foliage or clouds, as well as the various shades of sunsets cannot but touch. Video clips that tell us the storyline are also made with a bang. Although the voice acting and the plot are far from excellent, you want to watch the videos to the end.

Management is made easy to understand, where is which button, but difficult to get used to. Thus, apparently, the developers have kept the balance, since only those who have spent more hours behind the controller will be able to more masterfully control their sports car.

Mistake came out in the transmission of a sense of speed. Perhaps this was done on purpose to be more realistic (apart from the absence of a vibrating car seat) and to be able to see what is happening on the side of the road, or perhaps by accident, in which case, after numerous requests from the players, an add-on will be released that will fix the script.

Tuning focuses on design, where you can change the shape and color of any part of the car up to the clown type, as well as change the leather upholstery of the cabin with the dashboard. The choice of icons is dark, though the most important thing is missing - the ability to draw independently, at least within some framework and on certain parts of the machine.

In the game, most of the events take place at night, so there are not enough people on the streets, but still there is someone to scare with a horn or even try to shoot down, if desired, although the latter will only attract the police to you more, and this is very fraught, not to mention the fact that people are all some kind of supermen, able to escape in any situation. So far, no one has teamed up to drive a negligent pedestrian into a corner and move in a crowd to check how well the developers have done and where they cheated, so for sure nothing can be said about the immortality of the bipeds.

However, if the police did start chasing you, you just need to throw off your tail, which is quite simple, and then go beyond their radars, which are shown in a special window. After waiting a few minutes, all the pursuers are covered by a mass psychosis with a side effect - amnesia, and they disperse about their business.

As in any MMO, there is an opportunity to upgrade skills by going to your headquarters. How important and useful this is, or whether it is useless and inappropriate, only time will tell.

With all the vastness of the map of the United States and the beauty of the scenery, breathtaking at first, it is difficult not to recognize the monotony of the flickering views. It seems that the wind never happens, or the trees stopped swaying and began to hold the gusts with an effort of will. Therefore, over time, you have to look at your own and other people's cars, which are worked out in much more detail and better, and when you get bored, they change colors. You can also switch to the view both from the windshield and from behind the car, as well as from inside the cabin, when the dashboard is visible.

So far, there are very few people in the game, so it becomes incredibly difficult to assemble a team for co-op. This is a very significant drawback of the huge size of locations and the inability to instantly move from city to city.

To the good news, we can add the fact that the used nitro fuel is restored automatically. Apparently, each machine has a built-in matter converter, for which cold nuclear fusion is the last century.

Playing on Uplay is mandatory even though you still have to play on your own without the support of a team of the same car enthusiasts. In addition, the server sometimes freezes, which causes the game to go to the main menu.

Of the game modes, there is only a standard set, known to any virtual racer. This is a race on a looped track, delivery of an expensive car in the shortest possible time over a long distance, so as not to scratch, chase (to catch up with the target and destroy - the mode is called "elimination"), racing in a straight line, driving from one checkpoint to another, and so on Further.

For all of the above, the conclusion follows that the game sooner or later brings boredom. And with all this, the developers also set for many missions a level limit for participation. For example, a mission is available, but they don’t let you pass it, because there is not enough level. Then you have to spend hours on missions similar to each other, earning racing experience points.

And all this costs 1300 rubles for the regular version and 2000 for the extended one. Either the developers have no conscience, or there is a zombie device that will provide them with frantic sales, by the way, the game has already been hacked by pirates and it is easy to download it on torrents.

The Crew is an experiment by Ubisoft, known to everyone from the Assassin's Creed series. The game is a race, which is unusual for the company, but the familiar elements of old projects are present here - for example, an open world, lighthouses, etc. Details below.

Review of The Crew

Gameplay

The main property of the gameplay in the racing arcade can definitely be called an open world with multiplayer. So, racers will have a chance to travel around the cities of America, performing various tasks, learning secrets, and also participating in races. At any time, you can join the race right in the open area, and there is also the function of inviting friends.

But first things first. Firstly, the game has a plot, but it is painfully banal. The protagonist is a guy unfairly accused of killing his own brother, who understands only the language of the engine and tires. What is called, hears the call of the roads. It follows from this that there are story races, but the trick is that you can go through them with friends. The campaign lasts about 20 hours, and upon completion, the same open world awaits you with a lot of activities around.

As you progress through, you will be told about all the intricacies of the game - about tuning, replenishing the collection of cars, about racing modes, etc. By the way, the modes are quite classic - there are ring races, and along the segment, and with teams of riders, and much more. Variety is essential to the multiplayer experience, and there's plenty of it here.

Competitive notes are further enhanced by the distribution of the world map into 5 regions, each of which has a ruling group. So, players can fight for their area, gaining influence points, which are necessary for the superiority of their grouping. This will subsequently give new rewards and tasks.

Not without the notorious RPG component, too, could not do. There are only 20 cars in The Crew, but each one can be improved. You can increase the characteristics of all cars, but it will take a lot of time, so it is always more profitable to choose a single car for pumping. Modifications also contribute to a change in appearance, so here, too, the variety item is ticked. And later you can color it to your own taste - dozens of prints, colors, as well as various decorative details like bumpers, spoilers and much more.

Car classes 5.

1. street car- a street car that has a powerful engine, but bad turns.
2. SUV- massive cars that will go in the mud and in bad weather like pretty ones.
3. supercar- classic understated racing cars.
4. rally- adapted for rally racing cars that will also cope well with off-road.
5. Racing- cars with incredible speed, which are easy to dump from the cops.

In addition to all the races and the plot, you will find in the game details of a secret car, by collecting which you can create a unique car. Such details are secret for a reason, because they will have to be searched.

This is the very component of the game that all players relied on. However, the picture did not reach stunning quality, but it became quite high-quality and pleasant.

So, traveling to famous places in the United States is extremely attractive. Also, you can visit not only various squares or see the Statue of Liberty in New York, but also go into the outback. Especially for this, a camera was created right inside the game so that everyone could capture pleasant moments from the trip.

Let's summarize

The Crew is definitely an interesting project from Ubisoft. However, I don’t want to praise the game, because it had a lot of problems at the start - a non-permanent progression with secret cars, poor connection to other players, unresponsive multiplayer, etc. Now The Crew 2 has taken the place of the first part, so the multiplayer mode only makes sense for a cooperative game with a friend.

At first it seemed a very intriguing idea - the first since Motor City Online(and much less sensational) full-fledged online race with a huge world, an emphasis on co-op and socialization. Also from people who had a hand in and Test Drive Unlimited.

But it turned out ... strange. It is difficult to understand why numerous beta testing cycles were needed - almost all problems The Crew noted then are still relevant today.

Gone in half an hour

tie The Crew very reminiscent of the intro Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2005: the protagonist was set up, and now, at the suggestion of the FBI, he is forced to infiltrate an illegal group of racers that actually controls the transport network of the United States. By completing tasks, we are slowly pumping and climbing up the "rating table", watching the development of a stereotyped drama along the way, in order to eventually get to the main villains and do justice.

But history plays a secondary role here - the emphasis is on the online component. "Under the Hood" The Crew hiding the classic MMORPG with all its pluses and minuses. Only instead of elves, cars, and instead of armor and swords, spare parts.

The similarity with typical MMOs is especially noticeable in the structure of progress - we complete the "quests" in one location, move to another, repeat the cycle. And all this time, other players are skating with you, doing the same. Most of the cars in The Crew quite expensive, so you either have to perform the same missions of the same type over and over again for the sake of money, or buy in-game currency for "real".

The main character looks like one very famous drug lord. Say my name!	There are interactive elements on the tracks - for example, here is a crane that drops a heavy container onto the road at the most inopportune moment.

American dream

But The Crew far from hopeless. It’s worth saving up for cars, if only for the sake of an amusing customization system: if you want and have the necessary parts, you can make, for example, an armored SUV out of a nimble Porsche GT 911. The only pity is that the car park is not very extensive.

The stories that the game will let you go around literally the entire territory of the United States (albeit on a reduced scale) turned out to be true. Megacities, forests, snow-capped mountains, snow-white beaches of Miami, swamps of Louisiana, deserts of Nevada, green valleys and meadows of California - all this diversity can be explored far and wide.

Each region differs in the type of tracks and the set of cars available for purchase. In the central part of America, it is better to use and buy SUVs, since the roads here are mostly unpaved, full of holes and hills, so it’s better not to meddle with a Lambo here. But in large cities like New York or Chicago, nimble supercars are just that.

Thus, in different locations, you can improve certain classes of cars, opening up new spare parts and available models.

For each completed task, you get new parts, thanks to which the level of the car increases and new races open.

Peace The Crew not only big, but, more importantly, alive. Pedestrians walk the streets, NPC cars get into traffic jams, planes land and take off at airports, and proud eagles soar in the sky over Nevada. At the intersection of the whole map The Crew diagonally takes about fifty minutes of real time. It's a lot.

Journey to the West

For the sake of experiment, we decided to arrange a full-scale rally across the USA. GPS has traced the route from the extreme northeast of North America to Los Angeles, and now I have to drive all over the country in my brand new Camaro.

Drove through Salt Lake City. Thank God, the autobahn was free.

At the entrance to Nevada, some guy (or girl) on the Challenger caught up with me and let me know with a long horn that he wanted to compete. Well, let's fight. There is nothing else to do in the desert anyway.

We arrived in Las Vegas. That Challenger passerby did overtake me and turn south a couple of minutes ago, but it was a fun race.

My path through California lies through the Sequoia National Park. I've been chasing the blue Ford NPC for ages. The sedans of tourists, one and all, observe the speed limit, and trying to overtake them is more expensive for yourself.

Got to Los Angeles. The sun is scorching mercilessly, there is a traffic jam at the entrance. A group of racers just drove past me, followed by about forty patrol cars. I recognize the city of angels!

Wrong turn

But all the joy of exploration spoils the failed mechanics. The car physics and controls are depressing: cars behave like oak irons glued to the road, which is felt in every turn and every maneuver. You don’t really want to dig into the constructor and study an interesting setup system when you realize that when you leave the garage, you will have to control the cumbersome, clumsy colossus again. After a recent Forza Horizon 2 I can't watch this without crying.

Also in The Crew for some reason there is a damage system that does not affect anything other than the appearance of the car. Scratches and dents miraculously disappear after a while - the cars here, it turns out, regenerate.

Running away from the cops. So far, it's not working out very well.

The Crew is very far from the competition.");" style="width:318px;">
The game has a view from the salon, but in terms of detail The Crew very far from competitors.	Before buying any car can be taken for a test drive.

Added to this is the brutal AI. Even if you are rushing along the highway at a speed of under 300 km / h, during the chases, the cops can easily catch up with you, have a good “bump” a couple of times and take you into a neat “box” in a couple of seconds. If you stop - write wasted, it is almost impossible to escape. Hello again to physics - move someone else's car from its place in The Crew it's still a problem.

Moreover, AI does not disdain obvious cheating - for example, opponents can re-enter the track after an accident a couple of hundred meters ahead of you. And even if you participate in the race on a top car, and low-level Nissans are against you, you will fight on equal terms. What then is the point in developing and searching for new cars, except for the sake of beauty, is not clear.

Happiness adds an interface overloaded with variegated menus, inconvenient navigation through them and antediluvian graphics. In terms of detail and overall picture quality The Crew more like a very good PS Vita game than an expensive AAA project for current generation consoles. And yes, glory to the online roots: The Crew requires a constant connection to the network, and with the slightest problem, you can say goodbye to progress in the current race and enjoy the view of the main menu.

* * *

Per The Crew it's a shame. It would seem that now, when the industry is dominated by the fashion for co-op, multiplayer and huge worlds, such a game would easily succeed. But Ubisoft didn't get the job done: the charm of a large, diverse, spectacular North America is canceled out by artificially long development, useless driving mechanics and AI opponents who compensate for the lack of skill with cheating.

Just waiting for the next one Need for Speed: It was already clear from the reboot that EA was also moving in the direction of an online "social race". Well, Xbox One owners have nothing to worry about at all - they have a wonderful Forza Horizon 2.