The Crew - Racing MMO

[Ginaz]

So, a new racing car MMO from Ubisoft.  I don't know much about it and it doesn't look like it interests me but some might like it.  It probably involves using UPlay, so if that's the case I'm definitely not interested.  Anyway, I'm mostly posting this because theres lots of keys available for use this week's beta test.  Follow the first link.
http://www.mmorpg.com/giveaways.cfm/offer/554/The-Crew-Beta-Key-Giveaway.html

Steam page.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/241560/

[Falconeer]

I've been toying with it for the past two hours.

Random observations:

- It's basically Test Drive Unlimnited 3. Which is not a bad thing.
- It's also The Fast and The Furious Online. Heavy storyline and full motion videos included.
- The open world seems really, really amazing. I was in a part of Detroit I know pretty well and I was impressed by how they captured some of the details, especially considering there are many cities.
- The driving model is not of my liking so far, even for an arcade. I guess GRID has spoiled me.
- The upgrade part and the UI are what has to be expected in 2014, perfect for hyperactive kids with consolitis. I don't like it, but I acknowledge it's probably my fault.

It seems big and with good production value, and the open world is a massive bonus. It is actually the only reason that could convince me to play it, I plan to embark on a huge trek from Detroit to San Francisco tomorrow and I'll let you know if the feeling of traveling has been captured as well as they claim on the advertisements.

[schild]

I love that there are Italians that know about Detroit enough to recognize thing.

Most Americans can't, don't want to and those that do want to forget.

[Hawkbit]

I'll never forget the time we accidentally took the Cass avenue exit in '94.  Closest thing I've ever seen to a war zone.  Oh look, a gun shop, liquor store, junkyard and bbq joint all on the same block!  Also, I lost a muffler on the Ambassador bridge; I'm not even sure why they let me into Canada my car was so loud.

[MisterNoisy]

- The driving model is not of my liking so far, even for an arcade. I guess GRID has spoiled me.

More arcadey than GRID?  Yikes.

[Rasix]

I love that there are Italians that know about Detroit enough to recognize thing.

Most Americans can't, don't want to and those that do want to forget.

Wasn't he arrested in Michigan for doing some sort of nude photo shoot in a public place? 

[schild]

Oh look, a gun shop, liquor store, junkyard and bbq joint all on the same block!

That's half of the south. That is not indicative of Detroit at all.

I love that there are Italians that know about Detroit enough to recognize thing.

Most Americans can't, don't want to and those that do want to forget.

Wasn't he arrested in Michigan for doing some sort of nude photo shoot in a public place? 

Like a baus.

[Furiously]

I'll never forget the time we accidentally took the Cass avenue exit in '94.  Closest thing I've ever seen to a war zone.  Oh look, a gun shop, liquor store, junkyard and bbq joint all on the same block!  Also, I lost a muffler on the Ambassador bridge; I'm not even sure why they let me into Canada my car was so loud.

I think I made a wrong turn going to Lansing once and ended up on one of the downtown freeways. The potholes were amazing. And I immediately knew I was somewhere I shouldn't be.

[Falconeer]

Wasn't he arrested in Michigan for doing some sort of nude photo shoot in a public place? 

True story, but I was innocent and cleared of all charges a few months later. And speaking of Cass, I was able to enter Cass Tech before they demolished. I've never seen anything more Fallout 3 than that place in my entire life.

[Surlyboi]

Drive through New York in this. It's no more accurate than Liberty City was. Big broad strokes with some landmarks but not accurate at all.

[SurfD]

Wasn't he arrested in Michigan for doing some sort of nude photo shoot in a public place? 

True story, but I was innocent and cleared of all charges a few months later. And speaking of Cass, I was able to enter Cass Tech before they demolished. I've never seen anything more Fallout 3 than that place in my entire life.

Holy shit.  That is epic. Also, wtf.  about 9 pics down, what is up with that television monitor on the wall that looks like it fucking melted......

[Falconeer]

Yep, this is my version of the melted TV. I took a million photos in there and it's all crazy good stuff.




As a bonus, one of the computer rooms.

[Falconeer]

Wow.

I just went from Detroit to San Francisco, through Chicago, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas. Took me about 30-40 minutes of non stop driving, and zero loading times or invisible walls.

I am not even remotely trying to say if this game is good or not. I have no idea, and I don't care.
All I know is that outside of truck driving simulations, I've never had a traveling experience in a videogame comparable to this. And no truck driving simulation has had the budget to recreate such a faithful version of the USA. As Surlyboi pointed out it is just big broad strokes with some landmarks, but it is across your whole country. I am going to go from San Francisco to New York now with a short detour in Austin, recorded it and put it on Youtube. Forget the game. This is an open world highway sandbox with a believable map of the USA. I think I've been dreaming about a game feature like this since I was 8.

[Nebu]

How do I get a beta key to this?  I went to the web site that you linked and they had keys, but nowhere to claim them. 

I'm a huge fan of driving sims.

[veredus]

You have to log in with an account.

[Falconeer]

I just ran San Francisco ---> Dallas ---> NYC in 54 minutes (real time) with a 2012 Challenger. In-game time went from 10.36pm to 9.26am of the next day. While I am sure I missed lots of good stuff in the first part of the trek due to darkness, I managed to see a beautiful dawn while heading East in Arizona. The best part is how you seamlessly go from isolated highways to small and big cities. Like in the screenshot below, where you can see Vegas in the distance and it's all real and drivable through without load screens. Another highlight is when I stumbled on the Airplanes graveyard in Arizona. Unexpected and beautiful.

To add to my previous comments:

- This is by no means a simulation. It's more arcade than Pole Position and in many ways reminds me of 1986 Out Run.
- The huge, immense map is really pretty and full of landmarks and other beautiful things to explore, but it shows its limits when you look for specific places. For example, I had to stop in Dallas because there's no Austin in Texas. Sure they couldn't reproduce all cities, but while it feels fantastic to drive through areas you don't know well (like in my case) I am sure it can be disappointing when it comes to places you expect to see. Yet, this is the same problem with all the Truck simulations, including the best ones. I don't think anyone can do better than this with today's technology.
- Clipping is annoying. It isn't always noticeable, but when it is, it sucks.
- There are invisible walls. They are well hidden in the most populated areas, but when you embark on a long trip you can't really wander that much offroad. You get the plot-cop lady telling you that you are not allowed to leave the State.
- I really miss any kind of fuel mechanic, or the need to stop at gas stations. Again, this is not a simulator, but considering how close they got to capture the feeling on driving across the country, I feel that the gas station experience should have been part of it.

The game is a big huge pile of MEH. Nothing special at all, EXCEPT for the map. The map is a dream. Sure it's a lot of smoke and mirrors, but they seem very well laid out and while the whole sense of freedom is nothing but trickery, it's the best trickery of this kind I've seen so far. And if you know any game with a better traveling experience, please let me know.

Here's a few screens from my trip:

[Nebu]

You have to log in with an account.

Log in to what?  Steam, MMORPG.com?  Tried both.  

Got it.  Thanks.

[Ingmar]

Unrealistic, the shirtless dudes in San Francisco are still wearing pants.

[Surlyboi]

It's San Francisco, not Burning Man.

Hmm... nah they probably don't even have a Reno in this game, much less a Black Rock City...

[Falconeer]

My 54 minutes coast to coast. It'sa boring video, but you can peek here and there and it gives a fairly good idea of what these long treks are like.

San Francisco is at the very beginning.
The Airplane graveyard is at 22:05.
Dawn is at 29.05.
Approach to Dallas begins at 35:30.
The Norfolk bridge is around 48:20.
New York City is at the end.

[Shatter]

I'll never forget the time we accidentally took the Cass avenue exit in '94.  Closest thing I've ever seen to a war zone.  Oh look, a gun shop, liquor store, junkyard and bbq joint all on the same block!  Also, I lost a muffler on the Ambassador bridge; I'm not even sure why they let me into Canada my car was so loud.

lol yeah similar Cass story, ended up that road accidentally years ago at night while bar hopping and blew every red light until we were off of it

[Nebu]

Do you have to stop for gas?

[Falconeer]

- I really miss any kind of fuel mechanic, or the need to stop at gas stations. Again, this is not a simulator, but considering how close they got to capture the feeling on driving across the country, I feel that the gas station experience should have been part of it.

Sadly, as I said yesterday, no. 

[Nebu]

Sorry, I missed that.  I agree that some sort of resource management would make this more immersive.   Fuel is one of the factors that makes racing such a tactical sport.  Eliminate that and you eliminate a key tactical element.

[UnSub]

I've got a beta code for this game that I'll never use. Anyone want it? Please send me a PM.

[Nija]

If it's on PS4 or Mac, send it my way.

That's all I've got these days.

It looks like it might be like GTA driving? Wish such a huge world that might be okay. Relaxing, I guess.

[Falconeer]

If it's on PC, I'd love it. I was in one of the previous betas, but didn't get in this time and I really like this.

[UnSub]

If it's on PS4 or Mac, send it my way.

That's all I've got these days.

It looks like it might be like GTA driving? Wish such a huge world that might be okay. Relaxing, I guess.

Yep, it's for the console beta.

On its way.

Sorry Falconeer.

[Ginaz]

So I got a choice of a "free" game when I bought my new GeForce 970 last week (Far Cry 4, Assasin's Creed or The Crew) and chose The Crew because I wasn't really interested in the other two.  So far it's ok but I don't see how this is an MMO.  It's more like a robust co-op game.  I will say that the map is pretty good and makes me want to do a cross country drive.  I think I might actually break out my old PC game pad because trying to drive with m&k sucks donkeys.

[Falconeer]

It's worth repeating that this game is great. Wasn't sure after beta but I am loving it now. And for some reason despite the weird UBI review embargo it's getting very high ratings on Steam too.

Visuals are really good. Not as good as Grid 2, or a Gran Turismo, but still beautiful and performing very good an somewhat older machines.
The world is immense and wonderfully rendered. Lots of known landmarks, some hidden spots, and a very immersive night/day cycle.
The social aspect works very nicely for me so far. While the UI is not good at all, it's easy enough to play with your friends and there's a lot to do from competition to co-op missions. Having every race and challenge you do being ranked against your friends and the whole world is par for the racing game course these days and gladly it's here too.
The story is cookie cutter F&F crap but decently told and carries you through the single player alleviating the potential repetition.
There's a clear sense of progression that comes from leveling up your character (yourself) and your car. The car is like your typical MMORPG toon, it even has a paperdoll and the various races and challenges drop random loot. Enough said.
Finally, as I said months ago, if you for some reason are as nuts as I am and love driving on an highway for hours, both in real life and in games, this is the game for you. Speeding aimlessly across the US has never been so much fun (at least until SCS's American Truck Simulator is released).

[Falconeer]

Ginaz, what's your Uplay name? You seem the be the only one around here with this game,and it's nice to have friends to compare records and scores with. I'm there as DrewFalconeer.

[Ginaz]

Ginaz, what's your Uplay name? You seem the be the only one around here with this game,and it's nice to have friends to compare records and scores with. I'm there as DrewFalconeer.

I really haven't played that much.  Between the new WoW and SWTOR expansions and my never ending frustrations with bad players in World of Tanks, I haven't had the time.  The only reason I even have it is because a free Ubi Soft game came bundled with my new GTX 970 video card.  Once I'm back home from Christmas vacation, I may fire it up again.  Uplay name is Ginaz74, btw.

[jgsugden]

Thanks for the videos - nice views.  As a guy from the SF Bay Area, I was a bit disappointed by the depiction of my area.  I wish there were tall Redwoods right on the other side of the Bay Bridge.  I get that it can't be truly accurate, but I am still disappointed.  If it were more accurate, I think I'd be all over this game.